Human figure drawing in adults: An update of the empirical evidence, 1967–1982.

Abstract

Figure drawing tests continue to be popular with clinicians despite the relatively unfavourable conclusions of a number of published literature reviews. The current paper examines the empirical literature on the reliability and validity of human figure drawing tests, used as a projective device with adult subjects, covering the period between January 1967 and June 1982. The areas surveyed include reliability estimates, evidence relevant to the body-image hypothesis, the validity of hypotheses concerning structural and formal drawing variables and the content of figure drawings, the performance of global measures, and the influence of confounding factors.

Drawings as memory aids: Optimising the drawing method to facilitate young children's recall

“…Indeed, a number of researchers have suggested specific and non-specific recall benefits of asking children to draw the event in both experimental and applied settings (Burgess & Hartman, 1993;Butler, Gross & Hayne, 1995;Davison & Thomas, 2001;Edwards & Fornham, 1989;Gross & Hayne, 1998Kahill, 1984;Pynoos & Eth, 1986;Thomas & Jolley, 1998;Salmon, 2001;Wesson & Salmon, 2001). As children's spontaneous and self-directed drawings typically portray subject matter and events that are of most interest to them, drawings are likely to stimulate the child to talk about the salient episodes associated with the topic of the drawing.…”

Effective use of projective techniques in clinical practice: Let the data help with selection and interpretation.

“…In contrast, the global approach involves basing a judgment on all of the features of a drawing. A number of reviewers have concluded that the sign approach typically yields inferences that possess negligible or zero validity (e.g., Kahill, 1984;Klopfer & Taulbee, 1976;Motta, Little, & Tobin, 1993;Thomas & Jolley, 1998). Results have been somewhat better for the global approach.…”

Free-Drawing from Memory in Constructional Apraxia: A Case Series

“…Nonetheless, with these caveats aside the house-tree-person drawing task continues to be widely used in clinical evaluation projective portfolios for the purpose of developing hypotheses and psychodiagnostic inferences. Incidentally, the house-tree-person drawing test has long been known to be a sensitive test of organic impairment, and along with the Wechsler scales, was among the first instruments to be used for such purposes [7][8][9].…”

“…In personality research drawings of persons have been used to measure intelligence since the turn of the last century [6][7][8][9]. Thus, a voluminous empirical database on administering, scoring and interpreting standardized drawings already exits.…”