Relationships between the Goodenough-Harris Draw-a-Person Test and a Body-Image Test in Costa Rican Children

Abstract

Although researchers have used drawings of the human figure to evaluate body-image in adults and children, test measures of the concepts involved have not been precisely constructed, so the purpose of this study was to estimate the body-image concept relations measured on the Goodenough-Harris Draw-a-Person Test and on the Prueba para Diagnóstico de Imagen Corporal--Universidad Nacional for 90 kindergarten, first and second graders. Factor analyses (sex by grade, 2 x 3; and sex by age, 2 x 7) showed that sex was not a significant factor on either measure, but grade and age were. A Pearson correlation for the total scores on both tests was a moderate, significant value of .45. Correlations of the total with subtest scores varied from .30 to .50. Values were strongest for first grade children from 6 to 6 1/2 yr. of age (.59 to .78), at the beginning of the developmental period in which children gradually gain an awareness of the parts of the body, their functions and left-right concepts.

Drawing The Human Figure: Systems Most Used In Cognitive Assessment Of Children

“…The Goodenough-Harris system presented the most consistent results, in psychometric terms, with internal consistency ranging from 0.63 to 0.82 and correlations with cognitive measures varying from 0.49 to 0.59 (Carreras et al, 2013;Woodburn & Boschini, 1989). On the other hand, a study by Ritter, Duffey, and Fischman (1974) identified that HFD was not reliable in estimating the intelligence of children in early grades, such as kindergarten.…”