Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): Characteristics and Operation

Each of us has our own way of seeing reality, interpreting it and acting and being in the world. Each of us has our own personality. Partly inherited and largely learned, an individual’s personality allows us to know and even predict to a certain degree the way an individual interacts and reacts to situations. And this can be of great relevance when exploring the reasons that cause different subjects to react in different ways to the same situation or why someone continually manifests behaviors that cause discomfort or that are maladaptive. This is why different mechanisms and tests have been developed to try to evaluate personality.

One of the numerous existing tests in this sense, psychodynamically oriented and Framed within projective tests, it is the Thematic Apperception Test or TAT.

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The Thematic Apperception Test or TAT

Created by Murray in 1935, the TAT aims to be a system for assessing the needs, expectations and unconscious fears that regulate our behavior and that contribute to forming our personality from the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli (considering the author that in this process they can observe the presence of personality traits).

It is a projective type test, the TAT being known among them as the clearest and best known exponent of thematic projective test (in which a story basically has to be told based on the presentation of one or more pictures). As a projective test of psychodynamic origin, its objective is to analyze the subject’s unconscious elements that largely form and configure her personality.

This evaluation has the advantage of being masked, which implies that the subject does not know what is being evaluated or what response can be expected from him and it is more difficult for him to falsify his answers (reducing the probability of issuing responses based on social desirability). ). However, does not allow quantitative analysis but only qualitative analysis different professionals can obtain different conclusions from its application and a single isolated stimulus does not have significance, but rather its interpretation requires an analysis of the whole.

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This projective test consists of a total of 31 black and white plates, of which all but one represent different structured but ambiguous scenes linked to different themes. Among them, eleven are universal while the rest are divided according to the type of population under study (according to sex and age) in such a way that each subject can view a maximum of twenty. However, it is not necessary to pass all of them, but rather the clinician will assess whether it is worth passing only the most relevant ones depending on the patient in question.

The subject must briefly observe each picture in order to create a story from it and the elements that are part of the scene, first considering what they see in the image or scene and then creating a brief narrative about what is happening. in it, what has happened before and what will happen after. It will be the interpretation of these stories that will allow us to get an idea of the psychic processes of the analyzed subject.

Interpretation

TAT results do not have a single possible interpretation, as it is not a standardized test that reflects specific scores. Its assessment requires high doses of intuition and clinical judgment, with the information extracted being qualitative. It does not allow us to establish a diagnosis, but it does allow us to observe the patient’s way of seeing things and how they structure them.

Although there are different classification systems and interpretation of results, these largely depend on the objectives of the analysis of the patient’s personality. For example, the Defense Mechanisms Manual proposes to assess the existence of denial, projection and identification as defense mechanisms against psychic conflicts, which would be projected in stories. Regardless of the method of interpretation, in almost all cases two main factors are taken into account: on the one hand the content of the narrative and on the other the way in which the story is structured or formed.

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Content

When evaluating the content of the story, the creator of the test himself considered that six main aspects had to be taken into account.

The hero or protagonist of the story is one of these elements. In those plates with more than one character, he is the subject with whom the patient identifies and on which he focuses the story. He is generally the one who has the greatest resemblance to the patient himself. It must be taken into account that the plates themselves do not clearly mark the existence of a main individual, it being the subject who chooses him. Likewise, it is observed whether the patient chooses a single protagonist or this changes throughout the speech or if he chooses a group, animal or object as such.

It must also be assessed the existence of different qualities in said protagonist and the role it has in the narrative (it is good/bad, active/passive, strong/weak…). Who this character identifies with and what he or she is like informs us of the self-concept of the analyzed patient.

Another point to highlight, linked to the previous one, is the motivation and needs of the hero. How you feel or what you want or internally motivates you to act the way you do. Protecting loved ones, hate or love, or how events make you feel are part of this aspect. It is also associated with one’s own objectives and goals.

The third key point is the pressures to which he is subjected, or what happens to the subject and that can mark his way of acting. Here it is possible to assess possible concerns or stressful or traumatic situations that are affecting the patient’s life.

The environment is the fourth of the main aspects to value. The patient must interpret not only the hero and what happens to him but also evaluate the situation in which he finds himself. The environment and the relationship with the other characters, or what these characters are like or the roles they play (they are family, partner, friends, enemies, threats, mere witnesses…), are great examples. It can inform the patient’s way of relating to the environment and its perception.

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The fifth element to evaluate is the development of the story itself. How events happen, how they begin and how they end. This, of course, can be related to the patient’s real expectations regarding his own self-efficacy and his state of mind.

The last but not least point of analysis is the theme of the story, which tend to be linked to the patient’s worries and concerns. For example, someone depressed and/or with suicidal ideas will tend to reproduce elements linked to death, or someone obsessed with cleanliness and germs with diseases.

Story form

In addition to what the patient says, how he says it and the degree of involvement shown in the activity is relevant. Whether the patient collaborates or not, whether he correctly perceives the images and understands what he must do, or whether he has sufficient visualization and elaboration capacity are notable aspects that can indicate the presence of resistance or difficulties associated with a specific problem ( as well as assessing whether the test is indicated or not).

Already within the story itself, It is necessary to take into account whether there is coherence, linearity, contradictions whether fantasy or realism is used or not, whether it uses many or few adjectives or whether it gives details.