THEMATI

CAPPERCEPTI
ONTEST(
TAT)CARDS
Themat
icApper
cept
ionTest(
TAT)i
sonl
ymeantt
obeadmi
nist
eredi
nani
nter
per
sonal
set
ti
ng.

Key
not
e Descr
ipt
ion

M Mal
es

F Femal
es

B Boy
s

G Gi
rl
s

BM Boy
s/Mal
es

GF Gi
rl
s/Femal
es
Condi
ti
ons
 Thesubjectshoul
dbeseat
edr i
ghtbesi
detheexaminerwithhi
sorherchai
r
turnedaway.
 Timeshouldbemeasuredfr
om themomentwhent hef i
rstpi
ctur
eis
present
edtotheti
mebefor
et henextpi
ctur
eisgiv
en.
I
nst
ruct
ions
Eachpict
ureshouldbeshownoneatat i
me,andthesubj
ectsarethenaskedtodepi
cta
stor
yfrom thepict
uresi
nthecard.Total
timedur
ati
onassignedis50minutes.
Condit
ionfortheStory(
Compulsory)
I
tisamustforthestor
yt odescribe.
 PresentSi
tuati
on
 Thoughtsandf eel
ingsoft hecharacter
(s)
 Precedi
ngev ents:
theev entsthatleduptothest
ory
.
 Ou t
come
Recor
dingPr
ocedure
 Completer esponsespresentedbyasubj ectshoul
dber ecor
ded.
 Alongwi t
hbehav i
oralobservati
ons:stutt
eri
ng,voi
cetone,bodyposture,
handmov ements,excl
amat i
on, andsoon.
 Pract
it
ionershouldengagei nquest i
oningandinqui
rytoproducea
conti
nuousf lowofthesubject ’
sfant
asy .
 Thecardsshoul dbeadmi nisteredi
nthesequencet heywerepresentedto
thesubject.
Scor
ingTechni
que

HenryA.Murrayalsodev el
opedscor ingt echnique, andcat egorizedi tasfollowingf i
ve
aspect
softhestor i
es.
 Th eHer o:Scor i
ngf ortheher oinvolvesi dent ifyi
ngthecent ralcharacterin
thest ory.
 Ne edf ortheHer o: I
twasi mpor tantforMur raytoident if
yt hemot ives,
needsanddesi reoft heher o.
 Identi
f yi
ngt hepr esses: Env ironment al factor sthatinf l
uencewi t
htheneeds
oract i
onsoft heher oar er egar dedaspr esses.
 Sc or
ingf orThemes: Thi si nv olv
esev al uatingt henat ureofi nt
er pl
ayand
confli
ctbet weent hepr essesandt heneeds.Emot ionel i
citedbyconf l
ict
andt hewayi nwhi chconf lictisresolv edi sassessed.
 Sc or
ingf orOut come: Maj orscor ingf orout comei sdoneonwhet herthe
storyhasahappyendi ng.Al so, t
hei mpactont heout comei nfluencedby
thest rengthsofher oandpr essesi sassessed.
Themat
icApper
cept
ionTest(
TAT)Pi
ctur
es
Pi
ctur
e1:
Aboyl
ooki
ngatt
hev
iol
i
n.

Observ
ati
on:Thiscar
dy iel
dsoutinformat
ionregardi
ngone’sabil
i
tytoconcent
rateand
achi
evehi
ghercompetence.St or
iesabouttheboy’
sdisli
ketolear
ningvi
oli
nisalso
oft
enport
ray
ed.Thiscoul drev
eal i
nfor
mationaboutthesubj
ects’ownpastabout
havi
ngbeenforcedtolearnordoact i
vi
ti
estheydidnotenjoy.

Pi
ctur
e2:
Awomanhol
dingabooki
nacount
ryscenewat
chi
ngamanwor
kingi
naf
iel
d
i
nthebackgr
ound.

Observ
ati
on:Thecar
drepresent
sagroupsceneanddeal
switht
heindivi
dualchal
l
enge
ofl
ivi
ngtoget
herwit
hotherpeopl
e.Thi
sistheonl
ycar
dintheser
iesthatdoesso.
Pi
cture3BM: Aboyhuddl
ednextt
oacouchwi
thanambi
guousobj
ectpl
acednextt
o
hi
m, possi
blyarev
olv
erorasetofkey
s.

Observation:
Thisisconsideredt obeoneoft hemosti mportantpictures, especiall
yfor
depressedpatient
s,asitdealswi ththemesofaggr essi
on,impulsivecont rol,guil
tand
depression.
Forinstance,I
fapatientdescribestheambi guousobjectasagun, it’
shi ghlylikelythat
thepersonmi ghtharm oneself(Int
ra-aggr
ession)oranotherperson( Extra-Aggression).
Pict
ure3GF:Awomanst andingnextt
oanopendoorhol
dingasi
deoft
hedoorwi
thone
handandotherhandcov
er i
ngherdowncastf
ace.

Observ
ati
on:Thi
simageisquit
eli
kethePict
ure3BM, andtar
getsthedepr
essi
ve
feel
i
ngsofasubject
,al
though3BM br
ingsoutri
cherstor
iesandcanbeusedonbot
h
malesandfemal
es.
Pi
ctur
e4:
Amant
urni
ngawayf
rom awomanwhoi
sgr
abbi
nghi
sshoul
der
s.

Observat
ion:
Thiscar
dy i
eldsouti
nformati
onregar
dingone’sf
eeli
ngsandattit
udes
towardsman-womanrelat
ionshi
p.Also,
themesofinfi
del
it
yandbet r
ayal
,andthe
alt
it
udesofmaletowardstherol
eofwomenmaybeanal yzedfr
om thestory
.
Pi
ctur
e5:
Awomanl
ooki
ngi
ntoar
oom f
rom t
hedoor
.

Observati
on:Thiscardgivesouti
nformati
onaboutthesur
roundi
ngatti
tudesofthe
subject
,amot heri
nar ol
eofobservingandjudgi
ngbehavi
or,orpar
anoiacausedbythe
fearofatt
ackorintruder
s.Iti
simportantt
ounderst
andthewayi nwhi
chwomani s
por
tray
edi
nthest
ory
.
Pi
ctur
e6BM:Amanisholdi
ngontoishatwi
thhi
sfacedown,
andanel
der
lywomani
s
st
andi
ngbesi
dehi
m par
all
eltoawindow.

Obser vati
on:Iti
sanimportantpi
ctur
eusedi ntest
ingmal esregardi
ngtheirfeel
ingsand
atti
tudest owardthei
rmotherormaternalf
iguresi
nt hei
rlif
e.Frequentl
y,st
orieshave
beenseent oproduceayoungmanst ruggl
ingandseeki ngindependence.I
t’
si mport
ant
tonot ethemanneri nwhi
cht hesubj
ectportr
ay st
hest r
uggle.
Picture6GF: Anoldermanwi t
hapipeinhismout histalki
ngt oayoungerwomansi t
ti
ng
onacouch,
whoi
slooki
ngbackathi
m.

Obser
v ati
on:Alt
hought hi
scardwasinit
ial
l
ydevelopedtobeacounter
par
ttoPi
ctur
e
6BM,itfail
stodosoasmanandwomani nthepict
ureareoft
envi
ewedasofsameage.
Whenf atheranddaughterrel
ati
onshi
pisnotestabl
ished,
stor
iest
endtot
akean
appr
oachofhet erosexualr
elat
ionshi
p.
Pi
ctur
e7BM:
Ayoungermanl
ooki
ngi
ntospace(
not
hing)andanol
dermanl
ooki
ngat
hi
m.

Obser
vati
on:Thiscar
ddi
scussesaboutaper
son’
sat
ti
tudesandf
eel
i
ngst
owar
ds
aut
hori
tyfi
gures.
Pi
ctur
e7GF:Ayounggi
rli
ssi
tti
ngonacouchwit
hadollinherhands,
andanol
der
womansit
ti
ngbehi
ndherisr
eadingt
oherf
rom abook.

Obser vati
on:Theintenti
onofthecardsistobri
ngoutmot her
-chil
dint
eracti
on.The
pictureisalsoperceiv
edasbot hfi
guresrej
ect
ingeachothersincebothofthem ar
e
l
ooki ngawayf rom eachother
.Also,i
tcanalsobeportr
ayedasamot hertel
li
ngafair
y
taletoherchild.
Pict
ure8BM: Thef
oregr
oundshowsayoungboylooki
ngoutofthepi
ctur
e.The
backgroundshowstwomenperfor
mingoper
ati
ononapatient
.

Observ
ati
on:Thepi
ctur
ecanbepor
tray
edasayoungman’
smentalconfl
i
ctsandt
he
at
ti
tudesofchar
act
ersint
hest
oryt
owar dt
heol
dermanper
for
mingsurgery
.
Pi
ctur
e8GF: Awomansi
tt
ingonachai
rwi
thherchi
nrest
ingi
nherhand.Shei
speer
ing
i
ntospace.

Obser
vat
ion:Thi
sisoneofthepict
ureshar
dert
ogener
ali
zeabout
,andusual
l
ypr
oduce
st
ori
esofcontemplat
ivenat
ure.
Pi
ctur
e9BM:
Fourmenl
yi
ngi
naf
iel
dagai
nstoneanot
her
.

Observati
on:Thestor
iesaboutt
hepictur
eusual
lygivesoutatti
tudeofthesubj
ect
towardsthemember softhesamesex.Also,
social
pr ej
udicecanbeidenti
fi
ed,
part
icular
lywhenthesubj
ectdescr
ibesthemeninthepi ct
ureashomelessand
workless.
Pi
cture9GF:
Awomanst andi
ngbehi
ndat
reel
ooki
ngatanot
herwoman,
whoseemst
o
berunni
ngonabeach.

Observ
ation:Thi
scar
dwasi nt
endedt obri
ngoutfemal
epeerrel
ati
ons,
andelabor
ati
on
ontheissuessuchassi
bli
ngrival
ry,j
eal
ousyandsoon.Paranoi
acanalsobedepi
cted
her
e,asthewomanont heforegroundisstandi
ngbehi
ndatry.
Pictur
e10: Aper
soni
srest
inghi
s/heront
heshoul
derofanot
herper
son.Genderi
s
unidenti
fi
ed.

Observ
ati
on:Thispi
cturegivesoutinf
ormat
ionaboutman-womanr el
ati
onshi
p
r
egardi
ngclosenessandi nt
imacy.Themannerofcomfor
tordiscomfortdi
spl
ayedby
t
hepersonindi
cateshis/heratt
it
udestowar
dsthesubj
ectmatter.
Pict
ure11:
Mul
ti
plef
igur
esar
etr
aveli
ngtowardabr
idgeonaroadi
nachasm.Ther
e
seemstobeadr
agonabovet
hem agai
nstthesi
deofacli
ff
.

Obser
vati
on:Thi
sisavaguei
mage,soitact
sasagoodtestf
ori
maginati
veabi
li
ti
es
andassessi
ngtheski
l
lsi
nvol
vedi
nintegr
ati
oni
rr
egul
arnadpoor
lyr
efinedst
imul
i.
Pi
ctur
e12M: Aboyisly
ingonabed,
eyescl
osed,
andamani
sst
andi
ngabov
etheboy
wi
thhishandrai
sed.

Observati
on:Thepict
ureoft
enindi
catesast orybetweenanol dermananday ounger
one,quit
eof t
enasatherapi
standaclient.Subject
shav ebeenknownt odepi
cttheir
att
it
udest owardsomeexter
nalcontr
olli
ngf or
ces.It
’simportanttonot
ehowtheol der
mani sportr
ayed.
Pict
ure12F:Ayoungwomanatt
hef
rontandanol
derwomanhol
dingherchi
natt
he
background.

Observat
ion:Thebackgroundfi
gureisof
tenseenasawomanwithevi
lqual
it
ies
(mother-
in-
lawfori
nstance.Negat
ivequal
it
iesar
eoft
enfeel
i
ngsandatt
it
udestowar
ds
herownmot her
.
Pi
ctur
e12BG:Ther
eisatr
eeandar
owboatnextt
oiti
nacount
ryset
ti
ngwi
thno
pr
esenceofahumanbei
ng.

Observ
ati
on:Depr
essedorsui
cidal
subjectsaremoreli
kelyt
odepictst
ori
esofi
sol
ati
on
andabandonment
,whereasst
ablesubject
sar eli
kel
ytoport
rayst
ori
esofbei
ngat
peaceint
hewoodsandf i
shi
ngorjustboating.
Pict
ure13MF​
:
Awomani sly
ingonthebedi
nthebackgr
oundandamani
sst
andi
ngi
n
fr
ontofherwi
thhi
sheadinhisar
ms.

Observ
ati
on:Subject’
ssexual andaggressi
vefeeli
ngsisport
rayedwit
hthispict
ure.Thi
s
coul
dalsoleadtoinformationaboutsexualconfl
ict
sandfeeli
ngstowardsthepartner
aft
erorbef
or ei
ntercourse.Peopl
ewithOCDof tenspendgreatamountoftimeont he
pi
ctur
ebecauseoft helargeofnumberofdet ail
spresenti
nit.
Pi
ctur
e13B:
Aboysi
tt
ingi
nthedoor
wayofal
ogcabi
n.

Obser
vat
ion:
Bothadul
tsandchi
ldr
enmayshowfeel
i
ngsofint
rospect
ionorl
onel
i
ness.
Adul
tsmostl
yrel
atet
hepict
urewit
hthei
rchi
l
dhoodmemori
es.
Pi
ctur
e13G:
Ther
eisaf
li
ghtofst
air
sandagi
rlcl
i
mbi
ngoni
t.

Obser
vati
on:Variedst
oriesarepr
esentedf
rom thecard,
butlacki
nginri
chnessand
det
ail
s.Thecardisuniqueinthemannerbecauseofthelackofanyspeci
alt
y.Thi
stoo
candepi
ctlonel
inessandintr
ospect
ion.
Pi
ctur
e14:
Aper
soni
ssi
l
houet
tedagai
nstawi
ndow.

Obser
v at
ion:Thiscardleadst
hesubjecttotel
l
ingthestori
esaboutthemot i
vesand
si
tuat
ionsthatleadtothepathofself-
destr
ucti
vebehavior
.Al
so,anotheraspectt
he
pi
ctur
ecoul dindi
cateisthepersonal
phil
osophical
beli
efsandint
erests.
Pi
ctur
e15:Amani
sst
andi
ngwi
thhi
shandscl
aspedt
oget
her
.Ther
ear
etombst
ones
ev
erywher
e.

Observ
ati
on:Thi
scardleadsthesubj
ecttotel
lthest
oryaboutdeathandreveal
s
i
nformati
onabouthi
s/heratt
it
udetowardsdeathandtheprocessofdyi
ng.Thestor
y
coul
dbeaggr essi
ve,vi
olent
,orcal
m andqui
et,
dependingonthesubj
ect.Anot
her
possibi
l
ityi
sthedispl
ayofangertowardst
hedeadpersonbecauseofthefeel
i
ngsof
abandonment .
Pict
ure16:Blankcard

Obser
v at
ion:
Thesubjecti
magi
nesapi
ctur
eandt
ell
sast
ory
,whi
chcoul
dbesad,
happy
,
opt
imisti
c,cr
eat
ive,
andsoon.
Pi
ctur
e17BM:
Anakedmancl
i
mbi
ngdownorupar
ope.
Observat
ion:
Atti
tudesr egar
dingthesubject’
spersonalbodyimagesar eseeninthe
st
ory.Themesofnar cissi
sm,achievement,prowess,homosexuali
tymaybeobser v
ed.
Pi
cture17GF:Thesuni sshi
ningfr
om betweent hecloudswithabuil
dingov ert
he
br
idge.Awomani sst andingonthebridgelooki
ngatt hewater.

Obser
vati
on:Thestoryr el
atedt
ot hecar
drev
eal
sat
tit
udesorf
eeli
ngstowardt
he
i
mpendingarri
valorrecentseparati
onwit
halov
edone.Thi
scar
disalsoeff
ect
ivei
n
caseofsui
cidalpat
ients.
Pi
ctur
e18B:
Thr
eehandsar
egr
abbi
ngamandr
essedi
nal
ongcoat
.
Obser
vat
ion:
Indi
vidualf
orcesareatt
acki
ng,so,t
hiscouldshowthepresenceofanxi
ety
.
Thewaythesubj
ecthandlesherownanxietyi
simportantandshoul
dbenot ed.
Pi
ctur
e18GF:Justbelowthefl
ightofst
air
s,awomani sgraspi
ngthethroatofanot
her
woman.
Observati
on:Feelingsofjealousy,i
nferi
ori
ty,
andt hecauseoftheaggressivenessal
ong
withthehosti
lerelati
onshipswi t
hotherwomeni sreveal
edfrom t
hiscard.Repressi
on
ofhostil
i
tyanddeni ali
sot herusefulinf
ormationreveal
edfrom t
hecard.
Pictur
e19: Asurrealdepi
ct i
onofcloudsandahomecov eredwit
hsnow.

Observat
ion:
Iti
soneoftheunst
ruct
uredcar
ds,andthushelpst
oassessthe
i
ndivi
dual’
sabil
i
tyt
oint
egrat
elessaccur
atesti
muli
.Anxiet
yandinsecur
it
ycanal
sobe
seenf
rom t
hecar
d.

Pi
ctur
e20:Thecar
dshowsamanl
eani
ngagai
nstal
amppostatni
ghti
nahazy
at
mospher
e.
Obser
vati
on:Subj
ect
’sat
ti
tudesandfeel
ingst
owardloneli
ness,uncer
tai
ntyand
dar
knessisr
eveal
ed.Thewayinwhichthesubj
ecthandlesfearcanalsobeanal
yzed.