Abstract
Human figure drawings (HFD) have been used for almost a century as ways to gather information about an individual’s cognitive as well as personality functioning. In 1926, Goodenough submitted one of the first scoring systems which could be used to determine mental abilities through drawings. From this early work, the use of HFD as measures of mental ability, or developmental level, has involved reviewing the content of drawings to obtain an estimate of a person’s mental abilities. When used for this purpose, an individual’s drawings are reviewed for specific content items such as represented body parts and clothes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Suggested Readings
Anastasi, A. (1988). Psychological testing (6th ed.) New York: Macmillan.
Bardos, A. N. (1993). Human figure drawings: Abusing the Abused. School Psychology Quarterly, 8(3), 177–181.
Buck, J. N. (1948). The H-T-P technique: A qualitative and quantitative scoring manual. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 4, 317–396.
Burns, R., & Kaufman, S. (1970). Kinetic Family Drawings (K-F-D): An introduction to understanding children through kinetic drawings. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Finch, A. J., & Belter, R. W. (1993). Projective techniques. In T. H. Ollendick and M. Hersen (Eds.) Handbook of Child and Adolescent Assessment, (pp. 224–236). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Goodenough, F. L. (1926). Measurement of intelligence in drawings. New York: Harcourt Brace and World.
Hammer, E. (1958). The clinical application of projective drawings. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Koppitz, E. (1968). Psychological evaluation of children’s human figure drawings. New York: Grune & Stratton
Machover, K. (1949). Personality projection in the drawing of a human figure. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Motta, R. W., Little, S. G., & Tobin, M. I. (1993). The use and abuse of human figure drawings. School Psychology Quarterly, 8(3), 162–169.
Naglieri, J. A (1988). Draw A Person: A quantitative scoring System. San Antonio, TX. The Psychological Corporation.
Naglieri, J. A., McNeish, T. J., & Bardos, A. N. (1991). Draw a Person: Screening procedure for emotional disturbance examiner’s manual. Austin. TX: Pro-ed.
Naglieri, J. A., Pfeifer, S. & LeBuffe, P. (1993). Devereux Behavior Rating Scale- School Form. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Neal, V. (1992). Situational stress and children’s performance on the Draw A person: Screening Procedure for Emotional Disturbance considering parental stress levels, gender, and socio-economic conditions. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Texas Women’s University.
Norford, B. C., & Barakat, L. P. (1990). The relationship of human figure drawings to aggressive behaviors in preschool children. Psychology in the Schools, 27, 318–325.
Politikos, N. (1997). Performance of Greek children on the Draw A Person: Screening Procedure for Emotional Disturbance. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado, USA.
Prout, H. T. (1983). School psychologists and social- emotional assessment techniques: Patterns in training and use. School Psychology Review, 12, 377–383.
Ryser, C. Lassiter, K. & Bardos, A. N. (1991, May). Emotional indicators in the drawings of learning disabled children. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Colorado Psychological Association, Denver, Colorado.
Salvia, J., & Ysseldyke, J. E. (1991). Assessment (5th edition). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Stinnett, T. A., Harvey, J. M., & Oehler-Stinnett, J. (1994). Current test usage by practicing school psychologists: A national survey. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 2, 327–350.
Swensen, C. H.. (1957). Empirical evaluations of human figure drawings. Psychological Bulletin, 54, 431–436.
United States Bureau of the Census. (1983). 1980 census of the population (Publication No. PC80-1-B1 and PC80-1-C1). Washington, D.C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.
Wilson-Ball, B. M. (1989). Children’s human figure drawings: Symbolic communications of self-esteem level. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Maine.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bardos, A.N., Powell, S. (2001). Human Figure Drawings and the Draw-A-Person: Screening Procedure for Emotional Disturbance. In: Dorfman, W.I., Hersen, M. (eds) Understanding Psychological Assessment. Perspectives on Individual Differences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1185-4_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1185-4_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5434-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1185-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive