Definition
The thematic apperception test (TAT) is a performance-based projective test and implicit measure of personality.
Introduction
The thematic apperception test (TAT) is an implicit measure of personality that was developed and published by an American psychologist Henry A. Murray in collaboration with psychoanalyst Christiana D. Morgan at Harvard University in the late 1930s. The TAT was designed to measure implicit motives that are believed to be unconscious to the individual. Over time, the TAT has been heavily criticized for its psychometric properties, lack of standardization and scoring practices, and controversial interpretation (Weiner and Greene 2008). Despite its provocative nature as a projective assessment, the TAT remains one of the most researched projective tests in personality assessment.
History and Background
The thematic apperception test (TAT; Murray 1943) is an implicit measure...
Keywords
- Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
- Implicit Measures
- Implicit Motor
- Assess Personality Disorders
- Extensive Basic Research
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References
Fancher, R. E., & Rutherford, A. (2012). Pioneers of psychology. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
John, O. P., Robins, R. W., & Pervin, L. A. (2008). Handbook of personality: Theory and research. New York: The Guilford Press.
McClelland, D. C., Koestner, R., & Weinberger, J. (1989). How do self-attributed and implicit motives differ? Psychological Review, 96, 690. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.96.4.690.
Murray, H. A. (1943). The thematic apperception test: Plate and manual. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Weiner, I. B., & Greene, R. L. (2008). Handbook of personality assessment. New York: Wiley.
Woodside, A. G., Sood, S., & Muniz, K. M. (2013). Creating and interpreting visual storytelling art in extending thematic apperception tests and Jung’s method of interpreting dreams. Luxury Fashion and Culture, 7, 15. doi:10.1108/S1871-3173(2013)0000007005.
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Kasky-Hernández, L. (2017). Thematic Apperception Test. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_955-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_955-1
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