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A Human Modification of theChildren's Apperception Test(CAT-H)Leopold Bellak & Marvin S. HurvichPublished online: 16 Nov 2010.

To cite this article: Leopold Bellak & Marvin S. Hurvich (1966) A Human Modificationof the Children's Apperception Test (CAT-H), Journal of Projective Techniques andPersonality Assessment, 30:3, 228-242, DOI: 10.1080/0091651X.1966.10120301

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A Human Modification of the Children’s Apperception Test

LEOPOLD BELLAK AND MARVIN S. HURVICH New York, New York

Summary: Since the cr&ation of the CAT fifteen years ago, first introduced in the pages of this Journal, many studies have been published comparing the stimulus value of animal versus human figures, Some outcomes favored the animal figures, while an even larger number favored the human stimuli. It appears that some chil- dren respond better to animal stimuli, and some to human figures, depending on particular characteristics of the child. A human modification of the CAT was there- fore developed by Bellak and Bellak. It is hoped this version will be useful with older children, especially those with an M.A. beyond ten years, and will thus bridge the gap between the animal CAT and the TAT. The human CAT may also elicit more information from children with particular personality characteristics.

(C A T - HI

T h e development of the original Children’s Apperception Test (CAT) prior to 1949 was based on a number of propositions, among them to pro- vide a projective test likely to pro- duce themes relevant for the person- ality of young children. Secondarily, animal figures were chosen on the basis of expectations derived from clinical work that young children would identify more readily with ani- mal figures than with human figures and that animal figures would more easily elicit idiographic material. Fables, fairy tales, the high animal per cent in children’s Rorschachs, the frequency of animal phobias in chil- dren, the role of animals in primitive cultures, identification with animals in children’s play, the popularity of animals in T V shows (Flipper, Lassie, etc.) all would tend to render the hypothesis reasonable.

I n addition, animal figures have the advantage of bein more culture-free, and less structure % with regard to sex and age than human figures. It was reasoned that animal figures would increase the extent to which attribu- tion of sex and age to story characters would be based on motivational fac- tors in the child rather than upon “card pull” perceptual factors, thus providing valuable information re- lated to the child’s underlying atti- tudes toward important adult figures.

I n constructing the CAT, there was

an attempt to depict scenes which would elicit material relevant to im- portant situations and problems in the child’s life (feeding, rivalry, ag- gression, loneliness, interactions with parental figures, etc.) . A further card pull for these important problem areas was created by the use of back- ground props, i.e., human settings, for most of the ten cards.

During the last fifteen years, a num- ber of studies have focused on a com- parison of the relative merits of ani- mal vs. human figures. While this is a legitimate and important problem, it became the major concern in CAT research, probably to the detriment of other important issues, such as longi- tudinal studies of children and signifi- cant pathognomonic differences. In addressing themselves to the animal - human stimulus issue, some workers seemed to assume erroneously that the animal characters were what the CAT was meant to stand on or fall. Literature suruey

Studies relevant to the use of ani- mal as opposed to human figures have most recently been reviewed by Bellak and Adelman (1960), by Murstein (1963), and by Haworth (1966).

Prior to the construction of the CAT; Bender and Woltmann (1936) ar- ranged the themes of therapeutically oriented puppet shows on the assump- tion that children, like primitives,

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LEOPOLD BELLAK AND MARVIN S. HURVICH 229

identify themselves and their parents with animals. Bender and Rapaport (1 944) had found animal drawings of 7 to 13 year old disturbed children helpful in identifying central person- ality conflict areas. And in the con- struction of the Blacky pictures, Blum and Hunt (1952) state that animal figures were chosen over humans to add a measure of ambiguity to the highly structured situations being de- picted, with the intent of facilitating personal ex ression and decreasing re-

An early comparison of T A T cards with animal pictures was reported by Bills (1950), for 48 male and female school children ages five through ten. He found significantly longer stories to the ten animal (rabbit) pictures, with less card rejections (18 to I ) , and concluded that the Ss more easily for- mulated stories to the animal figures. A methodological limitation of this study (and the one by Bills et al. be- low) was that the animal pictures were in color and the T A T pictures were not, resulting in a confounding of color with the animal-human vari- able, as Murstein (1963) has pointed

Bills, Leiman and Thomas (1950) then compared the qualitative differ- ences between stories to the T A T and animal (rabbit) pictures. Subjects were four girls and four boys from third grade, and stories to both T A T and animal pictures were compared with non-directive play therapy inter- views. Correlations between T A T and animal pictures for 26 of Murray’s manifest needs ranged from -.09 to + .58, three of these comparisons reaching the .05 level of significance. The authors concluded that animal pictures appear to be as valid and useful as the T A T and easier for children in formulating stories than the TAT.

Biersdorf and Marcuse (1953) ad- dressed themselves to the animal vs. human figure problem by construct- ing two sets of six pictures (similar

sistance to f! gures “too close to home.”

out.

to CAT cards, 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, and lo) , one set with animal, the other set with human figures. For 30 first-grade pupils of both sexes, no significant dif- ferences were found on 7 response

roductivity measures, including num- ger of words, ideas, characters men- tioned, characters introduced, and re- sponse time indeces. I n a second study, Mainord and Marcuse (1954) em- ployed the identical stimulus pictures, but this time- with a group of 28 emotionally disturbed children of both sexes (21 boys, 7 girls) , aged five years, four months to eight years, five months. Again, no significant differ- ences were obtained on the response productivity measures. However, five clinicians asked to rate the stories for their clinical usefulness (amount of personal structure and dynamics re- vealed about the child) favored the human set to a statistically significant degree (p. 001).

T h e same year Armstrong (1954) reported a study comparing 60 school children (ten boys and ten girls from first, second, and third grades) on five CAT cards (1, 2, 4, 8, and 10) and on a duplicate set of pictures with human figures, which the author states were ambiguous as to sex. Mean Stan- ford-Binet I.Q. for each grade of chil- dren was in the superior range. Com- parison between groups was made on length of protocol, number of nouns, verbs, ego words, transcendence scores and reaction time. Significant differ- ences in Transcendence Index scores were found (i.e,, more subjective, per- sonalized, interpretive responses other than pure description) in favor of the human figures. No differences in any other response measures were attribut- able to the animal-human figure vari- able.

Light (1954) designed a study to compare the T A T and CAT on more dynamic aspects of story content than on reaction time, story length, and other similar measures, which he felt were not valid indicators of identifica- tion. Subjects were 74 fourth and fifth graders, aged nine to ten years, six

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months; with a mean age of nine years eight months. With five T A T and five CAT cards presented in a group set- ting, all of the response measures (amount and kinds of feelings,

themes, conflicts, and definite out- comes) were significantly higher for the stories to the TAT.

Boyd and Mandler (1955), noting contradictory findings in the previous- ly published literature, attempted a more extensive evaluation than previ- ous workers. Subjects (96 third grad- ers of mean age eight years, five

mths, and mean Kuhlman I.Q. of 101) were told two stimulus stories, each of which was followed by a stimulus picture to which they were requested to write their own story. The main variables were a) type of stimulus story (animal or human char- acters), b) content of stimulus story (central figure engages in socially a p proved or socially disapproved be- havior), and c) type of stimulus pic- ture (animal or human figures). The stimulus pictures (each in an animal or a human version) showed the main character from the stimulus stories in some ambiguous action.

Eight response measures presumably related to personal involvement were evaluated in a three way analysis of variance (2x2~2 factorial design) . The response indices were story length, presence of original ideas, value judg- ments] punishment, reward, and new themes, occurrence of the pronoun I, and the extent of formal features (number of words used for the be-

ginning and conclusion of the story). Analysis of the stimulus story vari-

able revealed that s/4 of the Ss pre- ferred the animal over the human stories, while the response measures showed significantly more involve- ment associated with the stories told with human characters.

Concerning the stimulus pictures, the animal figures were found to elicit more personal involvement than the pictures with human figures. Animal pictures had a significantly higher

A Human Modification of the C A T

number of original ideas and begin- nings and endings and scored higher on four of the remaining six response measures, though short of statistical significance. The animal cards were found especially to elicit negative feelings, and the authors concluded that socially disapproved behavior seems to arouse more anxiety when originated by human than by animal figures.

Furuya (1957) tested 7.2 Japanese children from first, fourth, and sixth grades (ages 6 to 12) with the Marcuse-Biersdorf-Mainord cards. He found significantly more definite out- comes and more expression of feelings and of significant conflict in the stories to the human set. Bellak and Adel- man (1960) have pointed out that the human figure cards used by Mar- cuse et al. and by Furuya were more structured than the animal cards with regard to sex and in some instances also more structured as to activity: Thus, while their studies show su- periority of human figures on the pro- ductivity measures, the decrease of ambiguity from animal to human fig- ures would appear to limit the range of response choice, and in this im- portant sense decrease the value of the human as compared to the ani- mal figures. In this regard, one can question the representativeness of the clinicians’ preference for human over animal figures in the Mainord and Marcuse (1954) work, but replication studies are needed to clarify the issue.

Simson (1959) also compared the CAT with human figures. Subjects were 28 second-graders, 14 of whom were administered the animal version first, and the human version two weeks later, and the reverse order for the other 14. He found the human pictures to be associated with shorter reaction time, longer stories, faster verbalization and more story themes,

With the intention of providing a more crucial test of the hypothesis that young children more readily identify with animals, Budoff (1960)

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LEOPOLD BELLAK AND MARVIN S. HURVICH 23 1

chose four year old nursery schoolers rather than the relatively older chil- dren used in previous experiments. Eighteen subjects with Sanford-Binet I.Q.’s above 120 were administered nine CAT cards (#6 was omitted), and an analogous human set in a balanced order with an interval of two weeks between presentations. Re- sponse mewn-es were productivity (number of words spoken), story

level (presence of object naming. picture description, and a story plot) and Transcendence Index.

Results showed no statistically sig- nificant differences between picture sets on the three response measures (except one, attributable to chance

because of the number of com arisons

though not statistically significant, was for higher scores to the human figures on both story level and Trans- cendence Index, the latter being low €or both groups. While he questions the superiority of the animal CAT over human figures in comparable situations, the author states that his findings fail to solve the problem of whether young children more easily identify with animals. Among other suggestions, Budoff conjectures that where responses to human figures are particularly threatening, animal fig- ures might elicit more productive stories due to the increase of psycho- loEical distance (as Blum and Hunt [I9521 have suggested in another context).

The most recent study comparing animal and human figures is that of Weisskopf-Joelson, and Foster (1962) . These authors, interested in the ques- tion of what kinds of pictures elicit the greatest amount of projection, created four sets of four CAT cards (3,4,9, and 10). T h e versions were as follows: animal figures not in color (AN), animal figures in color (AC) , human figures not in color (HN) , and a color version with human figures (HC).

An attempt was made to keep all aspects of the four stimulus sets con-

made). T h e overall trend of t g e data,

stant except for’ the substitution of human for animal figures and color for black and white. T h e original CAT cards were consequently modi- fied; animals were clothed, the mouse was omitted from the seated lion pic- ture (CAT card #3), and the kan- garoo in CAT card #4 was changed to carry the offspring in her arm rather than in her pouch.

T h e subjects were 40 kindergarten children, ages five and one-half to seven, with a mean age of six years, two months. A Graeco-Latin square design was used, such that each sub- ject received four stimulus cards, in- cluding one each of the four sets (cor- responding to CAT cards #3, 4, 9, and lo) , and each one being from a different experimental version (AN, AC, HN, HC). T h e dependent vari- able was story productivity as meas- ured by the Weisskopf (1950) Trans- cendence Index.

Mean Transcendence Index scores for all stories to human pictures compared with all stories to animal pictures did not differ to a degree ap- proaching significance (t = .995); nor was there any appreciable differ- ence found when all stories to colored pictures were compared with all stor- ies to non-colored pictures (t. = .894), So neither the animal-human variable, nor the color-non-color vari- able affected the Transcendence In- dex productivity scores.

When the 11 highest Transcend- ence Index scorers were compared with the 11 lowest, a trend (not reach- ing statistical significance) was noted for the high scorers to show greater productivity when responding to chromatic pictures, and for the low scorers to be more productive when responding to the animal pictures.

As the authors point out, subjects who score relatively high on the Tran- scendence Index are freer to develop and express fantasies than are low scoring subjects, the latter being more inhibited in this regard. T h e tend- ency for low scorers to be more pro-

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232 A Hurnun Modification of the C A T

animal figures, it was decided to develop a human version.

Among the studies reviewed, those of Budoff and especially of Weisskopf- Joelson and Foster suggest that some children do better with animal stim- uli, and some with human ones, and that these preferences may be associ- ated with specific personality vari- ables: for instance, those subjects hav- ing difficulty with producing responses seemed to be better with animal figures. Future exploration of relative preferences of some personality types, the relationship of defensive patterns, age, and I.Q., and psychopathology, is likely to be much more fruitful than the mechanical either/or pro- positions of many previous studies.

Another important reason for pro- viding a human equivalent to the CAT was that some children between seven and ten, especially those with high I.Q.3, considered animal stimuli below their intellectual dignity. While many found them “childish” for purely defensive reasons, it was nevertheless felt that a human version would lend itself especially well to an upward extension of the usefulness of the CAT and go further towards closing an age gap between the ap- plicability of the CAT and the T A T . The Human Modifications I n T h e Pictures

The changing of the animal figures to human figures resented a number

process highlighted many of the ad- vantages of the original choice of animals with regard to figures which were rather ambiguous as to age, sex, and many cultural attributes.

Three different artists tried their skill in portraying the nature of the regular CAT in human form, follow- ing the instruction of Leo old Bellak

pictures in the CAT presented vary- ing degrees of difficulty in that respect.

In picture one, for instance, the adult on the left was clothed in a

of difficult prob P ems. In fact, this

and Sonya Sore1 Bellak. T R e different

ductive with the animal figures, the authors then reason, could be due to their finding it easier to reveal them- selves under the pretense that they are telling about animals instead of humans. The general consideration suggested here is that personality dif- ferences of subjects can be associated with greater productivity to animal or to human pictures, depending on the particular personality configuration.

A review of the literature thus re- veals that for the conditions evalu- ated, some outcomes favor the animal figures, and an even greater number of studies favor the human figures (see Table I ) . Of the various factors likely responsible for the conflicting results, there is variation among the studies in stimulus cards employed and in outcome measures utilized. Few investigators maintained the am- biguity of age or sex in the human drawings that is inherent in the ani- mal figures. With regard to outcome measures, dynamic evaluation (as compared to word counts, theme counts, etc.) played a relatively small role in the reported studies. In addi- tion, subjects varied among the studies with regard to age, intelli- gence, and degree and kind of psycho- pathology. It is likely that the stimu- lus value of animals gradually de- creases between ages seven and ten, especially if the mental age is higher than the chronological age. An ade- quate comparison of the utility of the two kinds of figures would require studies which control for and systema- tically sample from among the above variables and which emplo the same outcome measures, inclucl’ing some dynamic and clinically relevant in- dices. Especially sparse are studies employing disturbed children, a point emphasized by Murstein (1963). T h e Development of the CAT-H- Human Version

Despite the limitations of the studies purporting to show that hu- man figures in the CAT setting may have more stimulus value than the

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LEOPOLD BELLAK AND MARVIN S. HURVICH 233

Bills (1950)

Bills, Leiman & Thomas (1950)

Biersdorf & Marcuse (1953)

Mainord & Marcuse (1954)

Armstrong (1954)

Light (1954)

Boyd & Mandler (1955)

Furuya (1957)

Simson (1959)

Budoff (1960)

Weisskopf- Joelson & F a t e (1962)

TABLE I-Studies of Animal vs. Human Figures RESPONSE

STIMULI SUBJECTS MEASURES RESULTS 10 TAT cards vs. 48 M & F, 5 to 10, Story length, card Animals- 10 chromatic pics normal school rejections significantly longer of rabbits in vari- children stories, fewer card ous activities rejections Same as Bills 8 M & F, 3rd grade, Comparison on 26 Animals seen as (1950) normal school of Murray’s easier for children.

children Manifest Needs Correlation from a .09 to + .58 (3 stat sip)

6 CAT cards (#l, 30 M & F, 1st Number of words, No significant 2,4,5,8 & 10) vs. graders, normal ideas, characters differences comparable human school children mentioned, set characters intro-

duced, response time indices

Same as Biersdorf 28 M & F, 5.4 to Similar to No significant and Marcuse 8.5, emotionally Biersdorf and differences. (1953) disturbed Marcuse (1953). Human jud ed

plus ratings of more clinim%y clinical usefulness useful.

5 CAT cards (#l, 60 M & F, 1st-3rd Story length, Human signifi- 2,4,8.10) vs. a graders, IQs number of nouns, cantly higher comparable human superior, normal verbs, ego words, Transcendence set school children Transcendence Index. Other

Scores & measures-no reaction time difference

CAT vs. T A T 75 M & F, 9-10.6, Amount & kinds Human-all normal school of feelings, response criteria children themes, conflicts significantly

and definite higher except outcomes number of words

2 stones (with ani- 96 M & F, mean Story length, Human-for ma1 or human age 8.5, mean IQ presence of stimulus stories. characters), each 101, normal school original ideas, Animal for followed by 2 pica children value judgments, stimulus pics of animals or punishment, humans in am- reward, new biguous action themes, pronoun

I, and formal features Definite outcomes, Human more Same as Biersdorf

and Marcuse 6 to 12, normal expression of definite outcomes (1953) school children feelings and more expres-

72 Jap.. M & F.

sion of feelings and significant conflicts

CAT vs. cornpar- 28 German, Story length, Human superior on able human set Age 8-9, normal speed of all the response

second-graders verbalization, measures number of themes, reaction time Productivity, story No statistical 9 CAT cards (#6

omitted) vs. com- M & F, all IQs level and difference. Trend in parable human set above 120, normal Transcendence favor of human

18 4-year olds,

nursery school Index children

4 CAT cards (#S, 40 M & F, 5.5 to 9. Transcendence No difference

parable human set. garten personality color & black & white

:I 4,9,10) vs. corn- normal kinder- Index except by

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234 A Human Modification of the C A T

1

4

shapeless garment which could be a male or female in pajamas and robe. The hairstyle and facial expression can be described as not necessarily of one sex or the other. The same can be said for the children's figures.

2

5

In picture two, the position of the adult human figure on the right was initially turned more sideways to avoid the problem of breasts, or their lack, as a defining characteristic, but it was finally decided to reproduce

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fable, e.g., the mouse outwitting the lion or helping the lion.

However, the child was drawn with a somewhat mischievous facial expres- sion, and such a figure might still elicit stories of a similar nature; such as giving help to a man who needs a cane to walk, or by the subject inter- preting the shadow near the left knee as an object suitable for mischief.

Picture four presented relatively few problems except for the absence of tails, of course, and the fact that an infant in arms is not quite the same as an infant in the maternal pouch, alas.

Picture five, with its anthropomor- phic situation in the original, present- ed little difficulty.

Picture six, however, was a prob- lem. If one is interested in what Mur- ray has called Press Claustrum, there just is no substitute for a cave. TO preserve some of the possible stimulus value of the outdoor situation (in primitivity, in romance, in fear of animals and of the wild), the tentlike nature of the structure was empha- sized by introducing the new feature of trees. Responses related to the story of the three bears will hardly continue to play a role.

Picture seven was also a challenge. Fears of being devoured needed to be given a stimulus resembling the tiger threat. The grasping, evil-toothed, genii-like figure, supplemented by a steaming kettle (as seen in cartoons about cannibals) was introduced for that purpose. The way the child is depicted might result in chances of escape roughly equivalent to those of the monkey in the original.

Picture eight presented the by now familiar problem of sexual identity. However, the adult figures were near- ly always identified as female with the

ssible exception of the extreme left Eure . Therefore, this figure was dressed in slacks, rather than a dress, giving it still some ambiguity, at least in most of the American subcultures.

Picture nine with its anthropomor-

A Human Modification of the C A T

phic setting and lack of determining characteristics presented no adapta- tional problem.

Picture ten, however, was redrawn many times until a version was finally reached, relatively ill-defined with re- gard to sex and still leaving the most frequent two choices available-being dried and cared for, or being spanked. In order to maintain more ambiguity, the child's face is drawn in profile rather than full face, as the dog is depicted in the original.

There is little doubt that the de- gree of ambiguity of the sex of the figures in the CAT-H will vary much more with different cultures and sub- cultures than the original animal fig- ures. One of the reasons for choosing the animals at the time had been their relative freedom from cultural deter- minants, at least within the Western World (the furniture in some of the original CAT pictures was redrawn in the Japanese and the Indian versions). However, in those instances in which the CAT-H is preferred from the start, the advantages determining the choice will presumably outweigh the disad- vantages of less ambiguity. Studies with the CAT-H

The human modification was at first tried out clinically by the senior author and by some of his associates, with various relatively small varia- tions of the transposition into human form suggested by clinical experience.

In an unpublished study, Haworth (1964) 1 has approached the compari- son of CAT and an experimental set of the CAT-H (provided by the sen- ior author)2 with a more detailed and dynamically oriented evaluation scheme than is found in any of the previously published work. All stories lData reproduced with the permission of Dr. Haworth.

'The present published version of the CAT-H differs in some details from this experi- mental set. We are indebted for this final version of the drawings, among other things, artistically-greatly improved, to Phyllis Hur- vich, who applied herself to the task with great devotion, understanding, and skill.

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LEOPOLD BELLAK AND MARVIN S. HURVICH 237

TABLE 11-A Schedule of Adaptive Mechanisms in CAT Responses MARY R. HAWORTH, PH.D.

Name ........................................................ Date ................................ Age ............ Birthdate ........................

Critical Scores: .............................................................................................................................................. - TOTALS DEFENSE MECHANISMS

A. Reaction-formation (only one check per story) ................................ 1. Exaggerated goodness or cleanliness

(A + ................ 2. Oppositional attitudes, rebellion, stubbornness B=5) ................ 3. Story tone opposed to picture content

B. Undoing and Ambivalence (only one check per story) ................ 1. Undoing ................ 2. Gives alternatives; balanced phrases (asleep-awake; hot-cold, etc.) . - .: .............. 3. Indecision by S or story character ................ 4. Restates (e.g., "that .........., no this .......... ." "he was going to, but .......... I.)

1. Detached attitude ("it couldn't happen," "it's a cartoon") 2. Literal ("it doesn't show, so I can't tell.") 3. Comments on story or picture ("That is hard"; "I told a good one.") 4. Laughs at card, exclamations 5. Use of fairy-tale, comic-book, or "olden times" themes or characters 6. Describes in detail, logical; "the end"; gives title to story 7. Specific details, names or quotes ("four hours"; she said, ". "1 ................ 8. Character gets lost 9. Character runs away due to anger

................ 10. S aligns with parent against "naughty" child character; disapproves

1. Child character waits, controls self, conforms, is good, learned lesson

3. Prolonged or remote punishments 4. "It was just a dream" 5. Forgets, or loses something 6. Omits figures or objects from story (on .#lo must omit mention of

7. Omits usual story content 8. No fantasy or story (describes card blandly)

1. Child superior to adult, laughs at adult, is smarter, tricks adult, sneaks,

2. Adult tricks child, is not what appears to be (only one check per story)

1. Children play in bed

3. Open window (#5 , #9); Dig, or fall in, a hole

5. Rope breaks (#2) ; chair or cane breaks (#3) ; balloon breaks (#4) ;

6. Rain, river, water, storms, cold

9. Cuts, stings, injuries, actual killings (other than by eating)

1. Attacker is attacked, "eat and be eaten"

................ 3. Child is active aggressor (bites. hits, throws; do not include verbal or

C. Isolation ................................

(6) ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ............... ................

child's actions D. Repression and Denial

................................ (5) ................ 2. Accepts fate, didn't want it anyway

................

................

................

................ toilet and tub or washing)

................

................

................ 9. Refuses card E. Deception

................................ pretends, hides from, steals from, peeks at or spies on adult (only one check per story)

(3)

................ F. Symbolization

................................ (4) ................ 2. See parents in bed (#5)

................

................ 4. Babies born

................ tail pulled or bitten (#4,7) ; crib broken (#9)

................

................ 7. Fire, explosions, destruction

................ 8. Sticks, knives, guns

................ 10. Oral deprivation

................

G. Projection and Introjection ................................

(4) ................ 2. Innocent one is eaten or attacked

teasing attacks)

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238 A Human Modification of the C A T

................ 4. Characters blame others 5. Others have secrets or make fun of somebody 6. S adds details, objects, characters, or oral themes 7. Magic or magical powers

................

................

................ PHOBIC, IMMATURE OR DISORGANIZED

H. Fear and Anxiety ................................ 1. Child hides from danger, runs away due to fear

4. Parent dead, goes away, or doesn’t want child 5. Slips of tongue by S

1. Much affect in telling story (2) ................ 2. Personal references

................ 3. Food spilled 4. Bed or pants wet, water splashed 5 . Dirty, messing, smelly; person or object falls in toilet 6. Ghosts, witches, haunted house

(3) ................ 2. Fears outside forces (wind, ghosts, hunters, wild animals, monsters) ................ 3. Dreams of danger ................ ................

I. Regression ................................

................

................

................ J. Controls weak or absent

................................ 1. Bones, blood (1) ................ 2. Poison

................ 3. Slang or nonsense words 4. Perseveration of unusual content from a previous story 5. Tangential thinking, loose associations

................

................

................ 6. Bizarre content IDENTIFICATION

K. Adequate, same-sex ................................ 1. S identifies with same-sex parent or child character

(Lx ................ 2. Child jealous of, scolded or punished by, same-sex parent or > K) ................ 3. Child loves, or is helped by, parent of opposite sex

L. Confused, or opposite-sex ................ ..: ............. 1. S identifies with opposite-sex parent or child character

2. Child fears, or is scolded or punished by, opposite-sex parent 3. Misrecognition by S of sex or species 4. Slips of tongue with respect to sex of figures

................

................

................ (. or 2, if both are E-2 responses)

This checklist has been designed primarily as an aid in the qualitative evaluation of chil- dren’s CAT stories; it can also be used to furnish a rough quantitative measure for making comparisons between subjects and groups. The Schedule provides a quick summary of the number and kinds of defenses employed as well as the content of items used most frequently. The categories are arranged as nearly as possible on a continuum from indicators of high control and constriction to suggestions of disorganization and loosening of ties to reality.

Directions for Scoring: In the blank preceding each item, indicate with a check.mark (or the card number, for future reference) any occurrence of such a response. A story may be “scored” in several categories and, except where indicated, a story may receive checks on more than one item under any one category.

After all stories have been scored, record the total number of checks for each category in the blank provided. The number in parentheses under each of these blanks indicates the minimum number of checks regarded as a “critical score” for that category,

For the Identification measure, the equivalent of a critical score is secured by comparing the relative number of checks for categories K and L. If the sum of checks for L is equal to or exceeds the sum for K, identification is considered to be “confused” and contributes one unit to the total of critical scores.

The final quantitative measure consists of the number of categories receiving critical scores (and not the total number of checks for all categories).

On the basis of research findings (Haworth, 1963) five or more critical scores would indi- cate enough disturbance to warrant clinical intervention.

for the study to be described were scored for specific defense mechanisms and for story content. The presence of defense mechanisms was assessed with

the Haworth CAT Adaptive Mechan- isms Schedule (Haworth, 1963) which is reproduced in Table 11. Story con- tent was indexed with the CAT Story

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LEOPOLD BELLAK AND MARVIN S. HURVICH 239

Dynamics Form, Table 111. In the Adaptive Mechanisms Sched-

ule, the categories are arranged in an order going from indications of high control antl constriction to signs of disorgnnization and loosening of real- ity ties. Critical score levels for each dimension were derived from previ- ous work (Haworth, 1962, 1963). A reliability coefficient of .88 for two judges had been previously reported (Haworth 1963).

Subjects were 22 children (1G boys, 6 girls) ; ages six years, three months, to ten years, three months, referred to a psychiatric clinic for outpatient diagnosis or for inpatient treatment, with diagnoses ranging from neurotic difficulties and behavior problems to borderline psychoses. Both sets of cards were administered to all sub- jects in a balanced order, with an equal number of boys and girls in each of the two administration groups. The time between adminis- tration of the two sets varied from 14 to 20 days for all but two subjects in each group.

Results showed no significant dif- ferences between the animal and hu- man versions of the CAT on the total number of categories receiving criti- cally high scores. The obtained tally was 62 critical scores for the animal form, and 55 for the human form, out of a possible total of 220 (22 Ss x 10 categories per subject) on each form, with a mean of 2.8 for the ani- mal set, and 2.5 for the human. Com- paring the consistency of defense mechanism scores between the two forms for the group as a whole, a rank order correlation of .68 (Kendall's tau) is found.

Looking at the data in terms of the consistency for a given subject, ap- proximately half (64) of the 117 criti- cal scores were for the same category for each subject from animal to hu- man form. For the remaining critical scores (55), the S receiving a critical score on a given category for one pic- ture set failed to register a critical

score on the other set. For this sample of Ss, then, there is a difference be- tween the two sets of stimuli with regard to eliciting particular defense mechan isms."

Taking the categories separately, the largest difference in critical score incidence occurred on Projection-In- trojection, with 12 tallies for the ani- mal set antl 6 for human. Projection is also the highest category where Ss received a critical score on one form but not on the other, again in favor of the animal form (seven instances to one). Ss were most consistent be- tween forms on Identification pat- terns.

A degree of internal consistency and construct validity is suggested by a consideration of the nine high-scor- ing Ss in the group. Analysis of these nine Ss who had four or more critical scores on one form or the other (and six of these had four or more critical scores on both forms) showed no con- sistent 'differences in high scores or total scores for the two forms. More scores on Regression and Weak Con- trols for these nine Ss (23 instances) than for the remaining 13 cases (6 instances) were found, but there was no indication that the animal form elicited more of these two dimensions than did the human form.

Story content was indexed with the aid of the Haworth CAT Story Dy- namics form (Table 111). Any theme found in the records of 2001, of the subjects (for either animal or human card set) was defined as a stable theme, and was included in the card by card comparison of the two ver- sions, which is here reproduced from the unpublished Haworth paper. 8The statement on this point by the present authors in the first printing of the CAT-H Manual is as follows: " . . . there is a definite relationship between the two sets of stimuli with regard to eliciting particular defense mechanisms, but the relationship is only moderate." Since none of the critical score comparisons for individual defenses in the Haworth data are statistically significant, the above more accurately summarizes this as- pect of the study.

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240 A Huntan Modification of the C A T

TABLE 111-CAT Story Dynamics Name: Sex: Form: A or H

1. Oral gratification ............ Deprivation ............ Adult is Father ............, Mother ............, Shadow ............ Other ............ Punishment theme ............

Winner: Pair ............ Single ............ Child with: Parent of same sex ............ of opposite sex ............ Peer ............

3. Adult attacks or scolds child ............ Adult is king ............ Child attacks adult ............

Bike runs over tail or leg ............ Children play in bed ............ Naughty ............ Sleep ............

Attack from outside: feared ............ takes place ............

2. Game ............ Fight ............

Child helps adult ............ old, tired, lonely, etc .............

4. Picnic ............ Disaster, fire, etc. ............

5. Parents in bed ............

6. Child runs away ............

7. Child is: attacked ............ gets away ............ turns on large fig ............. 8. Scolding, punishing ............ Child is helpful ............

Mention of picture ............ Secret ............ Male Adult ............ Everyday event ............ Loneliness ............ Parents in another room ............ Punisher is same sex ............ Continues naughtiness ............

9. Attack from outside: feared ............ takes place ............

10. Naughtiness relates to toilet ............ other ............ opposite sex ............

learned lesson ............ Cards rejected: Unusual stories:

Twenty-Sour of the 48 items reached the 20% criterion.

Card. 1. Oral gratification is the main theme for both animal and hu- man forms. For those Ss not using this reponse on both forms, the trend favors the animal form, while more oral deprivation is used on the hu- man form. The adult is most often seen as the mother on both forms, with only a few responses of “shadow” or figure other than father (who is seen ?4 as often as mother). Few pun- ishment themes are reported on either form.

Card 2. Predominantly seen as a game, rather than a fight, on both forms, with the pair most frequently seen as the winner, especially on the human card. The child is more often seen with either mother or father on the animal version and almost exclu- sively with a peer on the human form.

Card 3. No outstanding use of either the adult attackin the child or the child helping the a c f ult on either

form. The large figure is seen as powerful (or as king) only on the animal form, and is more often seen as old or tired on the human form. The child figure teases the adult only on the animal form.

Card 4. Most frequently seen as going to a picnic or to the store on both forms, and with very few disas- ters happening in either versitm. Only a very few instances on either card of the child running over the adult’s heel with his bike.

Card 5. Children are seen as play- ing, sleeping (most often) or being naughty equally on both cards; par- ents are mentioned equally on both forms.

Card 6 . There is no difference be- tween cards in terms of the child run- ning away, fearing attack or an attack taking place; none of these themes were used frequently.

Card 7. The smaller figure is fre- quently seen as being attacked on both versions, but with somewhat

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LEOPOLU BELLAK AN) MARVIN S. HURVICH 24 1

greater incidence on the animal iorm. The chilcl escapes equally often on both cards and only infrequently turns to retaliate against the larger figure.

Card 8. Scoldings occur with e ual

is rarely seen as being helpful. The picture on the wall is mentioned more frequently on the human form, and secrets are reported more often on the animal card. Male figures were seen only on the animal form and were mentioned in 10 of the 22 stories.

Card ‘9. Attacks are only infre- quently reported as being feared or as taking place on either card. Rather, a preponderance of everyday events are mentioned (especially to the human form), and the parents are occasionally reported as being in the next room. Themes of loneliness oc- cured more often on the human form.

Card 10. Toilet naughtiness was reported with fair frequency on both forms, but with somewhat more on the human. Punishing parents are seen about equally as being of the same or the opposite sex, but with a trend for more same-sex parents on the animal form and more opposite- sex parents on the human form. In only a very few cases does the child “learn a lesson,” and this tends to happen more often on the human form.

Using the same experimental set of the CAT-H that had been employed by Haworth, Lawton carried out a comparison of the animal and human sets on normal children (1966) . Her findings are similar to those of Ha- worth in many respects. Additional comparative studies between the two sets of stimuli are needed to substanti- ate, extend and refine the results ob- tained by Haworth and by Lawton, and provide the basis for stable nor- mative expectations for normal and pathological subjects.

SUMMARY It is hoped that the CAT-H will

usefully round out the armamentar-

frequency to both cards, and the c x ild

ium for the study of children. We still think of the regular CAT as the first instrument to consider. However, with children between seven and ten, and especially if their mental age is much higher than their chronological age, the CiYT-H may often be more useful. In this sense the CAT-H may be a suitable bridge between the regular CAT and the TAT.

If a child should feel animal stories not appropriate, albeit defensively, the human version is of course in- dicated. Occasionally, having employ- ed the regular CAT and not having obtained quite a satisfactory story, it may be useful to offer the human version as a supplement in the hope of further data. Certainly, if the CAT- H is used first, the animal version might be used for such purposes. As before, the CAT-S remains for the study of special problem areas.

With regard to research, though the two versions may lend themselves to a further and better study of differ- ences between animal and human stimuli, it is suggested that other significant areas of inquiry not be ignored.

Finally, it would appear that an exploration of the developmental hypotheses of Piaget could be ex- plored horizontally and longitudin- ally with the help of the CAT series. Similarly, an exploration of psycho- analytic propositions should be fruit- ful: a study of the changing relation- ship to parental figures, the possibil- ity of observing systematic changes in latency, the shift of libidinal aims as well as modes would likely be observ- able. In the area of ego functions, possibly inte rated with a study of

uniquely useful. Cognitive style as well as expressive modes might show interesting phase-and ages-specific variations. In sociological and trans- cultural studies, differences in atti- tudes and relationships can be ex- pected to reveal themselves in statu nnscendi. The Indian modification

Piaget’s varia i les, CAT data could be

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242

by Chowdhury (1960) and the J a p - nese adaptation by Marui (1956) should be particularly useful for non- western cultures.

REFERENCES Armstrong, M. Children’s responses to animal

and human figures in thematic pictures. J. consult. Psychol., 1954, 18, 67-70.

Bellak, L., & Bellak. S. An introductory note on the Children’s Apperception Test. J . p o i . Tech., 1950, 14, 173-180.

Bellak, L., & Bellak, S. The supplement to the CAT. C.P.S. Inc., Larchmont, New York.

Bellak, L., & Bellak, S . The CAT-H-A Hu- man Modification. C.P.S. Inc., Larchmont, New York, 1965.

Bellak, L., & Adelman, C. The children’s apperception test (CAT), in A. Rabin & M. Haworth (Eds.) , Projective techniques with children. New York: Grune & Strat- ton, 1960.

Bender, L. & Rapoport, J. Animal drawings of children. Atner. J . Orthopsychiat., 1944,

Bender, L., & Woltman, A. G. The use of puppet shows as a psychotherapeutic meth- od for behavior roblems in children. Amer. j . Orthopsyc&zt., 1936, 6, 341-354.

Biersdorf, K., & Marcuse, F. Responses of children to human and to animal pictures. J . proj. Tech., 1953, 17, 455-459.

Bills, R. Animal pictures for obtaining chil- dren’s projections. J. clin. Psychol., 1950, 6, 291 -293.

Bills, R., Leiman, C., & Thomas, R. A study of the validity of the T A T and a set of animal pictures. J. clin. Psychol., 1950, 6, 293-295.

Blum, G., & Hunt, H. The validity of the Blacky pictures. Psychol. Bull., 1952, 49,

Boyd, N., & Mandler, G. Children’s responses to human and animal stories and pictures. J. consult. Psychol., 1955, 19, 237-371.

Budoff, M. The relative utility of animal and human figures in a picture story test for

14, 521-527.

238-250.

A Human Modification of the C A T

young children. J . proj. Tech., 1960, 24, 347-352.

Chowdhury, U. An Indian adaptation of the CAT. Delhi, India: Manasayan, 1960.

Furuya, K. Responses of school children to human and animal pictures. J. proj. Tech.,

Haworth, M. Responses of children to a erouD Droiective film and to the Rors-

1957, 21, 248-252.

Ehach, ‘CAT, Despert Fables and D-A-P. J. proi. Tech., 1962,26,47-60.

Haworth, M. A schedule for the analysis of CAT responses. J. proj. Tech., 1963, 27,

Haworth, M. CAT vs. CAT-H with a clinic sample. Unpublished manuscript. 1964.

Haworth, M. The CAT: Fucts about fantasy. New York: Grune & Stratton. 1966.

Lawton, Marcia J. Animal and Human CATS with a school sample. J. proj. Tech., 1966, 30.

Light, B. Comparative study of a series of T A T and CAT cards. J . clin. Psychol., 1954,

Mainord, F., & Marcuse, F. Responses of dis- turbed children to human and animal pic- tures. J . proj. Tech., 1954, 18,475-477.

Marui, S . A Japanese adaptation of the CAT. 1956.

Murstein, B. Theory and research in pro- jective techniques: Emphasizing the T A T . New York: Wiley, 1963.

Simson, E. Vergleich von CAT und einer in- haltsanalogen Mensch - Bilderserie. Sonder- druck aus Diagnostica, 1959, 5, pp. 54-62.

Weisskopf, E. A transcendence index as a proposed measure in the TAT. J . Psychol.,

Weisskopf-Joelson, E., & Foster, H. An ex- perimental study of the effect of stimulus variation upon projection. J . proj. Tech.,

181-184.

10, 179-181.

1950, 29,379-390.

1962, 26, 366-370.

Leopold Bellak, M.D. Roosevelt Hospital 428 West 59th Street Kew Pork, N.Y. 10019

Received August 21, 1965 Revision received January 14, 1966

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