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Essay on The Children's Appreception Test (CAT)

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The Name of the Test The Children’s Apperception Test (CAT), according to Albert I. Rabin (1995) “was first published in 1949, and the manual reviewed was the eighth revised edition.” The test was revised in 1991. The Children’s Apperception Test is an extension from the TAT, which is for adults, using pictures of humans rather than animals. There is a CAT-H that uses human pictures, which was created after a controversy about whether animal or human pictures were best. There is also a CAT-S supplement. Purpose of the Test The Children’s Apperception Test (CAT) is a projective personality test used on children ages 3-10 years old. Children will decipher a series of 10 pictures consisting of animals, each in different situations. The …show more content…

The manual does not meet the standards that are recommended in the American Psychological Association Standards (Reinehr, 1992). The Development of the Test Test Administration The manual for the CAT indicates that knowledge of theories of personality, ego psychology, and cognitive development must be understood to interpret the made up stories of children (Shaffer, 1980). However, there is no set restriction of who can purchase the test, administer the test, or interpret the test responses. According to Shaffer (1980), “The CAT manual avers that it 'may be profitable in the hands of the psychoanalyst, the psychiatrist, the psychologist, the social worker, and the teacher, as well as the psychologically trained pediatrician.'” The test is given in the form of a game. Each of the ten cards are presented one at a time and the child’s story is to include the past, present, and future of the situation on the card. There is no set time that it takes to administer the test. Both administration and scoring are not standardized. (Hatt, 1980). Norm Information The normative information is limited. All that is known about the normative group is that it consisted of 200 children ages 3-10. This test is appropriate for the age group of children tested, 3-10. Knoff (1992) suggests that, “they fail to elaborate on this assertion, providing no data, documentation, or critical analysis. The CAT remains largely untested, despite the large number of articles published on its use.”

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