I

A GUIDE TO THE INTERPRETATION OF THE

THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST

To be used with the

BELLAK TAT BLANK AND ANALYSIS SHEET

Revised Form
1973

by

LEOPOLD BELLAK, M.A., M.D.

Research Professor of Psychology
Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy
New York University, New York, N.Y.
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science
George Washington University School of Medicine
Washington, D.C
·........

Visiting Professor of Psychiatry

.Albert Einstein College of Medicine
New York, N.Y.

.. .

Copyright 1947, 1951, © 1973,Leopold Bellak, M.A., M.D.

/Jl rights reserved. No part of this manual, or of the ,Blank associated with it may be reproduced in
any form of printing or by any other means, electronic or mechanical, including, but not limited to,
photocopying, audiovisual recording,a:n,d transmission, and portrayal or duplication in any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. See Catalog for further
,information.
Certain porcions adapted from BeUak, Hurvich, & Gediman, Ego I unctions in schizophrenics, 11eur0Jics,
and norm11Js, Copyright© 1973, by C.P.S., Inc. Repr1nted by permission of John, Wiley & Sons, Inc.

-- by
P11blished
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CORPORATION
Princcd 10 U.S.A. . New York, New York 10017 73-263M

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 A GUIDE TO Tlll2 INTEI~PRET ATION OF THE
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST

To be used with the

BELLAK TAT BLANK AND ANALYSIS SHEET

INTRODUCTION
The Thematic Apperception Test ( 11) • has become use/ul means of interpretation. It was with this
one of ?1e two leading. projective personality tests in thought in mind .tha_t en~ :Bellak TA~. Bla~k was
the United States and its use is still increasing. Our designed; this Guide is pubHshed co facilitate tts use.
feeling is that most of the large number of psychol- Since clinical practicality was the main objective, the
ogists and psychiatrists who use the TAT do so with
Guide is organized as concisely as possible. A general.
a fairly bad conscience; they have the distinct impres-
sion that they do not really know the test and muddle familiarity with the instrument and the basic con-
along the best they can. This state of affairs does not cepts involved is assumed. It is further assumed that
hold true so much because no directives at all have no one will attempt to use the TAT with clients or
appeared, but rather because the average worker in patients unless he is thoroughly grounded in dynamic
the field has not been acquainted with a practical and psychology and in current clinical thinking.

THE NATURE OF THE THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TESTt

The TAT is a projective test. This statement means ~ as pointed our in other publications (3). Cur-
that we are considering the stories told about the pie- rently ego psychological considerations and cognitive
hires of the TAT as l!rojections, i.e., ascriptions of styles also play important roles (6).
feel ings and sentiments or needs and drives of the
patient to subjects or objects of the outside world- A further assumption absolutely necessary for the
l£1 this case, th~ pic~res. According to the psychoana-
1ytical hypothesis concerning er_ojection, this mechan-
ism is employed for the defense of the ego against
unacceptable forces and· is, at least in part, un-
--. .
in~erpretation of ?1aterial of the TAT is the hypoth-
esis of tsychologr~al determinism as a special case of
the law of causality; namely, th_at everything said or
~ritten . as a response, l~ke all other esychological
•
consoous. productions, has a dynamic cause and>meaning. These
The productions of the patient in response to the causes or meanings of course may be more or less clear
TAT pictures can only in part be subsumed under with more or less certainty. The principle of auer-
this closely defined concept of projection: adaptation determination must be remembeTed, namely, that each
and expression enter into the material, as discussed e_art of the projected material may have more than
in one article of the present author ( 1) . ~oncepss <;,_ne meaning, corresponding to various levels of esy-
~uch as «externalization" and "apperceptive distortion" chological organization; a story may be tak'en con-
may be more appropriate for some aspects of the sciously from a movie rec;ntly seen, may be reported
1;AT stories, jmplying less complex dynamic proc- only because it reflects an important conflict of the
s~bject on a preconscious level, and ~ay at the same
• Numbers .in parentheses refer to the bibliography at the end. t,L_me have imPortant symbolic meaning on an uncon-
t For a more detailed discuss.ion of the TAT than chis Guide is
meant to provide, see Bellak ( 6). scious level.
 THE A{?MINISTRATION OF 1..HE THEMATIC APPERCEP1lON TEST
The subject should sit on a chair facing the test Again for practical reasons, it has become more
administrator; or he may sit somewhat in front of an<l more the custom to give only ten pictures. These
and to the side of the administrator so that, although should be such a selection as may seem most indicated,
himself observed, distracting or influencing stimuli most likely to bring out presumably existent problems
in the administrator's face cannot be seen. He can be of the patient. This latter method holds particularly
given either the instructions stated in Murray's Man- true when the use o the s part_q_a.s_ •~set-
ual ( 11), or such an informal statement as: "I am o- tj!ig m w ic one is likely to know a few things
ing to show you some ictures and I would 1 about the subject prior to testfog ancf can permit one-
to te me stones a ut what is oin on in each ic- self as much flexibifrty as one wishes in Obtairung
ture, wha! I up to. it, and wh~t the outcome will be. materialfor one's own use (4, 8).
I want you to make it livel and full of drama and
want you to let yourself go freely." Then, one may
fi"ave to answer, in_ a nondirective way, any questions My own clinical e~perience as stated in the first
the subject may ask. edition of 1-95·4 and ·in •rhe second one ( 6, p. 47) is
supported and complemented by Hartman (I 0) and
The standard procedure has been for the subject to by Newmark and Flouranzano (13). The basic set of
tell his story orally and for the administrator to record the ten most useful pictures for males seems a rea-
~e responses by hand or some recording device, or an sonable proposition: l, 2, 3BM, 4, 6BM, 7BM, 8BM,
unseen stenographer. It is economical, in many cases, 12M, 13MF, 18BM. They should be shown in this
to J{ive the selected cards to the subiect with written order with other pictures added or substituted as clini-
or oral instructions emphasizing that he should look cal judgment indicates. For females I consider it
as only one picrure at a time, and then to let him essential to have 1, 2, 3BM, 4, 6GF, 7GF, 9GF, 11,
write the stories on plain paper, in the office or at 12M, 13MF. I am including 3BM in the female series
liome, or even as a member of the group to whichJhe because I find that it works as welJ for females as for
TA,T pictures are being shown on a screen. It is help- males and produces richer stories than 3GF. 12M is
ful to let the subject know that he is expected to write included because females identify easily enough with
about three hundred words per story as spontaneously this picture which so often reveals attitudes towards
as possible ( 4) . therapy and therapists.
The obvious advantage of the time-saving is some
what offset by such disadva ta aP'a loss of spon- ~ inquiry into the stories after they have all been
tanei b the sub·e • ~~~miner c_omeleted is most helpful. It is particularly useful after
tQ_control the length of stories, and e lack of oe- ~ne has had some experience in interpretation and

• portunity to intervene if the sub· ect be ins to show

l! o cooperation in respondin&:_ Nevertheless, in
psychiatric office practice, the self-administering
method has proven quite satisfactory.
knows what to ask for. AJ a routine, one should in-
quire for free associations or thoughts concerning all
places, dates, pro er names of ersons and an other
s _eci c or unusual information given by the subject.

INTERPRETATION
The interpretation of the TAT can be done in many or to use some of the intermediary methods described
\Y~),'$,, depending on the training and the background by Tomkins (16) and others.
~£ the tester, t~e purBfise of the testing, and the time
~ailah~. It is" possi e for an experienced examiner The main thing to remember in the interpretation
to 8ft a very helpful picture of some of the basic prob- of the TAT is the followwg: the TAT pictures a!_e
l ~ of a person by means of inspecting the TAT best seen sychologicall a~ series of .social situations
~!JSS for ten to fifteen ipinutes; on the other hand, an inter ersona relations. Instead of res ndin to
it-,may_at times be advant;geous to spend four or five rea eo e m real situations, the client or atient is
hours m a careful need- ress anal sis of each sentence {jJ responding to peop e in the pictures which he i!!i-
according to the pri~ciples descri e by Murray (12), ~gmes as certain social stfuauons. Smee -he is under

3
@) less constraint of conventionality or reality,· his verbal ff t find a repetitivP pa~tern running through
ehavior 1s more likel to de ict his inner feelin s. ohut anty e_ soror find facts .of different st,Qrie~lling
t e s one , _ _ - - h' h d be
By this means we get at the contemporary pr\tterns lo ,ether into a meaningful whol~. T ts met _o -
of his social behavior and may be able to infer the ~es easier the more experience one has with the
genesis of these patterns. lJJ..t!!_pretation means th~ TAT or the more clinical, particularly psychoana-
• o a common denominatot' in the ontem ~ lytical, experience one has.
tflld genetic behavior p_attet'ns of a person 2 . ~ -
~ pretation of the TAT means, then, the finding~of In wchotherapy, as pointed out elsewhere (4,
~ "I'common denominato,cs and patterns in the storiJ!,s. 8), i~ may be particularly helpful to have_ the pa-
tient hold one carbon copy of the TAT scones wli1le
the psychotherapist has the other one and the_nhave
~ke Inspection Method. Frequently it can he help- the patient free-associate g~nerally to. the stories and
ful simply to read through the stories, treating them
make his own attempts at interpretation.
as ~eaningful psycholo~ical communications; one
s~~ underl!nes anythmg that se_ems significant, To give a more definite frame of re_ference and _:
spec1 c, or unique. When an expel'ienced examiner more ob·ectivel com ara h me of mter retatton,

•
rereads the stories a second time, he can almost with-
t e Bellak TAT Bla11k has be·en designed.

HOW TO USE THE TAT BLANK

The Bellak TAT Blank consists of a six-page folder After the stories have been analyzed in this fashion,
plus separate Recording and Analysis Sheets on which the examiner can write a Summary of each of the
one page from the folder is duplicated. On the cover stories in the space provid ed~ (If more than
of the folder one records the personal data of the ten stories are used, more summaries can be written
client and, when the analysis is complete, one writes on the back of page 4.) It is best to write these sum-
a Final Report. maries after all the stories have been analyzed, be-
cause the summary is one of the stages in formally
Let us assume that the examiner wishes to secure integrating the content of the analysis of each separate
ten stories from a client and that he is going to take story. When the Summary sheet has been completed
down these stories himself as the client tells them. on page 4, one is prepared to write the Final Report.
The first story will be written on page 2 of the TAT It will be noted that py folding the Blank, the space
Blank, the second story will be written on the back of . . . for the Final Report and the Summary page may be
an Analysis Sheet. Story 3 is recorded on the back exposed side by side.
of another Analysis Sheet, etc., until the ten have
been recorded. The examiner no,w has the ten stories
;ecorded, one on the inside cover of the Blank and
nine on the back of separate Analysis Sheets. If these
are placed in order, printed side up, an~ laid _on top
• When the task is all done, the loose sheets may
be stapled in the folder £or safekeeping, and the
Final Report is on the cover for convenient reference.
•
of page 3 in the TAT Blank, the examiner will no~e As noted above, some examiners prefer to have
that when each sheet is turned over he has an Analy~is their patients write the stories themselves. Since the
Sheet o site the corres ndin stor . The Analysis patients should not have access to the outline on the
beet or story 1 is on the front side of the paper on Analysis Sheet, they should write their stories on
which story 2 is written, the Analysis She~t for story plain 81/z" -by-11" paper. If the stories are so short
2 is on the / ront side of the sheet on which story 3 that there are several on a sheet, they can be cut up
is written, etc. The analysis of story 10 ( or the last and either pasted or clipped to the back of separate
story, if more or fewer stories are used) will be made Analysis Sheets so that the final arrangement will be
on the Analysis Sheet which is printed as page 3 o~ the same as if the examiner himself had written on
the six-page Blank.- -the back of the Analysis Sheets. If a separate sheet
is used for each story, the folder will naturally be a
The instructions for using the Analysis Sheets are little bulkier unless a typist is available to copy the
given in the next section of this manual. stories on the backs of Analysis Sheets.
 \

for some items on the Analysis Sheet, appropriate to indicate increasing levels of importance to be as-
. formation from the story must be written in, using signed to the given item in summarizing the story.
10
,t1atever short phrase or key word will most facilitate It is hoped that this approach to quantification will
~ e analytic process. For others, indicated on the Blank
1 further research studies of intorexaminer reliability
~y ( ✓), a system of checks is suggested. A single
of interpretation, in addition to increasing the flexi-
11eck ( ✓) may be used to indicate the mere presence
cf a given attitude, conflict, or the like. A double bility of the analysis form. Blank spaces are provided
~11eck (✓✓) or triple check (✓✓✓) may be used for adding categories or ideas not given in the outline. ,

SCORING CATEGORIES
'fhc following suggestions for the use of and in- to leave. He obtains h~i: f ar.~ell and they part heartbroken. After
a while she feels very lonesome and decides to folJow her son to
terpretation of the individual scoring categories of the East Indies. It is wartime and somehow she obums passage oo
tbe TAT Blank may be helpful. a ship to the island on which her son is. An enemy submarine sinlc.s
her ship and she perishes . . . Her soil had not beard about her
intentions but bad independently planned to visit her as a surprise.
He decides to return home for a surprise . . . The ship oo wb1cp
1. The MIiin Theme he had obtained passage is taking the same route which bis mother
had taken . . . At the exact spot where his mother perishes. an-
'fhe main theme is best understood as an attempt other enemy submarine attacks and he perishes also. •
to restate the gist of the st~ry. (It must be remem-
i,ered that one I A I story may actually have ~ The theme on a ifescriptive level could~ brieflJ_
tb~ one basic theme.) Since we have found that rtstated as: a son lives alone with his beloved mother
-·-------{;egmners in the use of the test go off on a tangent and leaves her - when they both try to rejoin each
!Post often in an interpretation of the main theipe, other they die on the same spot. On ~ ,interpretive
91e recommend a breakdown of the main theme into level, one may go a _step farther and put the meaning
{Jqe levels:• in a generalized form, assuming a meaning beyona
a) ~e descriptiv~el:· on this level the theme this story: the patient believes that if onet permits
should be a plain restatement of the sum- oneself ( incestual) fantasies, such as living with the
marized meaning of the story, a finding of mother, then both parties die. On a diagnosti, level,
the common trend restated in an abbreviated ~me transforms these impressions into a definitive
form and simple words. satemen~: this man has incestuous problems and •
• oedipal conflicts which cause him severe guilt feel-
b) The interpretive level. ings. On a I.1_mbolic level, one may choose to interp!et
c) The diagnostic level. ~mbols according to psychoanalytic hypotheses; ex-
'
treme parsimony and caution must be strongly rccom-
;: .,. ~
d) The symbolic level. mend~d since this takes one relatively farthest away
?."~~~ ~ e) The elaborative level. from hard facts. In our example one might, for in-
¢""~,.J_,. stance, possibly want to interpret the torpedoes as
• ·-.,_. The example of the following story may .help paternal phallic symbols which endanger and destroy
(6 ~M). both mother and son for their illicit attempted get-
• • '!bis is a young 1uccc55fuJ engineer . . . He is the only son together.
~ ~!5 ~amily, his father is dead and his mother is very dose to him.
~ H&, ss 10 the oil busineu and he has been offered a contract to go
~4:- .., ~ to the Ea5t Indies. He has signed the contract and is about On an.._elaborative level, one must get the subj~'s
~
e;Y..,~
elaborations and free associations to such specific data
• ~ .1: ';;....#.lf ~e beginner it is m0$t helpful to force himself to go through
~~~ cYe~s. However, it may not be necessary to put them all 4s: "East Indies:· "engineer," to any proper names
-" ~Q ffi
'Nr!ting. Particularly, the descriptive level is a crutch; it
- , •u _ce Just to state the theme at this level in one's mind. The
or dates, and any other associations he can giv~.
petP~et~ve level might be recorded on each analysis sheet, and the
~ ttc, or higher, level may be the basis for the summary state- t The interpretive level can nearly always be stlte<l .1s a generalized
conditionnl clause introduced by: "If one .....

5
 ( .

od n,Pans tie 1 icturt of our c:wn bod wl1ich "'e

2. The Main Hero* . • · d the way . h. h th
1n w IC e body
,.9 rm in our nun- • • • - k---
lvcs " This concept struc
has
· th us as
The main hero of the story is the ~ne who is most •
~pears to ourse _ • .
§l?Oken of. \yhose feelinas and subjective notio,~i are d •mportant _ for instance 1n e work
more an more 1 b" • .
rpost discussed'--and, in 'tcncral, the figure wilh who,01 . d' t berculous and other su Jects stones
with car 1ac,. u • l l l l •
tqe narrator seems to 1clcntify himsclL In case of veals itself parucu ar y c ear y 1n th e
doubt, ~ figure resembling the patient most closely to the TAT : it re · BM d th
v10. 11n
. picture
• (#1) , but also in #3• an h c
iq_ age, sex. .and other characteristics should be con- ro .
1cture ( # 17 BM) , as well as 1n
. , some ot ers.
.
si?ered the main hero. At times a man may identify pe#pl may learn about the subject s conception
In , one
hunself with a female "main hero.,; if this occurs
o f h1s• own body either in the discuss10n •
. . Th' o f th.e hoy
repeatedly, it might be considered a sign of ! ~ or often in the treatment of the v1.o1m. is instru-
h_omosexuali~ ( depending on the total picture) . ment seems to become identified with th e hero ~f!ld
While practically all young men identify in Picture and may be described as broke~ or ~mpty, and _,ea
# 2 with the young girl in the foreground, only some and falling apart. Particularly in this latter case the
( there is disagreement regarding the percentage) con-
reference transcends the body image aod really be-
sider the figure in Picture # 3 BM a female. Voca- • • 1~d.1ng th~ emo-
~on, inre~ests, traits, abilities, and adequacy asw!!H comes· a matter of self-image - me
tional tone and the •subJect' s conception o~ his r~le
~ ~y image_ of the ~ain hero frequently depict
--9uaht1es or desired qualities of the patient. in the world. (Sogierimes·the viol~o i~ ideon6ed with
e le body, the bow const1ruun the male.)
. ade of the hero we mean his abili to Similarly, and # 17 BM l~nd themselves
carry through tasks under external and internal iffi- particularly to both the characterizatt~n of the ~n-
~lties in a socially, morally, intellectually, and emo- ception of body and self an~ the soaal role. Smee
Qonally acceptable manner. The adequacy of the hero these.are images of primary importance for the deter-_
freq~ently ~onfo~ to a pattern throughout the mination of behavior, it is very useful to discern them
srones and is oft~n m a direct relationship to the ego- in the TAT.
strength of the patient. • •
It should also be mentioned here that at times 3. Main Needs and Drives of the Hero
•
there may be µiore than one hero in a story. The pa- Experience in teaching the TAT has shown that
tient may use a second figure with whom to identify . the inquiry re the hero's needs produces three types of
himself, aside from the dearly recognizable hero. data which are frequently confused to the detrunent =-
This happens rather rarely; usually it involves a figure ol the accuracy of the observa~ions.
introduced but not present in the picture itself, and
a) Behavioral Needs
concerns drives and sentiments which are even more
,Phiectionable to the patient than the ones pertainin_,g The. behavioral needs of the hero constitute the
to the main hero. ( Other devices for emphatically
•trying to d1ssoaate oneself from a story are. to place
it far away geographically and/or temporally, e.g.,
placing a story in Russia in the Middle Ages.)
., r?ckbottom
in
as
the
the
story,
theme
data: if the hero is extremely aggressive
attacking ~n~ hurting a num~r of people
unfolds, 1t 1s worth recordmg. It is use-
ful to remember, of course, that the behavioral needs
of the hero may be the behavioral needs of the sub-
•
The body image concept was created originally by ject, but prima f acie are only the f antas_y needs of
Schilder ( 15) who stated: 0 Tpe image of the human the subject. •
The prob~em. of ~e relationship of la1,n, HN.J. in the TAT to
• Some of the following variables were used by the author in an ~ven behavior 1S an unponant one. Tlie interpreter of TAT stories
earlier, mimeographed Scoring Blank he designed while at the Har- 1s frequently presented with the necessity of deciding whether or
vard Psychological Oinic, 1940-1942. Thus a great and not easily not a need ~press~ penains suialy to the fantasy level or mi&ht
$pecified extent of information and stimulation concerning these be ~xprcssed 10 reality; for ~ple. the ~ for auressioa. OJ. wr
variables was received from Dr. H. A. Murray, Dr. W. •A. White, achievement. The psychologist should hive aY&&lible a maximum
and indirectly from Dr. It N. Sanford who, with Dr. White, had '&clinicarand bio'rafhical data about the patient. It muse be remem-
written a mimeographed guide to the TAT that served as tbe major bered that the dimca situation is noc one concerned with tcScin, the
. stimulus for systematic attempu of interpretation. The author wishes
to express his gratitude to these and other members of the staff of ..
validity of the instrument. Problems of the validity of the TAT are
dealt with in experiments and must be decided there. If one has sufti..
II the Harvud Psychological Oinic. • cient information about the patient, then the TAT stories must be

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~een as CO~lpl~meocary to the behavioml data obtaineJ. For instance, one may wish to infer a n.eed to repress aggression
1f the s~bJect 1s u~duly shy and retiring and the stories are full of
a~ress1on :and_ guilt feelings :ibout the figures, the dynamic impli- - 0.1, a need to repress sexual imuliitthe seminudeh
cations art obvious.
On the other hand. there are certain indications from intratest
½ the background of picture # 4 jugnored or if/I
situations which permit us to make assumptions about the man ifest # 13 MF is seen as entirely devoid of sexual refer-
or \a tent nec~s. expressed in the TAT. For example, in stories of ences. Of course, this level of inference can be only a
:1ch1evement It is e?'tremely import:int to notice whether they follow
the dt111 t'X ma_rhma mechanisf1l (simple wish fulfillment) or are tentative one until we have a large enough sample to
actually done p1C(e by piece and suggest much more that they cor- place on a statistical basis what the expectations are
respond to a behavioral need for achievement.
It~ a, N.: Sanfo. ) who pointed out some important rules when a certain object is introduced or omitted, so as
conccmu)S 'fne relau between fantasy needs and behavioral to be reasonably accurate in judging when a subject
needs.
~ He-;;.~~~~~~~~;;;;~~~_;;~~;;;.{.~
nt deviates from the norm.
·J_t "7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~S='
- fu'TuTu11t)r.~~\~~1.~i~~~t1JTu!Et~~=t1 4. The Conception of the Environment
~~y.,('
-~=-~~~~~~~~,.....;.;~~~-
Y(\~. ~~~~~~~~~ ore cu• This concept is, of course, a complex ~ixcu~e of
".,; ~"' , s may find unconscious self-perception and appercepuve distor-
~ ...~(1-""Sllitcle manifest expression in fantasy but may find much expression
er in manifest behavi?r. becaus~ of reality demand~ - such _as d)e n~s tion of st((!luli by ·_me!Jlory images of the past. I!:_e
or order, for avo1 I for lear .Agam there 1s a
c ass o nee s w 1c and in behavior, more consistent a picture· of the environment appears
ndic • • an encoura ed i~ the TAT stories, the more reason we have to con-
soaa require particular
-grau . these beloo8 espeoally the
sider it an im rtant constituent of our sub·ect's er-
n§s for achievement, for fnsnds!up, and for dominan~. sg_nality and a useful clue to his reaaions in eve!Y_ ay
life. Usually, two or three descriptive terms will suf-
D1namic inference. If a subject (hero) is frequently fice, such as S\!Ccorant, hostile, exploiting or exploit-,
very nunurant and supportive to a number of other
able, friendly, dan_gerous, etc.
figures, one may have reason to suspect that ~e
fi oures are seconda or tertia identification .fi ures 5. Figures Seen as ...
f9r t e su 1ect, and that the nurturance shown is in-
The TAT is ptima'tily an instrument which permirs
cllcarive of a profoun_dly succorant, ~manding attitude
a study of the a erce rive distortions of the social
on rhe part of the hero an attirud which he wards
rcz,lationships,an t e ynamte actors basic to t em.
o m t us way. On the other hand, one may have indi-
Therefore, an exhaustive study of the hero's amtudes
canons to believe; e.g., that the subject who avoided
all reference to aggression does so because of
co parental, concern ora , and oun er or inferior
rear
~r ons 1s an mte ra art o our sc eme. 1s mer od
_ea o aggression which h has ro keep under control
permtts recor mg these apperceptions and the sub-
by denying all of it ( an inference permitted only if
ject's reactions to his perception; that is, each picture
there is supportive evidence).
allows the subject to create a situation that can best
b) F!_gures, Objects, or Circumstances Introduced be understood as a problem ("tell me what is going_
A subjea who introduces weapons of one sort or 2n") which he then has to pr~eed to solve ("and
.another in a number of stories ( even without using reU me what the outcome will be"), thus baringnis

,· 1 them in the context) or who hasJood as an inc~gral

pa,rt ( even without eating it) may be tentauvely
.__.-- ~ .. jooged on such evidence to have a n_eed for aggression
ability to come to compromise formations with his
own needs; in other words, to show us his defenses.
For instance, if a subject chooses to perceive female
~ • • -0,: oral gratification ccspectivelJ!. Simil~rly, the intro- figures in the TAT as aggressive, then it is worthwhile
• - , auaion of such figures as punisher, pursuer, bene- for us to determine how he proceeds to react to these
. • • factor, etc., or such circumstances as injustice, depri- creatures of his fancy, whether with withdrawal,
t~ ~~-!,anon, ~c., may be i~terpreced with due regard to the coumeraggression, imellectualizacion, or other forms
1~/ ;.U!_.Of the record. of behavior.*
·~~
~5 ~ _P!,fure!, _O.f!iects, or Cifc11mstances O'!Jitted • .After sex has been checked, the other two blanks may be com-
pleted with appropriate adjectives. While by no means exhaustive,
~.f!. ~,-i~larly, if a subject omits reference to the gun the following adjectives may be used: abas1ve, achievin~. acquisitive,

1 I,
B
ft ~
.. :
~-?t3 BM and to the rifle in #8 BM, or does not
~'"Slf: me one woman in # 18 GF choking rhe other,
1
aggressive, autonomous~ compliant, domTc;eeCing. d~.:tl.~·.
~sfrfe,. nurturant, eunisfiing! resista'nt, succorant,
supporuve.
"---
-
d~.

l· :.
t: ~~-3i!)f ~ 7
t t" •
11 ..:·,..~ !- J
,~ ~~ -••
_;.· •,.~-'(~-t:
~
~
I,..;.;.:
 . , ts to deal with a disturbing
shows the sub1ec.c 5 atcemf become more and
6. Significant Conflict~ con ff kt; successive st?ries ~a e in the defenses.
- , - owing an in~s - -- ...
When we study the si,gnificanc conflicts of an _indj. more innocuous, 5 • .theme may permit
otLthe orhec baod,...each-successiYe~
vidual, we not only want to know the natu\e of the • o f the forbi'ddeo dn:~e.
more express10n -
conflict but also the defenses whichtlles~bJeCt u~cs
a~inst them. It is important, in designating which -A good story to illustrat~ a progressive increase of
drive or force is in conflict with the supereg~, also to defensiveness is the following.
specify in a word or two the resultant beh~v10r.: e.g., • away from something
#9BM "•Group o!_ 4 men who are rut,ml,t is looking for. Prob-
if conflict is between superego and aggression, it may -sometnmg the fcJlow onft e fi
emenr 'The position
•. d'
be that the subject reaa:s with !.fay_niss. Here, as in the bly they've broken out o con n
a h
h •
they're lying doesn't seem to in •~ate t ey re
study of the anxieties and in the general structure of - t e way • Th•y could JUSt as well
under any great stress or tension. .. Id be h.
rhe stories' progress, we have an excellent opportu- be 4 hunters. The fellow on the left cou watc mg
0
for whatever they're hu~ting; duck~~ ~mf 0~~{Z:ati~
nity for a study of _the charac~er structure a_nd the 'Little siesta after working on any ,un °
Rrognosis of rbe patient. Sometimes the conflict may job."
n~t be between the superego and such drives as This response of an adol.escent boy _really consists
aggr~n, acquisition,. sexual desires, or the like, of at least'three stories: -iThey are running away from
but rween two drives such as achievement and something, possibly escapi~g confinement. 'A much
pleasure or aJJ,tonomy an.cLcompliarice. ' more innocuous story than the first: they are mer~Iy
hunting. 'Even more innocuous: even the aggr~ss1ve
7. Ntdure of Anxieties connotation of hunting is given up a~d. the pi~re
becomes one of utmost peace and pass1v1ty - siesta••
The importance of determining the main anxieties
hardly needs emphasizing. Again, it will be valuable Thu~ we see one way of meeting, with obses~ive j
to note the defenses in this context, whether they take elaboratiin, th: threat of (one's own) aggression. fI_
me fonn orpassivity, flight, aggre~ion; orality. or An even more fascinating response was given by a •
those classicallf circumscribed ones mentioned below. middle-aged scientis_t in his story to #13 MF. ..
" A man and w~man who may be in a bedroom or living
1

8. Main Defenses room with a cot. She may have been ill and had been
put to bed. The man may have seen to her wants or he
may be-a doctor who had been with her for a long
As we had occasion to point out elsewhere ( 5), time, especially through t~e night arid.is now very tired.
the TAT should not be studied exclusively for drive The woman may be sleeping or resting or may have
died and the man, h~r husband or -doctor, has just gone
content, but should, in addition, be examined for the through a long siege or., if the woman is his wife who
d~fenses against these drives. Not infrequently, such a died, he shows sorrow or if she is just sick he shows

•
fear and is tired. 'It may. be that homicide has been com-
srudy of defenses will acrually offer more information mitted and the man shows remorse and realization of
in that the drives themselves may appear less clearly the gravity of his act. 'Or tnere ·may have been ·cohabi-
than the defenses against them on the one hand, and tation, the wo~an undraped- iri bed, the man having
dressed. 'Also, a husband getting up early_ in the morn-
may be more closely related to manifest behavior on ing to go to work not quite awake, while his wife is
still asleep."
the other hand. By means of study!ng drives and
defenses the TAT often permits a very clearcut ap- In this case we have at least.. four stories showing
praisal of the character structure of the subject. a progression fron1 ~ relatiyely innocuous _appercep-
tion to breakthrough o{ p!ainly homicidal ·thoughts.
Aside from a search for the main defense mecha- Whether cohabitation is a· further progression to an •
nisms described by Anna Freud (9) it is also valuable even worse crime in the mind of the subject, or
, to study the molar aspects of the stories. For instance, whether it constitutes already a renewed vigor of
some subjects choose qbsessive defenses against a dis- defenses which culminates in the utterly ·inhocuous
turbing picture content; they may produce four or domestic scene, could not ·oe ascertained.
five themes, each very short and descriptive, mani•
fesdy differing but dynamically identical. Sometimes It is by such study that .fine features. of defense and
~ succession of themes to one and the same picture
- character study may be discovere.d. •

8
 patient in one of th~ no~ologi~al cat:gories, in addi-
9. AJeqU11cy of Superego tion to the dynamic diagnosis whICh the content
111e relationship of the nature of the punishmen t variables supply as the main contribution of the TAT.
co the severiry of the offense ,gives us an excellenu_n-
swht Trirorhe se_y__erity of the superego; a psychopath's
Clinical intetesc in ego functions has steadily in-
h~ro may consistently get away in stories of murder
creased. Therefore, a specific ego function assessment
with not more than a notion that he has learned a
scale is provided on page 6 of the TAT Blank. This
lesson for later life, while a neurotic may have stories
scale is predicated upon detailed definitions and exten-
in which the hero is accidentally or intentionally
sive research reported elsewhere (7). When ego
killed or mangled or dies of illness following the
functions were studied by interview, psychological
slightest infraction or expression of aggression. On
tests, and laboratory methods, it turned our some-
the other hand, a non-integrated superego, sometimes
too severe and sometimes too lenient, is also fre-
what surprisingly that ratings derived from the
quently mer in neurotics. TAT by several raters correlated more highly than
r1iose for the Rorschach, WAIS, Figure Drawings,
a~d the Bender Gestalt' Test (7, p. 331). Ego fun~-
tions may be assessed from the TAT stories them-
10. The Integration of the Ego seTves and entered on the ratin sea e. sired,
hi best an lowest per ormance as well as the
This is, of course, an important variable. to learn diaracterist1e one may e m 1eate , an mes..Jllily be
about: it tells us QQ._w well able a subjea is to function. drawn to connect the ratings (see Figure I). One may
It tells us to what extent he is able to compromise a1so wish to assess ego functions from the test be-
between his drives and the demands of ·reali; on the havior. It is suggested that this be recorded and
one hand, and the commands of his supereg on the reported separately in the space beneath the scale on
other hand. The adequacy of t~e hero in dealing with page 6.
the problems he is ~onfromed ·by in the pictures, and
his own apperception of it,. tells us. what we wane to The twelve ego. functions may be briefly defined
know there. as follows:
Here we are interested -in s9me formal character- 1. Reality Testing
istics: is the subject able to cell appropriate stories
which constitute a certain amount of cognizance of The ability to differentiate between inner and
tlfe adaptive aspeo:s of rhe srirou)us; or aoes he leave outer stimuli involves continuous selective scanning
the stimulus completely and rell a story with no mam- and matching contemporary percepts against past
fesr relation co the picture because he is not well percepts and ideas. Social contexts and norms will
enough to perceive reality or coo preoccupied with always be relevant in assessing reality ·testing.
bis-own problems to keep them out, whether pertinent Inner-realitv testing is included in this scaie. It is
or not? ·noes he find rescue and salvation from the reflected here in ~e degree to which the person is
anxiety ertainin co 1he rest in ivin ve srereo- ~n t9~ch ~ith his inner ~elf. Stated another way, this
r_ype resp~mses; or is he well enough and imeIIigenr 1mpl1es psycholog1cal-mindedness" or "reflective
enough ro be creative and_give more or less ori inal awareness," e.g., of the implications of the TAT
S..IQJJfS. avmg pro uce a p or, can e attain a soly- stories.
·rion of the conflicts in the sror and within himself
w ich is• adequate, complete, an realistic; or o 1s II. Judgment :..
~

tho ht FO~esses become unstructured or even bizarre

under the impacr.o r e pro em. Ratings for judgment are based on data indicating
• com rehension and appraisals of h thetical and
·. These observations permit an appraisal of what real situations, an t e subject's evaluations of the
re~lly. consticuies ego screngch, often contributing a consequences of action or other behavior related to
great. -deal co facilitate possible classification of rhe these situations, as rhe subject creates them here.

9
 -
extreme wou Id be essentially an absence
Id b
of relation-
. .h ople· next wou e present reIa-
- = - ~ > > > > ~ X x x sluns w1t any pe
~b d
' I d -n·
rly fixations, unreso ve countcts,
~ ttons a<:e on ea . I . h. 0 . te Str<
r
i: ! J i i-~ 1 I 9
-~ t
I ..,a-~ II.
.I
II.
r,
• ~ h t'l sadomasochistic re at1ons tps. pn-
and very os 1 e,
al 1 •
I . I stOll
~

I ould be the most mature, re at1ve y

f l j~ I I I I l I
l
- ~ § i
f ~
~ ~ i ch
I ic
. t' ns and gratifying to a u t 1 1 1naI,
ma re at1ons w d I 1·b·d·
13

12
a; C

' I")

i
free o f d1stor 10 , . #1 f h
• and ego needs• For Picture · h Io t e
aggressive,
,, TAT a story in which a violinist plays wit p easure
.
10 ~ ~ - + - - + - T - - 1 - - - - - + - - - + - l " - ½ - + - - - + - - - - i O
\ ./\
:\
.: ·, \~ t befor~ an empty Carnegie Hall suggests a great deal
l )
... ..·, r,..•• I\ \
of narcissism.
0

7
"\
\
\.
8 ~/ ~ - - - t - - " - ' t - ~ ~ - - + - - + - - - - - . . . l -
I \
\ !/ "\ !-
t .. VI. Tho1'ght Processes
/
6 ~...- ./ \
. \ \J Dis~ances in formal characteristics of l~gical
5
·, v
, ;---H"-1-~~l......+--+-~~-i ~
I
I '\_
'
\ J :, • thinking as well. as th~ . i~terference of primary
\
V If I
4

3
\
' ,
I
I
I
'\
....,
II ~
\
\
process material need to. be: ~ated.
I
2 \. ~' ;,.' .li! VII. ARISE
1
l Ada tive regression in the i . . . go
(ARISE) re ers to the ability of the ego to 1rut.1ate
Ego functions
a partial, temporary, and controlled lowering of its
l""4s of functioning:
Chlraderistic: -
_9wn functions ( keep in mind here the component
~:
Lowest:-----
·····--······-···· factors of the other eleven eg~ functions) in the
furtherance of its interests ( i.e., promoting adapta-
FIGURE 1
tion). Such regressions result in a relatively free,
but controlled, play of the primary process. This ego
Ill. Sense of Realit1, of the World function can be particularly well observed from the
and of the Self way in which the subject is able to deal with the
TAT as a creative task.
This scale assesses disturbances in the sense of one's
self, as it relates to the outside world. It also assays VIII.
the sense of reality or unreality of the world. For
instance, some TAT stories include talk about ghostly ..
Defensive Functioning
-
Defenses rotect preconscious and conscious or-
creatures and unreal half-worlds! • ganizations from e 1ntrus10ns o i ertvatives
ujlconscious ego, and superego tendenaes. They aid
IV. Regulation and Control of Drives, aaaptation by controlling the emergence of anxiety-
·-
4flects, and Impulses arousing or other dysphoric psychic content, such
as ego-alien instinctual wishes and affects ( including
This function refers to the extent to which delay- depression) , which conflict with reality demands.
ing and controlling mechanisms allow drive deriva- Excessive defensiveness is of course also maladaptive.
tives to be ex ressed in a modulated and ada tive A notation-whether excessive or defective-is useful.
wa , character neither under- nor
overcontrol. IX. Stimulus
•
BardP.f'

Both thresholds and responses to stimuli caotrib-

V. Object Relatwns
l;lte to adaptation by the organism's potential for
Optimal relationships are relatively free of mal- responding to high, average, or low sensory input. so
adaptive elements suggesting patterns of interaction tq_at optimal homeostasis {as well as adaptation) js_
t at were more a ro riate to childhood situations maintaiped. Stimulus barrier determines, in part,
than to the present ones. T e most pathological ho-;, resilient a person is or how he readapts after

10
 XI. Synthet ic-Integ rative Fttnctio ning
the stress and impingements arc no longer present.
A story of a mother who can't stand the yelling of Thi.Lego function fulfills one of the major tasks
her child and how it affects her would be very in- of the ego as defined by FreucI, in terms of rec9n-
formative here. cilmg the often conflictin demands of the id,
superego, an outside world, as well as the incon-
gruities within the ego. We focus on the reconciling
X.
-
A,a-0nomot1s Functionif!g
In.trusion of conflic.t_ideation, affect, and/or im-
of areas that are in conflict and also on the extent
of relating together areas that are not in conflict.
pulse upon functioning is a maj~ri terion for
d e ~ ~ r m e n t o1 either the prima£i :or
XII. ~astery -Compe tence
the secondary autonomy.
etence and sense of com-
The basic apparatuses and functions of primary au- since a number o 1 ere rela-
petence separately,
tonomy are:
memory language tionships- between thei two are possible: ( 1 ) they may
perception
intention ality hearing producti vity be congruent; ( 2) actual performance may exceed
concentration v1s1on motor development the sense of competence; ( 3) sense of competence
attennon speech and expression may exceed mastery-competence.

THE SUMMARY AND FINAL REPORT

After all stories have been analyzed, the main data ally as related to the resp0ns:-:s to various pictures.
obtained from each should be noted down in the This may be done either at the begjnning of the final
appropriate space on page 4. When the summary report or at the end of it.
page is studied after the analysis of all stories has The form of the final report will depend, of course,
been completed, a repetitive pattern in the subject's to a great extent on the person to whom it is reported.
responses ordinarily becomes quite clear.* It is, however, strongly advised that empty phrases
The .final report can be written in full view of the and erroneous inferences be avoided by the following
summary page. It is suggested that the form of the procedure: the first half of the report may consist of
final report follow the sequence of the ten categories general abstract statements concerning the subject,
on the analysis sheet. The main themes, the second following the outline suggested above; a second part
and third variables, permit a description- of the .JiJJ- of the report should then consist of specific, concrete

• conscious structure and needs of the subject; while

tbe fourth and fifth variables show us his conception
of the world and of significant figures around him.
Categories six, seven, eight, nine, and ten may actu-
documentation by excerpts from stories or by specific
reference to stories wherefrom the n1ain abstract
statements have been derived.
. The suggested arrangement of the report is par-
ally be used as headings for statements concerning ticularly useful in instances in which the psychologist
the respective dimensions of personality. reports as part of a team to psychiatrists and to social
workers who may not have the time or the experience
. It is usually desirable to report briefly the sub-
to read the stories themselves, and for whom a
Ject's behavior during testing, generally and specific-
purely abstract statement will not be sufficiently
• Experienced !AT workers, having become familiar with our
meaningful. t
4•di
pa1e
may w1sh to use only the TAT blank using the middle
a guide to record relevant data on ;he summary sheet t Th~ auth?~ !s indebted to S. Sorel Bellak for suggestions and con-
ra :r an actually filling in the details on 10 analysis sheets. structtve crmc1sm of the revision of this TAT BLrnk :ind \fanual.

II
 P.EfERENCES

1. BELLAK, L. 111e concept of projection. An experimental investigation and study of the

concept. Psychiatry, 1944, 7, 3~3-370.

2. DBI.LAK, L. Some basic conceptS of psychotherapy./. tte,11. ment. Di,., 1948, 108(2).

On the problem of the concept of projection. In Projectwe Psychology ( ed.

..
3. BELLAK, L.
by L. E. Abt and L. Bellak). New York: Alfred A. Knopf and Co., 1950.

4. BELLAK, L. The TAT in clinical use. In Projecti11e P1ychology ( ed. by L. E. Abt and
L Bellak). New York: Alfred A. Knopf and Co., 1950.

5. BELLAK, L. Thematic apperception: failures and the defenses. Transactions of the New
York Academy of Science1, Series II, 1950, 12 ( 4), 122-126.

6. BELLAK, 1. The T.A.T. and C.A.T. in clinical use.. (2nd ed.) New.York: Grune and
Stratton, Inc., 1971.

7. BELLAK, L, Ego functions in schizophrenics, neurotics, and normals. New York: John
HURVICH, M. and Wiley & Sons, 1973.
GEDIMAN, H. K.

8. BELLAK, 1., The use of the TAT in psychotherapy.]. nerv. ment. Di1., 1949, 110(1),
PASQUARELLI, B. and 51-65.
BRAVER.MAN, S.

9. FREUD, A. The ego and irs mechanisms of defense. London:· Hogarth Press, 1937.

10. HARTMAN, A.H. A basic T.A.T. set. ]. proj. Tech. & Pen As1e1s., 1970, 34 ( 5).

11. MURRAY, H. A. Thematic Apperception Test. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1943.

12. MURRAY, H. A., et al. . Explorations in personality. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1937.
. .
13. NEWMARK, C. S. and Replication of an empirically derived TAT set with hospitalized psychiatric
FLOURANZANO, R. patients. ]. Pen As1e11., 1973, 37 ( 4).

14.

15.
SANFORD,

ScHILDER,
R. N., et al.

P.
Physique, personality and scholarship:~ cooperative study of school chil-
dren. Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Develpm., 1943, 8 ( 1).

Image and appearance of the human body. London: Routledge, 1935.

'
•
16. TOMKINS, S. The thematic apperception test. New York: Grune and Stratton, Inc., 1947.

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.,