Children's Apperception Test

The Children's Apperception Test (CAT) is a projective method of describing personality by studying individual differences in the responses made to stimuli presented in the form of pictures of animals in selected settings. (In short, the CAT is a children's personality test) The 10 items consist of 10 scenes showing a variety of animal figures mostly in unmistakably human social settings. The use of animal rather than human figures was based on the assumption that children of these ages would identify more readily with appealing drawings of animals than with drawings of humans. The author discusses interpretation on the basis of psychoanalytic themes but there is no compelling reason that CAT protocols could not be interpreted from other theoretical frameworks.

Scoring the CAT

This projective technique is not scored in a quantitative sense. The gist of stores is recorded and the presence or absence of thematic elements is indicated on the form provided.

CAT Reliability and Validity

No statistical information is provided on the technical validity and reliability of the CAT.

CAT Norms

Information on norms is not included in the manual.

Suggested Uses for the CAT

The CAT is designed for use in clinical and research settings in measuring children's personality.

Purpose of the CAT

The CAT is designed as a projective method of describing personality. In layman terms, it is a children's personality test.

Population:Ages 3 to 10 years.

Time: 30 minutes.

Authors: Leopold Bellak and Sonya Sorel Bellak.

Publisher: C.P.S., Inc.