GROUP MEMBERS

Human Figure Drawing

Content

• Introduction
• History
• Approaches
• Instruction
• Administration
• Interpretation/scoring
• Advantages and disadvantages
Introduction
Introduction

• HFD developed by
Goodenough in
1926.
• HFD stands for human figure drawing.
• Most of the children love to draw and
paint.
• If given the opportunity they will draw
spontaneously the picture of
animals,boats,flower and many other
things,but most often they will draw human
beings.
Cont…

• The interset in drawing has well and

documented history in this country and
Europe.
• It is Psychological Projective Personality
and Cognitive Test used to evaluate
children and adolescents for variety of
purposes.
Cont…

• This test used to measure Non Verbal

Intelligence or to screen emotional
indicators.
• Human Figure Drawings have become
one of the most widely used techniques of
psychologists working.
History
History

• The Human Figure

Drawing Test has a
long history.
• Florence
Goodenough
developed the
Draw-a-person test
for preschoolers
and older children
in 1926.
Cont..

• The most recent addition to

the DAP test history is the
creation of the Draw-A-
Person Intellectual Ability
Test for Children,
Adolescents, and Adults.
Approaches
Two Approaches

Projective
Techniques Developmental
test of Mental
Maturity
Motive of HFD

• HFD designed to evaluate various

psychological states, such as
psychosocial status
• Assess intellectual and psychological
ability such as Emotional Indicators
and IQ
Instructions
• Children are asked
to draw a man, a
woman, and
themselves.
• No further
instructions are
given and the child
is free to make the
drawing in
whichever way
he/she would like.
• There is no right or wrong type of drawing,
although the child must make a drawing of
a whole person each time — i.e. head to
feet, not just the face.
• The test has no time limit; however,
children rarely take longer than about 10
or 15 minutes to complete.
Administration
• Hfd test can be administrated either as a
group test or individual test. Individual test
administration can be preferable.
• When administrating the test the examiner
should seat the child comfortably at an
uncluttered table or a desk and should
present him with a blank sheet and pencil.
• Examiner asked the children that I would
like that you draw a whole person on the
paper.
• It can be any kind of person you draw just
make sure it is a whole person not a stick
figure or cartoon figure.
Scoring
Two types of scoring

Qualitative/
Interpretation Quantitative
 Quantitative Scoring

• It is for Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Qualitative Scoring/Interpretation

• The subjective
analysis of the
test takers
responses and
drawings aims to
make inferences
of personality
traits and past
experiences.
Here are some developmetal items
description.
• Short arms • Long arms
It exhibited HFDs with long arms
significantly on more occurred frequently
often HFDs of clinical among the overtly
patients and children aggressive children
with psychosomatic and not at all among.
complaints
Big head:

Big head on HFDs is associated with

intellectual striving, brain disease and brain
injury, intellectual inadequacy, immaturity,
aggression, mental retardation and
migraine headaches etc.
Vacant or non seeing eyes:

It is associated with guilt feelings with a

vague perception of the world, with emotional
maturity, egocentric, dependency, a lack of
discrimination and depression.
Arms clinging to the sides of body

• It seems that arms clinging to the side of

the body reflect difficulty in reaching out
toward others and rather rigid inner
control, neurological malfunctioning and
who showed number of organic signs on
test.
Transperencies

• It would appear therefore that

transparencies on HFDs are associated
with immaturity , impulsivity and acting out
behavior. Children who stole and who
were overtly aggressive showed this
emotional indicator on their drawings.
• Tiny figures
• Big hand
They have the
Big hands
feelings of
associated with
depression whereas
aggressive and
others showed
acting out behavior.
depression but able
to do function
adequately at home
and school.
Hands cut off or the drawings without
hands:
• It appears more often on the drawings of
the shy children and who stiole. Cut off
hands on HFDs showed feelings of
inadequacy or guilt over failure to act
correctly or over the inability to act at all.
This indicator reflected child’s guilt feelings
for stealing or for his poor school
achievement.
• Tiny heads: • Crossed Eyes:
This emotional Crossed eyes
indicator exclusively seemed to be drawn
showed on the by children who were
drawings of the quit hostile towards
children who are others.
maladjusted.
• Teeth:
Teeth were present to a certain extent on the
HFDs of the well-adjusted or the poorly
adjusted pupils. It occurred most often on
the drawings of the overtly aggressive
children.
• Legs pressed • Monster or
together: grotesque figures:
This emotional This emotional
indicator indicated indicator reflects
rigid attempt on his feelings of intense
part to control his inadequacy and a
own sexual impulses poor self-concept.
or his concern over a
sexual attack by
others.
• Genitals:
This emotional indicator occurred on the
drawings on the clinical patients who who
were extremely disturbed and who were
overtly aggressive.
It is a sign of serious psychopathology
involving body anxiety and poor impulse
control.
• Three or more • Clouds, rain and
figures: snow:
They are The children who
neurologically draw this indicator on
impaired and have their drawings they
lack a feeling of are poorly adjusted,
identity. very anxious children
and overtly
aggressive.
• Baseline or grass: • The sun and moon:
This indicator on This indicator
HFDs has been associated with
interpreted with a parental love and
sign of insecurity, a support and with
need for support and controlling adult
a need for a point of authority.
reference
• Broken or sketchy • Side way glances
lines: of both eyes:
It has been It is not certain
associated with whether the glance
fearfulness of the reflects the
insecurity, feelings of self-consciousness
inadequacy, anxiety, and uneasiness of
stubbornness and the pre-
negativism. adolescence. It also
indicated
suspiciousness and
• Hidden hands: • Omission of body:
It has been This indicator
associated with sometime show
contact difficulties slower rate of
guilt, the need of maturation or it may
control aggression be a sign of
and the retardation or
unwillingness to deal neurological
with a situation. impairment
• Omission of arms: • Omission of eyes:
It reflect guilt over They tend to deny
hostility or sexuality, their problems
depression and with refused to face the
drawl to people and world and escaped
objects. into fantasy.
• Omission of nose: • Omission of mouth:
Omission of nose is It reflects the feelings
related to poor social of anxiety, insecurity
interest and inability and withdrawal
to go forward with including passive
self-assurance resistance.
• Figures cut off by the edge of the
paper:
The compensation of the show off
in an effort to cover weakness and
a reflection of frustration.
Advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages

• Easy to Administer

• No strict formats

• Relatively Culture free

• Can asses people with communication

problems.
Disadvantages

• Restricted amount of hypothesis can be

developed

• Relatively Non-Verbal, may have some

problems during Iquiry.