Psychological Test Information

Name of the Test Human Figure Drawing Test (HFDT DAP)

Test Author(s) Florence Goodenough; later modified by Dale B. Harris

Publication Date Originally standardized in 1926 and restandardized in 1963.

Test Publisher Larcourt, Brace & World, Inc.

Type of Test Intelligence; nonverbal

Administration Type Individual or group-administered

Time of Completion The test is untimed but usually takes from 10-15 minutes to
complete.

Population Ages 6 - 17

Test Level Level B

Test Description Typically used with children, the subject is asked to draw a
picture of a man, a woman, and themselves. No further
instructions are given and the pictures are analyzed on a
number of dimensions.

Cost/Test Content Test is discontinued or no longer in print. (Last described in

Pearson Assessments UK)

Domains Maturity, intelligence

Scales Man point/woman point scale

Versions First developed by Goodenough (1926), the GDT only

involves the drawing of a man with the test being referred to
as Draw-A-Man test. In 1963, Harris revised the scale by
including two additional forms: a Woman scale and the Self
scale. A scoring system developed by Naglieri (1988) is
available referred to as The Draw A Person: A Quantitative
Scoring System (DAP) normed to a sample of 2622
individuals ages 5 through 17 years who were representative
of the 1980 US Census data on age, sex, race, geographic
region, ethnic group, social class, and communitysize. The
DAP yields standard scores with the familiar mean of 100 and
an SD of 15. (Available in Pearson Assessments UK.
Complete Kit includes examiner's manual with scoring chart
and a pack of 25 student record/response forms £221.00 w/o
VAT).

Scoring Scoring of the test follows the principle of age differentiation –

older children tend to get more points because of the greater
accuracy and detail of their drawings. Thus, one can
determine mental ages by comparing scores with those of the
normative sample. Raw scores can be converted to standard
scores with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.
 Scores begin leveling off at about age 14 or 15, so the use of
the test is restricted primarily to children, working best with
younger children. Correlations with the Stanford-Binet have
ranged from .36 to .74

Reliability and Validity Split-half, test-re-test, and interscorer reliability coefficients

are good, with ranges in the high .60s to low .90s for both old
and revised forms. Validation studies by other investigators
have yielded conflicting results.

Strengths  Easy to administer (only about 20 – 30 minutes plus

10 minutes of inquiry.
 Helps people who have anxieties taking tests (no strict
format)
 Can assess people with administration problems.
 Relatively culture free.
 Allow for self administration.

Disadvantage  Restricted amount of hypotheses can be developed.

 Relatively non-verbal, but may have some problems
during inquiry.
 Little research backing.

References Murstein, B. (1965). Handbook of projective techniques. New

York, NY: Basic Books Inc.

Scott, L. (1981). Measuring intelligence with the goodenough-

harris drawing test. Psychological bulletin, 89(3), 483-505.