Let’s Draw Out Our Intelligence
The Draw-A-Person test (DAP), developed by Florence Goodenough in 1926, was originally published in “Measurement of Intelligence by Drawings” and later revised in “Children’s Drawings as Measures of Intellectual Maturity.” The DAP test is a short, projective one, but Goodenough argues that it allows us to look deep into children’s mind and measure their intellectual functioning. Children are required to draw three figures: one of a man, one of a woman, and one of themselves.
In order to assess intelligence, the experimenter uses the Draw-A-Person: Quantitative Scoring System (DAP:QSS), which is a scoring system that analyzes the drawings through 14 different aspects according to set criteria. Overall, there are 64 scoring items for each drawing. Based of this scoring system (it looks at the absence or presence of details, the precision of details, the placement of body parts, the general proportion, etc.), the child’s intelligence and cognitive development is supposedly measured.
Because this test is a non-intrusive, non-verbal, projective one, these drawings reveal the children’s thought process and cognitive developmental levels without hassle. But even then, I wonder how accurate the DAP test truly is. How exactly is intelligence measured using these standard scores obtained upon analyzing the drawings? Experience in drawing and having the opportunity to draw might come into play. Not to mention using this info might jeopardize a child’s growth just because they do not draw nearly as well as other children of their age, seeing as labels might be applied.
As with most projective tests, little validity has been found with this approach to measuring children’ intelligence. Research has been done to assess the DAP test’s validity, and most come to a conclusion that there is a low correlation between the DAP scores and intelligence.
Although the test was originally developed as a measure of intelligence, it has yet to fulfil the validity criteria of which any tests should appeal to. Rather than to measure intellectual functioning, this test has more success in being a communication tool for testers and children taking the test. Therefore, one should not use the DAP test as a valid method of measuring intelligence when there exists other intelligence tests that are better established.
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