COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE HOUSE-TREE-PERSON DRAWINGS OF SCHIZOID PERSONALITIES AND INDIVIDUALS WITH BELOW-AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE IN A PRISON SETTING

• NCJ Number: 67367
• Author(s): H E EISEL
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 61 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Annotation

THIS PAPER DESCRIBES A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE HOUSE-TREE-PERSON (HTP) DRAWINGS OF SCHIZOID PERSONALITIES AND INDIVIDUALS WITH BELOW-AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE IN A PRISON SETTING.

Abstract

BUCK PRESENTED HIS HOUSE-TREE-PERSON TECHNIQUE AS A CLINICAL TOOL FOR OBTAINING INFORMATION ON THE SENSITIVITY, MATURITY, FLEXIBILITY, EFFICIENCY, DEGREE OF PERSONALITY INTEGRATION AND THE INTERACTION OF PERSONALITY WITH ITS ENVIRONMENT. HE ALSO POSTULATED THAT ANALYSIS OF THE DRAWINGS COULD REVEAL A SUBJECT'S LEVEL OF INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING. RESEARCH AND CRITICISM HAS CONTINUED ON THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE HTP. ONE VALID CRITICISM IS THAT OBJECTIVE NORMS AND SCORING STANDARDS FOR THE HTP ARE ABSENT, ESPECIALLY IN DELINEATING BETWEEN INTELLECTUAL AND PERSONALITY FACTORS. IF SIGNIFICANT SIMILARITIES SHOULD BE FOUND BETWEEN THE DRAWINGS OF SCHIZOID PERSONALITIES AND THOSE OF BELOW-AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE, THEN IT WOULD BE QUESTIONABLE WHETHER THESE DRAWINGS WOULD BE ABLE TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN INTELLIGENCE LEVELS. THUS THE HYPOTHESES FOR THIS STUDY WERE THAT HTP DRAWINGS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH BELOW-AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE WOULD HAVE SIGNIFICANT SIMILARITIES TO SCHIZOID DRAWINGS AND THAT THE IQ SCORING OF THE DRAWINGS SHOULD NOT BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THE GROUP TEST IQ SCORES OF THE SCHIZOID AND BELOW AVERAGE GROUPS. 69 SCHIZOID PRISONERS AND 69 PRISONERS OF BELOW AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE WERE ADMINISTERED THE HTP ON ADMISSION TO THE PENITENTIARY SYSTEM IN OHIO, AND BUCK'S INSTRUCTIONS WERE FOLLOWED. BUCK'S QUANTITATIVE SCORING SYSTEM WAS USED AS WELL AS A LIST OF DETAILS PRESENT OR ABSENT IN THE DRAWINGS. THE RESULTS CONFIRMED THE HYPOTHESES. SIGNIFICANT SIMILARITIES WERE FOUND BETWEEN THE DRAWINGS OF THE SCHIZOID PERSONALITIES AND THOSE OF BELOW AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE. IN NEITHER PRISON POPULATION WAS THERE A SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION BETWEEN THE IQ SCORES OBTAINED FROM THE DRAWINGS, AND THOSE OBTAINED FROM AN IQ TEST. IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE HTP DOES NOT MEASURE INTELLIGENCE, BUT RATHER HOW AN INDIVIDUAL VIEWS HIS ENVIRONMENT AND HIS ABILITY TO ADAPT TO THAT ENVIRONMENT. TABULAR DATA, 2 APPENDIXES OF RAW DATA AND FORMS, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. (MJW)