"DRAW A MAN" - MACHOVER TEST - AND ITS ROLE IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

Headnote

Abstract: The "draw a man" test, developed by psychologists with a psycho diagnostic purpose, can be used as a psychological scientific instrument and also by pedagogues who can lay the basis of their educational program on it or elements that gush forth from the interpretation of the test. This paper deals with elements of form and contents that are supported by researchers in the field of projective tests. Mention has been made of virtues and limitations of this instrument as a measure of intelligence. Drawing is presented as an experience and opportunity for the psycho-pedagogic team that supports the child in his/her cognitive, emotional and social development..

Keywords: IQ test, projective test, general criteria of interpretation, forms of contents, drawing - privileged role in the education and psychotherapy of the child.

After working a lot with the "draw a man" test, after many years and different contexts (clinical, educational, personnel selection, psychological counseling) I reached the conclusion that this can be of real help for the persons involved in the psycho educational process, especially if the person has a dominant inclination towards the assisted person (student, client, patient). Clinical psychologists have concluded upon a double use of this test: as a measure of the IQ and as a projective test to find personality.

1. As a marker of intelligence

The beginning of the 20th century marked the dawn of an ample psycho-pedagogical movement concerning the understanding of children. Among the interests cultivated by this movement, we can mention a vivid curiosity for the artistic production of children, among which drawing has a leading role. This interest did not target the final product that resulted from that - the drawing, but the connections that exist between the child and his/her psychological achievements, especially regarding the developmental aspect. There are vast international projects and researchers followed the detailed observation of the drawings of the same child during a period of several years. Such observations allowed the relatively well-defined stages of graphology evolutions. Cutting out the artistic predispositions of the children that are anyway individual, as well as of the cultural particularities, there is some kind of evolution of the drawing of any child by age. Drawing goes together with the psychological abilities development. The idea...