J O U R N A L O F T H E S O U T H A F R I C A N L O G O P E D C SOCIETY projective Interpretation of Intelligence Tests Y. A. LEJEUNE, Ph.D. Psychologist, Johannesburg Child Guidance Clinic. Intelligence test results given in the form of IQ· only a r e often very misleading, par- ticularly where the subject is a deviate one, a s is the c a s e with most children seen at child guidance, or speech clinics. In all c a s e s a qualitative report is n e c e s s a r y , dealing with the subject's attitudes to ihe test situation and to the examiner, in order to determine whether the I.Q. is a valid one or n o t ; a n d in addi- tion a good test report must include some as- sessment of the subject's personality. This is particularly important where it is not possible to give a battery of personality tests a s an aid to diagnosis, a n d for this reason projective interpretation of intelligence test responses is useful, b e c a u s e it can throw light on aspects of personality which may not b e revealed in other diagnostic interviews. A standard intelligence test differs from a true projective test mainly in the d e g r e e of structuring of the stimuli presented to the sub- ject. The questions a r e framed in such a w a y that there is—or should b e — v e r y little ambi- guity, a n d in theory the questions should h a v e exactly the s a m e meaning for all subjects. In practice, however, there is a wide variation in the amount of ambiguity present in the test stimuli, a n d in many sub-test items there is ample opportunity for the subject to interpret the meaning of the stimulus in terms of his own personality drives. As a general rule, the more neurotic the subject, the more likely he is to produce these projective responses. Some e x a m p l e s of responses to the S.A. In- dividual S c a l e of Intelligence m a y illustrate this point. lEven a fairly structured test, " A r e you a little1 girl/Or a little b o y ? " m a y produce a response which is emotionally determined. A response of "No, I'm b i g " is often related to feeling of insecurity, a n d frequently a girl m a y insist that she is a boy, even though she knows quite well that she is not. Less often a boy says that he is a girl, b e c a u s e of a fear of his own masculinity. Th ere is another group of items in the In- dividual S c a l e , where the 1 questions a r e less structured, but which produce deviate re- sponses in the less adjusted c a s e s . I would include in this category the comprehension tests, which usually produce a standard suc- cess or failure, but which m a y also reveal at- titudes of dependence. or withdrawal. A very dependent child may preface his replies with "Ask my mommy," a n d in one c a s e of a n over- protected child with hypochondriacal symp- toms, the answer to " W h a t should you do b e - fore beginning something difficult?" w a s " R e s t . " Timid, over-anxious children, or ihose with strong guilt feelings, tend to produce response which stress the d a n g e r s of the outside world, a n d they will do this even when the test ques- tions a r e moderately structured, e.g., "A snaxe, a cow a n d a bird a r e alike b e c a u s e they c a n all hurt you;" or, in the sentence-making test, "A boy swam in the river a n d cut himself on a stone a n d was drowned," instead of the more usual "A boy threw a stone in the river." Dis- tortions resulting from timidity may also ap- p e a r in the memories of the reading p a s s a g e , if the subject " r e c a l l s " death or injury. Sibling rivalry or interest in the birth of a new 'baby m a y also b e shown in these tests, e.g., in one c a s e of this type the s u b j e c t ' s responses to the differences test were in terms of origin—' A stone comes from the ground, and a n e g g from a hen, milk comes from a cow and water from a t a p " ; a n d this w a s followed b y what a p p e a r e d to be a birth-interest response on the similarities tesi—"A dog a n d a horse a r e the s a m e b e c a u s e they've both got big tummies." In addition to these test items, there a r e three sub-items on the Individual S c a l e where the stimuli a r e so little structured that they might almost be thought of a s projective items. The first of these is the picture interpretation test occurring at y e a r - 1 3 . The pictures them- selves a r e not a s a mb ig uous a s those of a Thematic Apperception test, a n d the emotions depicted a r e fairly c l e a r ; but the c a u s e of the emotions is not clear, a n d for this reason the interpretations given m a y b e very revealing about the subject's anxieties or wishes. Re- ferences to food deprivation, or quarrelling between the parents—"The father's left them, a n d they have nobody to look after t h e m " ^ do not necessarily reflect the real home situa- tion, but these responses do indicate the n a t u r e of the child's phantasies and sources' of anxiety. Another test of this type is the word a s s o - ciation test. For the most part ihe normal child will give words which a r e inspired b y what he s e e s around him—"pencil, pen, block, e t c . " — b u t the more disturbed subject is likely to produce responses which a r e a s s o c i a t e d R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) 10 J O U R N A L O F T H E SOUTH A F R I C A N L O G O P E D I C SOCIETY MAY with p h a n t a s y . O n e girl sex-deliquent pro- duced 35 b o y s ' n a m e s within one minute, an achievement which most people would find im- possible to emulate. Other subjects of the s a m e type m a y produce words associated with exhibitionistic behaviour—e.g., referring to dress, parties, ornaments, etc. Another frequent type is the response met with a m o n g regressed or immature subjects, the food response, where a large number of the words a r e related to food or e a t i n g ; a n d a m o n g the more a g g r e s s i v e children the words may refer to fighting—weapons, battles, etc. The third test of this type is perhaps the most revealing of all, a n d h a s b e e n selected for special study. This is t h e . Ball-and-field test, which from our point of view has two a d v a n t a g e s over all the other sub-tests in the scale. In the first p l a c e it a p p e a r s at two levels on the S.A. Individual S c a l e — a t y e a r 9 a n d y e a r 12, so that nearly all primary school children, a n d a large number of high school children a r e likely to do the test. And in the second place, it is' the least structured of all the test items, a n d therefore produces more emotionally conditioned responses than any of the other items. SUBJECTS AND PROCEDURE IN THE PRESENT S T U D Y : ι The s u b j e c t s for this study were 200 children seen a t the J o h a n n e s b u r g Child G u i d a n c e Clinic, selected on the b a s i s of the most recent c a s e s who h a d done the Ball-and-field test a s part of [the routine Individual S c a l e examina- tion. T?he a g e r a n g e w a s 5 y e a r s 7 months to 15 years, with a median a g e of 9 y e a r s 4 months.' Mental a g e r a n g e w a s 6 years 3 months j to 15 years 8 months, median 9 y e a r s 2 months, a n d the I.Q. r a n g e w a s 64 to 148, median 96. In all c a s e s the Ball-and-field test w a s given a s part of the S.A. Individual S c a l e , with the standard instructions, but in addi- tion the reaction time a n d total time taken for the test were recorded, a s it w a s felt that deviations from the norm in time scores might indicate the· presence of anxiety. Any com- ments on the'test b y the subject, or questions a b o u t it w e r e also noted. The records of the group were then divided into p a s s e s or failures, using the 9-year level scoring a s a b a s i s for a pass, and then these two groups were further sub-divided on the b a s i s of similarity of patterns. The psychiatric diagnosis for e a c h c a s e w a s then compared with others in the s a m e sub-group, in order to d e t e r m i n e d whether the Ball-and-field patterns could b e correlated with patterns of person- ality organisation. RESULTS. A. P A S S E S : Group 1—Normal passes, with normal reaction time (below 7 " ) . ( S e e diagrams 1-3). This group consisted of 61 cases, of whom 44 were diagnosed a s "well adjusted." Group 2—Normal p a s s e s (similar to group 1) but with excessively long reaction t i m e s — over 7". There were 13 c a s e s in this group, all of whom were diagnosed a s responding to "excessive frustration" ; i.e., although not well-adjusted, these children were not typical c a s e s of maladjusted personalities. Group 3—Vertical lines (diagram 4). The 5 c a s e s in this group were all diagnosed a s "having marked feelings of deprivation, de- manding indulgence, or narcissistic." Diagram 5, a combination of " n o r m a l " hcrizonal lines a n d vertical ones (diagram 5) w a s produced b y a child referred to the clinic for stealing, a n d w a s diagnosed a s "feeling deprived, b e c a u s e of the mother's self-indulgence" ; but the stealing stopped after one interview with the child, and two with the mother, so that it was apparent that the maladjustment w a s not very deep-rooted. Group 4—Excessively careful filling of the field (diagram 6). *A11 5 c a s e s in this group were diagnosed a s obsessional, a n d 4 of them were enuretic. Three were having difficulty at school b e c a u s e of "slow work." Group 5—Success followed b y flight from the field (diagram 7). The 3 c a s e s in this group were described a s "Over-conscientious," but 2 of them showed, conversion symptoms, a n d one was referred for school difficulty. Group 6—The " P h a l l i c " response (diagram 8). The naming of this pattern w a s a psycholo- gist's hunch, but w a s borne out b y the problems shown b y the 7 c a s e s in this group. Five of them were referred for sex difficul- ties, and the other 2 were enuretics, whose enuresis w a s related to over-stimulation of sex interests. Group 7—Confused p a s s e s (diagram 9). Of the 19 c a s e s in this group, 16 were described in the psychiatric report a s "timid" or " a p - prehensive", 14 of them were referred for school difficulty, although only 4 of them h a v e I.Q.'s below 90. They a r e apparently children whose anxiety leads to confusion in thinking. R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) MAY J O U R N A L O F T H E SOUTH A F R I C A N L O G O P E D I C SOCIETY ! 1 Group 8—Normal pattern, long reaction time, a c c o m p a n i e d b y much questioning of the examiner.! These two c a s e s were both re- ferred for nosed a s school difficulties, a n d were diag- b e i n g dependent a n d submissive. I B. FAILURES : ι In assessing the importance of these pat- terns, the questions should b e a s k e d : " W h a t causes failure on this test? In some c a s e s it may b e sheer intellectual i n a d e q u a c y , but in the c a s e s studied, 6 2 % of the children had mental a g e s over 9 years, a n d should h a v e passed the test at the 9 - y e a r level, while a further 1 4 % h a d mental a g e s over 8 y e a r s 6 months, a n d might possibly h a v e p a s s e d it, as they p a s s e d other tests at the 9 - y e a r level. In this group, therefore, it is possible that fail- ure w a s due to emotional factors, related to the g e n e r a l neurotic pattern of failure on non- verbal tests, or to anxiety a s a result of the lack of structuring in the stimulus. The type of failure throws more light on this emotional factor. In none of the failure groups a r e there more than 1 0 % of the c a s e s a n d it is therefore not possible to talk a b o u t a "normal failure." Group 9—Single straight line (diagram 10). Of the 20 c a s e s in this group, 11 were de- scribed a s being " n e g a t i v e " or. "resentful to the mother," a n d 9 were diagnosed a s "timid, dependent or overprotected." It would a p p e a r that this is the pattern of least effort, a n d that this m a y arise either from unwillingness to follow the test instruc- tions, or from d e p e n d e n c e a n d helplessness. Group 10—A circle with or without a line to the centre (diagram 11 a n d 12). 13 of the 16 c a s e s in this group were described a s timid,, insecure or withdrawn, and 15 oi them had I.Q.'s below 90. This a p p e a r s to b e the pattern of the timid, i n a d e q u a t e per- sonality, with a low I.Q. Group 11—Drawing the ball (diagram 13). Of the 9 c a s e s in this group, 5 were referred for stealing, a n d the other 4, referred for a g g r e s s i v e behaviour, c a m e from materially deprived homes. All 9 h a v e I.Q., i.e, all these c a s e s h a v e a n interest in material possessions, and all h a v e difficulty in deal- ing with problems requiring abstract think- ing b e c a u s e of the low level of intelligence. Group 12—Following the outline (diagram 14). These 8 c a s e s were all referred for school R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) MAY ^ ttz ϊα The other c h d d . ^ t h OT ' U j n α a s c a s e s the parents v e . e c h i l d r e n ' s restrictive - ^ a ' o i ^ q { demands Ihis a p p t h e t e ΓΓ.Γ.ΟΓ their OWN ^ t h e i r " parents a r e a e s c n o e d α» ov Ρ ^ live, so that it is not necessary exclude the outside v/orta. G : » p 1 5 - G o i n g out o, the The 4 c a s e s m this 3 · . o u p ° e n c „ u r a g e l i S S f ^ S n s . because o, the parents' own timidity. b i r r e d Κ school £ had I.Q. s below 80 i h e y ^ ^ . children .aware of hei o/m ^ who attempt to ,cover Ρ ' " b l e m . a grandiose solution to the pre ^ Group l ^ J - J o i n i n g the * - d ^ mond (diagram 19). j h e reia diamond! a n d _faeld^on the CONCLUSION: B e c a u s e of the small n u m b e M n e c ^ h group i u r t h e r investigation may b e n - r e & s a y field of projective f ^ ^ ^ i i s o n a l i t y that relationships d o e r i s t b e t w e e pe ^ patterns a n d response j ^ t t e m s fn the Ball-and-hela test. The u s a s s i s t a n c e ^ o f i^^erpretaaon may be ^ ^ S K d ^ ^ h m g between f a i l u ^ u e ment. S p o n s o i : Sir Ernest Oppenheimer To whom we express out sincere thanks αιαπιυικα --- , test is quite fortuuoiu, b ^ ,, h t obliged to j o i n tne two. This is ^ reaction, b e c a u s e in all T h s y m . of the like is towards jn® ^ | ο τ π 1 3 D f the bolism m a y - ' b e u n d e r s t o o d ^ ^ m * ^ family background ο t n e . e cnu r_ c a m e from home where l " e r ® n t S i i n Group 18—Miscellaneous could only b e classified a s un<=lci* All this group has in c o m m o n ^ m ^ patterns a r e unlike all J ™ ® r ^ a r d s s i s t i c " ^ U ' o c ' r a S it I s possible that a n d 2 a s { r o m ^ m . the exceptional pattern ι sistence on doing things in o n . s or from social non-conformity. The finest selection I of Speech and Music I appreciation records for children 1 are always available on all speeds at 'The Connoisseurs Record Shop5 i t & Virf ^ fe P f * © S ® & G r a m o p h o n e 1 0 3 a Eloff Street P h o n e : 2 2 - 1 6 2 5 PO. Box 2400 22-5445 J O H A N N E S B U R G R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2)