AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE USEFULNESS OF A BATTERY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS WITH NURSERY SCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

In general it was possible for the psychologist, on the basis of psychological test results, to distinguish between 3 groups of nursery school children rated by the psychiatrist as adequately adjusted, moderately maladjusted, and severely maladjusted. The following test features appeared to be related to the presence of maladjustment tendencies: on the Rorschach test—no color responses, pure color responses only, arbitrary use of color, color naming, more than one-half of the record consisting of perseverated responses, failures, and accumulation of responses using black as color; on the Thematic Apperception test—accumulation of unusual violently aggressive themes, blocking, and absurd perceptual distortions; on the Stanford-Binet—more scatter below the mental age than above it, using a modification of the Pressey measure of scatter. The Rorschach test proved to be the single most useful test for determining maladjustment, but the value of using a battery of tests was indicated. In conclusion, the authors wish to stress that the study reported was exploratory and based on a small number of cases(22). It by no means covered all the aspects of the problems involved, and the results must be considered tentative. More systematic and extensive studies are required to determine the specific implications of our findings and to point up other significant potentialities of psychological testing in the preschool age group.