Responses to Projective Material by Pre- and Post-Menarcheal Subjects

Abstract

Four cards from The Blacky Pictures (3) were used as stimuli for the evocation of responses of a sexual nature. The cards and the standard inquiry questions which accompany them were administered to 138 female Ss selected from the seventh and eighth grades of two communities having a population of approximately 5000 each. The four cards used were: I(Ora1 Eroticism), IV (Oedipal Intensity), X (Love-object) , and XI (Positive Ego Ideal). We also intended to use Cards 111 (Anal Sadism) and V (Masturbation Guilt), but, since the school authorities objected to the content of the pictures for this age group, these cards were dropped. Each S was given the following preliminary instructions orally: I have four cartoons like you see in the funny papers. I'll show them to you one at a time and you try to use your imagination to answer the questions which I shall ask you. Try to answer all of the questions. Just use your imagination to tell how the dogs in the cartoons feel. By the way, I want you to meet this family. This is Mama, Papa, Tippy, and Blacky. After the four cards and the questions had been presented, S was asked to select the card that she liked best and the one that she liked least. She was asked to tell why she chose each card. All responses were recorded by E in a printed booklet which concained all questions for the Blacky cards. A personal data sheet was completed by each S. This sheet contained ques