kers who are then asked to report, either orally or in writing, their reactions and responses to seeing each card by telling a story about the card. The test can be given to people ten years of age or older, although there have currently been forms designed for children younger than ten years(Aronow, Weiss and Reznikoff, 2001).
Geiser and Stein (1999) state that the TAT can be scored in various ways, but the most common method in clinical use is to review clients' interpretations and determine the extent to which they accord with general principles of inference derived from psychodynamic theory. The authors further note that the test is usually administered in two 20 minute to one hour sessions.
Test Construction and Psychometric Properties
According to Geiser and Stein (1999), test construction of the TAT was really rooted more in literature, art, and drama than in empirical methods. Artists basically drew pictures to evoke certain feelings and moods, and those which seemed the most evocative of certain specific states and feelings were selected out for inclusion in the cards that comprise the TAT. The manual reports no reliability and validity information and despite its wide usage, there continues to be an ongoing debate as to whether it is either reliable or valid. There is even debate regarding the scoring systems used which, Geiser and Stein report to be as many as "there are hairs in the beard of Rasputin."
In their discussion of the construction and psychometric soundness of the TAT, Lillenfield, Wood and Garb (2001) state that the administration of the TAT is not standardized and results are almost always interpreted intuitively instead of using scoring procedures. In fact, the authors point out that studies have shown that only about three percent of clinicians who use the TAT report relying on the scoring system.
What is disturbing here is that, according to Lillenfield et. al (2001) research indicates ...