Blacky pictures test

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The Blacky pictures test was a projective test, employing a series of twelve picture cards, used by psychoanalysts in mid-20th century America and elsewhere, to investigate the extent to which children's personalities were shaped by Freudian psychosexual development.

Contents

The test was created by Gerald S. Blum in 1947, [1] who was later Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan. [2] The drawings depicted a family of cartoon dogs in normal situations which could be related to psychoanalytic theory. The main character, "Blacky", was accompanied by a sibling Tippy, and by a mother and father. Blacky's gender was determined by the gender of the test subject.

Children were asked to make up a story, based in the drawings in the pictures, and the content of their responses, when analysed, was thought to indicate the extent of Freudian personality traits, such as an anal personality, castration anxiety or penis envy.

The Blacky Pictures Test's worth as a source of useful data was questioned by psychologists, among them Hans Eysenck, and they since have fallen out of use.

Background

Sigmund Freud (1856– 1939), the "father of psychoanalysis", is well known for his theory of psychosexual development, which has had a lasting effect on the field. He became interested in the psychosexual development of children and constructed five stages of development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. [3]

In his early research, Freud approached the treatment of hysteria through a free association technique in which patients simply let their mind wander freely, reporting all thoughts, feelings or memories that came to mind. [4] A self-analysis, following the death of his father, led Freud to develop a theory of childhood sexuality. Through his own free associations, he recovered a childhood dream in which he had wished for the death of his father and sexual desires for his mother. [3] This led to his discovery of what he called the Oedipus complex, in which there exists a strong sexual desire for the opposite-sexed parent and major attitudes of rivalry for the same-sexed parent. [3]

This phenomenon appears in both sexes during the phallic stage of development. [3] As a boy's feelings for his mother intensifies, castration anxiety develops because he sees his father as a dominant figure and fears he will be castrated for his inappropriate desires for his mother. [3] This phenomenon also occurs in girls, and is referred to by some as the Electra complex. [3] The girl develops penis envy, realizing she does not have one and these feelings make her reject her mother and desire her father. [3] All of these inappropriate feelings eventually lead to an inner conflict that is resolved only by identification with the same-sex parent. [3] Freud's theory of psychosexual development eventually led to the invention of a theoretically-derived test.

Gerald Blum created the Blacky Pictures Test in 1947, [1] when there were hopes of discovering deeper knowledge of changes in personality as psychosexual development advances. [5] Each of the 12 cartoons used in the test illustrates either a different stage of psychosexual development or an object relationship using four main characters: Blacky, Mama, Papa and Tippy. Dogs were used in the cartoons, instead of humans, to avoid possible inhibition. Dogs have appeared as characters in Disney film productions and comic strips, and so child participants are able to identify with the characters enough to express their true feelings. [5]

In a typical test session, the subject is asked to examine the picture and tell a story about it. The subject is then asked a series of short-answer and multiple-choice questions about his or her understanding of the cartoons. Finally, he or she is asked to rate their preference for the cartoons shown. [5] Blacky represents the "son" to male subjects and the "daughter" to female subjects. An objective scoring system is then used to rate responses. Results are analyzed and interpreted to find that the subject has a "strong" personality type such as anal, oral or phallic, corresponding to one of the psychosexual development stages. [5]

Uses, research and results

When the Blacky Pictures were first created in 1947, their main purpose was to help the analyst understand the changes in a child's personality as he or she progressed through the Freudian stages of psychosexual development. [4] The Blacky Pictures were shown by a psychoanalyst to a patient and the subject's reactions were analyzed in relation to the Freudian personality traits. [3] Subjects were rated on a variety of dimensions, including oral eroticism, oral sadism, castration anxiety, sibling rivalry, positive ego identification and narcissistic love object. Blacky Pictures have been used to diagnose various psychological or psychiatric problems in both children and adults. [5]

In the years after they were first established, Blacky Pictures were investigated by various researchers such as Blum and Kaufman [6] and Bernstein and Chase. [7] The results, however, from the various strands of research are ambiguous. For instance, Blum and Kaufman found a significant difference in oral eroticism between groups. [6] When the study was replicated by Bernstein and Chase, however, no differences between the groups was found. [7]

Validity and reliability

In 1950 several studies found results from the analysis of Blacky Pictures consistent with Freudian psychoanalytic theory, providing some support for the construct validity of the test. Experimental techniques found that Blacky Pictures were accurate in predicting behavior associated with the psychosexual personality types, in both individual and group settings. [5] Research by Blum and Kaufman, [6] however, brought the validity of the test into question. Furthermore, a lack of differences between groups with different psychological problems was found, questioning the validity of the technique. [7]

When Blacky Pictures first began to be used, the interpretations and conclusions made by examiners appeared to have been consistent across different scorers. [5] Later work highlighted the subjectivity of test scoring. Each psychologist rates different traits with a quantity but this rating is dependent on individual interpretation. Exactly which responses are indicative of a "strong" score is not well-defined. [8] Additionally, the test assumes that denial implies repression, which is hypothetical, rather than proven, theory. [8] Another challenge to validity is that responses and evaluations can have alternative explanations. For instance, differences in responses between subjects may be more consistent with an introverted or extraverted personality, rather than with an anal personality type. [9]

Current use

After several years of limited use, Blacky Pictures began to be disregarded as a legitimate tool for analysis and eventually fell out of use altogether. They are now often regarded as inconclusive and unreliable. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

Psychoanalysis is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques that deal in part with the unconscious mind, and which together form a method of treatment for mental disorders. The discipline was established in the early 1890s by Sigmund Freud, whose work stemmed partly from the clinical work of Josef Breuer and others. Freud developed and refined the theory and practice of psychoanalysis until his death in 1939. In an encyclopedic article, he identified the cornerstones of psychoanalysis as "the assumption that there are unconscious mental processes, the recognition of the theory of repression and resistance, the appreciation of the importance of sexuality and of the Oedipus complex." Freud's colleagues Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav Jung developed offshoots of psychoanalysis which they called individual psychology (Adler) and analytical psychology (Jung), although Freud himself wrote a number of criticisms of them and emphatically denied that they were forms of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis was later developed in different directions by neo-Freudian thinkers, such as Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, and Harry Stack Sullivan.

Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that examines personality and its variation among individuals. It aims to show how people are individually different due to psychological forces. Its areas of focus include:

Psychoanalytic theory is the theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development relating to the practice of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology. First laid out by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century, psychoanalytic theory has undergone many refinements since his work. The psychoanalytic theory came to full prominence in the last third of the twentieth century as part of the flow of critical discourse regarding psychological treatments after the 1960s, long after Freud's death in 1939. Freud had ceased his analysis of the brain and his physiological studies and shifted his focus to the study of the psyche, and on treatment using free association and the phenomena of transference. His study emphasized the recognition of childhood events that could influence the mental functioning of adults. His examination of the genetic and then the developmental aspects gave the psychoanalytic theory its characteristics. Starting with his publication of The Interpretation of Dreams in 1899, his theories began to gain prominence.

An anal retentive person is a person who pays such attention to detail that it becomes an obsession and may be an annoyance to others. The term derives from psychoanalysis techniques employed by Sigmund Freud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oral stage</span> Freudian Psychosexual development

In Freudian psychoanalysis, the term oral stage or hemitaxia denotes the first psychosexual development stage wherein the mouth of the infant is their primary erogenous zone. Spanning the life period from birth to the age of 18 months, the oral stage is the first of the five Freudian psychosexual development stages: (i) the oral, (ii) the anal, (iii) the phallic, (iv) the latent, and (v) the genital.

Castration anxiety is an overwhelming fear of damage to, or loss of, the penis—a derivative of Sigmund Freud's theory of the castration complex, one of his earliest psychoanalytic theories. The term refers to the fear of emasculation in both a literal and metaphorical sense.

Mother's boy, also commonly and informally mummy's boy or mama's boy, is a derogatory term for a man seen as having an unhealthy dependence on his mother at an age at which he is expected to be self-reliant. Use of this phrase is first attested in 1901. The term mama's boy has a connotation of effeminacy and weakness. The counter term, for women, would be a father complex.

The genital stage in psychoanalysis is the term used by Sigmund Freud to describe the final stage of human psychosexual development. The individual develops a strong sexual interest in people outside of the family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phallic stage</span> Freudian psychosexual development

In Freudian psychoanalysis, the phallic stage is the third stage of psychosexual development, spanning the ages of three to six years, wherein the infant's libido (desire) centers upon their genitalia as the erogenous zone. When children become aware of their bodies, the bodies of other children, and the bodies of their parents, they gratify physical curiosity by undressing and exploring each other and their genitals, the center of the phallic stage, in the course of which they learn the physical differences between the male and female sexes and their associated social roles, experiences which alter the psychologic dynamics of the parent and child relationship. The phallic stage is the third of five Freudian psychosexual development stages: (i) the oral, (ii) the anal, (iii) the phallic, (iv) the latent, and (v) the genital.

In Freudian Ego psychology, psychosexual development is a central element of the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory. Freud believed that personality developed through a series of childhood stages in which pleasure seeking energies from the child became focused on certain erogenous areas. An erogenous zone is characterized as an area of the body that is particularly sensitive to stimulation. The five psychosexual stages are the oral, the anal, the phallic, the latent, and the genital. The erogenous zone associated with each stage serves as a source of pleasure. Being unsatisfied at any particular stage can result in fixation. On the other hand, being satisfied can result in a healthy personality. Sigmund Freud proposed that if the child experienced frustration at any of the psychosexual developmental stages, they would experience anxiety that would persist into adulthood as a neurosis, a functional mental disorder.

The anal stage is the second stage in Sigmund Freud's theory of psychosexual development, taking place approximately between the ages 18 months and three years. According to Freud, the anus is the primary erogenous zone and pleasure is derived from controlling bladder and bowel movement. The major conflict issue during this stage is toilet training. A fixation at this stage can result in a personality that is too rigid or one that is too disordered.

Ego psychology is a school of psychoanalysis rooted in Sigmund Freud's structural id-ego-superego model of the mind.

Anal expulsiveness is a theorized state of a person who exhibits cruelty, emotional outbursts, disorganization, self-confidence, artistic ability, generosity, rebelliousness and general carelessness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ink blot test</span> Personality test

An ink blot test is a personality test that involves the evaluation of a subject's response to ambiguous ink blots. This test was published in 1921 by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach. The interpretation of people's responses to the Rorschach Inkblot Test was originally based on psychoanalytical theory but investigators have used it in an empirical fashion. When this test is used empirically, the quality of the responses is related to the measurements of personality.

The latency stage is the fourth stage of Sigmund Freud's model of a child's psychosexual development. Freud believed that the child discharges their libido through a distinct body area that characterizes each stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electra complex</span> Jungian psychological concept

In neo-Freudian psychology, the Electra complex, as proposed by Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung in his Theory of Psychoanalysis, is a girl's psychosexual competition with her mother for possession of her father. In the course of her psychosexual development, the complex is the girl's phallic stage; a boy's analogous experience is the Oedipus complex. The Electra complex occurs in the third—phallic stage —of five psychosexual development stages: the oral, the anal, the phallic, the latent, and the genital—in which the source of libido pleasure is in a different erogenous zone of the infant's body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oedipus complex</span> Idea in psychoanalysis

In classical psychoanalytic theory, the Oedipus complex refers to a son's sexual attitude towards his mother and concomitant hostility toward his father, first formed during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. A daughter's attitude of desire for her father and hostility toward her mother is referred to as the feminine Oedipus complex. The general concept was considered by Sigmund Freud in The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), although the term itself was introduced in his paper A Special Type of Choice of Object made by Men (1910).

Penis envy is a stage in Sigmund Freud's theory of female psychosexual development, in which young girls experience anxiety upon realization that they do not have a penis. Freud considered this realization a defining moment in a series of transitions toward a mature female sexuality. In Freudian theory, the penis envy stage begins the transition from attachment to the mother to competition with the mother for the attention and affection of the father. The young boy's realization that women do not have a penis is thought to result in castration anxiety.

Phallic monism is a term introduced by Chasseguet-Smirgel to refer to the theory that in both sexes the male organ—i.e. the question of possessing the penis or not—was the key to psychosexual development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freud's psychoanalytic theories</span> Look to unconscious drives to explain human behavior

Sigmund Freud is considered to be the founder of the psychodynamic approach to psychology, which looks to unconscious drives to explain human behavior. Freud believed that the mind is responsible for both conscious and unconscious decisions that it makes on the basis of psychological drives. The id, ego, and super-ego are three aspects of the mind Freud believed to comprise a person's personality. Freud believed people are "simply actors in the drama of [their] own minds, pushed by desire, pulled by coincidence. Underneath the surface, our personalities represent the power struggle going on deep within us".

References

  1. 1 2 Taulbee, Earl S. (1968). "The Blacky Pictures Test: A Comprehensive Annotated and Indexed Bibliography (1949–1967)". Journal of Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment. 32 (2): 105–137. doi:10.1080/0091651X.1968.10120461. PMID   4872360.
  2. ↑ "Gerald S. Blum". University of Michigan. 2011. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Nye, R.D. (1986). Three psychologies: Perspectives from Freud, Skinner, and Rogers. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Inc.
  4. 1 2 Fancher, R. E, & Rutherford, A. (2012). A history: Pioneers of psychology. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Blum, G. S.; Hunt, H. F. (1952). "The validity of the blacky pictures". Psychological Bulletin . 49 (3): 238–250. doi:10.1037/h0057240. PMID   14930160.
  6. 1 2 3 Blum, G. S., & Kaufman, J. B. (1952). "Two patterns of personality dynamics in male peptic ulcer patients as suggested by responses to the Blacky Pictures". Journal of Clinical Psychology , 8(3), 273-278.
  7. 1 2 3 Bernstien, L.; Chase, P.H. (1955). "The discriminative ability of the blacky pictures with ulcer patients". Journal of Consulting Psychology. 19 (5): 377–380. doi:10.1037/h0041566. PMID   13263468.
  8. 1 2 Beck, S (1956). "The Blacky Pictures". Journal of Consulting Psychology. 20 (6): 487–488. doi:10.1037/h0039381.
  9. 1 2 Eysenck, H. (1990). Decline and fall of the Freudian empire. Washington, D.C.: Scott-Townsend Publishers.
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