House-tree-person test
Definition
The house-tree-person test (HTP) is a projective personality test, a type of exam in which the test taker responds to or provides ambiguous, abstract, or unstructured stimuli (often in the form of pictures or drawings). In the HTP, the test taker is asked to draw houses, trees,
Purpose
The primary purpose of the HTP is to measure aspects of a person's personality through interpretation of drawings and responses to questions. It is also sometimes used as part of an assessment of brain damage or overall neurological functioning.
The HTP was developed in 1948, and updated in 1969. Tests requiring human figure drawings were already being utilized as projective personality tests. Buck believed that drawings of houses and trees could also provide relevant information about the functioning of an individual's personality.
Precautions
Because it is mostly subjective, scoring and interpreting the HTP is difficult. Anyone administering the HTP must be properly trained. The test publishers provide a detailed 350-page administration and scoring manual.
Description
The HTP can be given to anyone over the age of three. Because it requires test takers to draw pictures, it is often used with children and adolescents. It is also often used with individuals suspected of having brain damage or other neurological impairment. The test takes an average of 150 minutes to complete; it may take less time with normally functioning adults and much more time with neurologically impaired individuals.
During the first phase of the test, test takers are asked to use a crayon to draw pictures, respectively, of a house, a tree, and a person. Each drawing is done on a separate piece of paper and the test taker is asked to draw as accurately as possible. Upon completion of the drawings, test takers are asked questions about the drawings. There are a total of 60 questions that examiners can ask. Examiners can also create their own questions or ask unscripted follow-up questions. For example, with reference to the house, the test creator wrote questions such as, "Is it a happy house?" and "What is the house made of?" Regarding the tree, questions include, "About how old is that tree?" and "Is the tree alive?" Concerning the person, questions include, "Is that person happy?" and "How does that person feel?"
During the second phase of the test, test takers are asked to draw the same pictures with a pencil. The questions that follow this phase are similar to the ones in the first phase. Some examiners give only one of the two phases, choosing either a crayon, a pencil, or some other writing instrument.
One variation of test administration involves asking the individual to draw two separate persons, one of each sex. Another variation is to have test takers put all the drawings on one page.
