hum I a. t .9“ m lul- OOI Dina A. 1w. a.“ ,w. Rn} ‘- H._:_:___________ mmm 3.3 in fl? #3». {mes-’15 LIBRARY Michigan Stats University “‘WIIIIWEIIIIIIIW L PLACE III RETURN BOX to remove ethic checkout from your rrecord. TO AVOID FINES rctumo orbeIore due due. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE J i_ | 11W: er MSUIe AnAIflrmet Ive Action/Equal OlpportunIty Im ABSTRACT THE CLINICAL APPLICABILITY OF NUDE FIGURE DRAWINGS by Raymond S. Sanders Jr. The research was undertaken in an effort to replicate and extend the research of Handler and Reyher (196h) and Handler (l96h) in regard to investigating the anxiety and arousal mani- fested in drawing the human form. The method for the present study consisted of having 39 undergraduate male college students draw five figures--an automobile, a clothed male, a clothed female, a nude male, and a nude female--in random order while a continuous record of their GSR activation was obtained. A measure of GSR frequency was computed for each subject, and the mean GSR frequencies of the five drawings were compared by analysis of covariance. In addition the GSR responses of largest amplitude for each of the four human drawings were sorted as to the anatomical bodily area being drawn at the time of the inflection of the GSR re- sponse. In the final phase of the study, the mean GSR frequen- cies of the ten subjects judged to be best adjusted psycho- sexually were compared to mean GSR frequencies obtained from the ten subjects judged to be poorest in terms of psychosexual adjustment. The results showed that the GSR activity of the standard clothed human figures differed significantly from a neutral but equally difficult drawing (i.e. the automobile). Similarly the nude figure drawings differed significantly from the clothed figures. However, in contrast to previous research, no signif- icant differences were obtained between the clothed male and female drawings or between the nude male and female drawings. A comparison of the GSR responses of largest amplitude showed significant shifts from the largest responses occurring to secondary sexual bodily areas in the clothed drawings to the largest GSR responses occurring to primary sexual areas in the nude drawings. When the mean GSR frequencies of the ten subjects judged best adjusted psychosexually were compared to those of the ten subjects judged poorest in psychosexual adjustment, only the clothed male and nude male drawings significantly differed between the two groups. However, all five drawings of the poorly adjusted group reflected greater GSR activation. It was concluded that: first, for males, the automobile serves as a useful baseline figure against which to judge the human figure drawings; second, for males, nude figure drawings place significantly greater pressure on the ego integrity of the‘fi in terms of the necessity of coping directly with pri- mary sexual characteristics; and third, for males, human figure drawings reflect greater anxiety and arousal for those judged to be poorly adjusted psychosexually than for those judged to A. be well adjusted psychosexually. . f 3 . I 25/(as//215/ THE CLINICAL APPLICABILITY OF NUDE FIGURE DRAWINGS By Raymond S. Sanders Jr. A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Psychology 1965 ACKN OWLED GEAVEELI‘i T3 The writer would like to express his sincere appre- ciation to his chairman, Dr. Joseph Reyher whose guidance, cooperation, and encouragement made this study possible. .Also, the writer would like to acknowledge the help of his committee members Drs. Bertram Karon and John Hurley. A special debt is owed to the following for their help in the :preparation of this manuscript: Dr. Leonard Handler, Michael :Sharp, Barbara Sanders, the Department of Psychology of Iflendocino State Hospital, and the staff and personnel of 'the Psychiatric Clinic of S.P.S.M. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGLii‘EEITS o e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 ii LIST OF TABLES e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 iv Chapter I 0 INTRODUCTION 0 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 1 II. HYPOTHESES e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 3 III. I'IETHOD e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 Subjects and Apparatus . . . . . . . . . . . Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . scoring 0 O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O C owns- #- 0c IV 0 RESULTS 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O v. DISCUSSION 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 21 VI. SUI’H‘MRY AND COI‘JCLUSION e e e e e e e e e e o e 29 BIBLIOGWHY O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 32 APPEI‘JDIX O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 3h iii Table 1. LIST OF TABLES Summary of Analysis of Covariance for Randomized Blocks GSR Scores and Order Designations . . . . . . . . . . . . . Corrected Mean GSR Reactivity for the 5 DraWingS O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O 0 Comparisons of Corrected Treatment Means by the Duncan's New Multiple Range Test . . Tabulation of the GSR's of Largest Amplitude for the Clothed and Nude Male Drawings . . . Tabulation of the GSR's of Largest Amplitude for the Clothed and Nude Female Drawings . . Tabulation of Shifts of Largest GSR Responses for Bodily Areas--Male Drawings. . . . . . . Tabulation of Shifts of Largest GSR Responses for Bodily Areas--Female Drawings. . . . . . Nban GSR Reactivity, t's, and Level of Significance for the Well and Poorly Adjusted Psychosexual Groups . . . . . . . . iv Page 10 11 1h 15 16 17 20 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Despite the ambiguity of findings in the research literature, the Qggw‘g Pezsog Egg; has become one of the most widely used of the projective techniques (Sundberg, 1961). This ambiguity is due, at least in part, to many of the previous attempts to relate certain traits and conflicts to particular symbolic aspects of human figure drawings in a one-to-one fashion. Further, there were numerous investi- gations in which the unreliable but widely used nosological categories were used as critera of maladjustment. These and other sources of methodological deficiency, which are sum- marized in a review article by Swensen (1957), led to his conclusion that although the DAP may contribute to the under- standing of isolated clinical patients, its validity across populations is not sufficient to warrant its use as a research technique.. Recent research (Handler, 1964; and Handler and Reyher, 1963) which has avoided some of the methodological drawbacks of earlier research and which has employed a dynamic frame of reference, seems to justify some of the clinician's implicit faith in the DAP. In particular, the utilization of a physio- logical measure of anxiety and arousal (Handler, 1964) and the investigation of graphic indices in a standardized research setting (Handler, 1963) suggest that with a psychodynamic frame of reference the DAP is amenable to controlled labor- atory research. In a recent review of literature, Handler (1963) has been able to demonstrate that a good deal of re- search which is favorable to the DAP has not been included in the more widely recognized reviews (Swensen, 1957). The rise in popularity of the DA? in clinical practice has been paralleled by a rise in popularity of certain elab- orations of the standard DAP. Certain tests such as the .flggggglzgg-Peggon and the QEQEfA-FBMilI are now regularly used to investigate areas of specific conscious and unconscious conflict and to assess attitudes toward significant life situations. For these tests, too, certain supporting evidence is available (Buck, 1961; and Hamner, 1963). The purpose of the present study is two-fold: first, to attempt to replicate some of the findings of Handler and Reyher (196A) and Handler (l96h), specifically in regard to their demonstration that drawing the human form is inherently more anxiety provoking as measured by the activation of the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) than drawing a more neutral stimulus object with which it has been equated in drawing dif- ficulty; and, second, to demonstrate the clinical usefulness of a certain elaboration on the standard DAP- nude figure drawings. CHAPTER II HYPOTHESES Four Specific hypotheses were investigated: I. That drawing the human form is significantly more anxiety provoking, in terms of GSR activation, than drawing a more neutral stimulus object with which it has been equated in drawing difficulty. II. That drawing the nude human form is significantly more anxiety provoking, in terms of GSR activation, than drawing the standard, clothed DAP figures. III. That the amplitude of GSR reSponses for primary sexual areas, secondary sexual areas, and non~sexual areas will differ significantly between the clothed and nude male drawings and between the clothed and nude female drawings. IV. That nude human figure drawings are significantly more anxiety provoking, in terms of GSR activation, for those who are judged to be poorly adjusted psychosexually than for those who are judged to be well adjusted psychosexually. CHAPTER III i‘v‘IETHOD Subjects and Apparatus The subjects consisted of 39 undergraduate male college students who volunteered to participate in psychological re- search as part of their requirement for successful completion of introductory psychology. Each subject was asked to draw five figures--an automobile, a clothed male, a clothed female, a nude male, and a nude female-~in random order while attached to a Grass #5 Polygraph. The drawings were made on sheets of 8-1/2 x ll unlined paper attached to a clipboard which was securely anchored to one of the arms of a chair. The arrangement of subject, polygraph, and polygraph Operator was identical with that described by Handler (196A) in which the subject was seated in a large chair with double armrests with his back to the polygraph. Electrodes were attached to the fingers of the nonpreferred hand, and approx- imately fifteen minutes were allowed for skin hydration and general adaption. The polygraph was in continuous Operation throughout the testing session, and the GSR activity was per- manently recorded on polygraph paper. Electrodes and electrode paste manufactured by the Yellow Springs Instrument Company were utilized. Instructions During the 15 minutes allowed for hydration and adaption, a GSR baseline was established for each subject. Then the subject was told that he would be asked to make a series of drawings on the first sheet of paper; and thereafter, he would be asked to make separate drawings on separate sheets of paper, with one drawing per page. Each subject was told that a freshly sharpened pencil would be supplied to him for each ‘ drawing. The subjects were instructed as follows: "Now let us begin." The result of these minimal instructions was typically an increase in GSR activation, and additional time was required for the subject's skin resistance to return to his prestimulus baseline. The subject was then instructed to write his first name and again a period of time was allowed for the GSR activation to subside. The same procedure was followed for the subject’s middle and last names. Similarly the subject was instructed to draw a circle, a square, a triangle, a pentagon, and an octagon. After this, time was again allowed for the subject's resistance level to return to the original baseline. This series of warm up drawings thus served the function of reducing activation produced by the testing situ- ation itself and by the examiner's presence and instructions. The subject was then told, "Now draw a picture of a man (woman, automobile, nude man, or nude female) and tell me when you finish." If the subject requested additional instructions he was typically told, "Just draw him any way you like, but be sure to draw the whole figure." Occasionally a subject needed additional reassurance to the effect, "This is not a test of drawing ability; just do the best you can, etc." The order of the drawings was semi-randomized. Thus there were 120 combinations, 39 of which were selected from a table of random numbers. However, 9 of the original orders thus selected had to be discarded and replaced by selected orders which tended to balance the distribution of the five drawings across the five possible positions. This was neces- sary for the well-known adaptation effect of the GSR over- time. As the subject drew, the experimenter recorded the bodily areas drawn on the polygraph paper for future reference. Thus the examiner obtained a record of the response which corresponded to the drawing of a particular bodily area or part of the automobile. After each of the five drawings was completed, the subject's resistance level was allowed to return to the original baseline. Scoring The GSR activation for each of the five drawings was computed by dividing the number of discriminable GSR's for the drawings by the length of tape (time) in cm's required for the drawing. A discriminable GSR was Operationally defined as an inflection of 500 ohms followed by a decline of 500 ohms. The result of this method of scoring was an over-all frequency measure which is thought to reflect a global measure of anxiety. The anxiety generated by each drawing in terms of frequency of GSR activity was the dependent variable. In addition, the GSR of greatest amplitude for the four human figure drawings was determined by measuring the largest appearing GSR responses from the point of their initial deflection to the peak of de- flection. The response with the greatest deflection in ohms was defined as the largest. This response was classified according to whether it was related to a non-sexual, secondary sexual, or primary sexual bodily area. Because of the task related nature of the first GSR response, it was excluded from the analysis. CHAPTER IV RESULTS Hypotheses I and II which predicted significant dif- ferences in GSR reactivity between the automobile and the clothed figures and between the clothed figures and the nude figures were investigated as follows. The GSR scores of all of the drawings were subjected to an analysis of covariance for randomized blocks (Snedecor, l9h0) in order to determine overall statistical significance. The order designations were used as covariates to the GSR scores in order to account for slight departures from an absolutely counter-balanced design. The analysis of covariance is sum- marized in Table l. The F ration of 19.05 obtained from the analysis of covariance is significant at the .01 level thus pointing to highly significant differences in the GSR reactivity of the five (5) drawings. The mean GSR reactivity of the drawings is summarized in Table 2. moaoom mac mopmcmammp h mammapw> gouge mmpmsmwmop x "opoz mo.ma u m amam. d. nmmm.o name: pcmapmmaa amsmshsa scapmme pom moocmpoMMflQ and samm.~ ossm.m ma.m- 00.0mm oma gonna a ucmspmoaa NHHo. Ana ommo.a . hams.a oa.m- mmmm.omm and aoaam oosm.o mm. macs.o a mwaazmtn maom.a 00.0 00.0 mm HassasaeaH mmss.o ma.ms 00.0mm sad Hmpoe mg. as mm mam axm Nam opwEaumm Mo mHOMAM mposU0hm paw mohmsvm mo mesa up oohsom macapmcwflmmn nacho use mohoom mmu mxooam vosflaoccmm pom mocmflhm>oo Mo mammamsd mo hhmaasm a magma 10 Table 2 Corrected Mean GSR Reactivity for the 5 Drawings Drawing .Mean GSR Frequency in GSR/CM Automobile .229 Clothed Male .337 Clothed Female .336 Nude Male .hl9 Nude Female .397 These treatment means were compared for significance by the Duncan's New Multiple Range Test (Edwards, 1960). The results of the comparisons are summarized in Table 3. Inspection of Table 3 shows that both the clothed male and the clothed female drawings differed from the automobile drawings at the .01 level of significance which is consistent with the findings of Handler and Reyher (l96h). However, in contrast to the findings of these investigators, the differ- ence between the clothed male and clothed female drawings was not significant. Comparisons of the mean GSR reactivity for the clothed figures with the nude figures showed differ- ences significant at the .01 level. Again, however, the difference between the nude male drawings and the nude female drawings was not significant. In summary, the mean of the GSR frequency obtained from the automobile, which previously has been found to be a rea- sonably neutral stimulus object but approximately equated to the human form in terms of drawing difficulty, was compared ll .Hm>ma AC. on» as hapcmowmacwwm pod mam mafia oamm esp up wouoomaoud: memos escapees» 039 5:4 .Ho>oa Ho. map as haucmowmacmam one mafia cams on» an copoomnmps: no: names newscasts ozp ms< was. m moo. umm «No. son. Hoe. aam «mo. coo. 5mm. moo. ans mmo. H00. H00. 0mm. one. nma ooa. mod. mos. soa. mum. maa. mom. 5mm. 0mm. mum. owcwm m Q o m 4 pqwomesmHm mcmoz unmapmmpe unopposm Aoaauoma mesmspm song name omqmm oaaapazz 3oz m.:wocdn on» an mama: pcmspmmha popcoapoo mo msomfinwaSoo m wanes 12 to the mean GSR frequency of both the clothed male and the clothed female drawings against a Null Hypothesis of no difference. Since the Null Hypothesis was rejected at the .05 level of significance, this was considered support for Hypothesis I. Further, the mean GSR frequency of the clothed male drawings and the clothed female drawings were compared to the mean of the GSR frequency of the nude male and nude female drawings respectively against a Null Hypothesis of no difference. Since the Null Hypothesis was rejected at the .05 level of significance, this was considered support for Hypothesis II. Hypothesis III, which predicted that the GSR reaponses of largest amplitude classified into sexual bodily areas, would differ significantly between the clothed and nude male and between the clothed and nude female drawings, was in- vestigated as follows. The largest discriminable GSR re- sponses obtained from the clothed male, clothed female, nude male, and nude female were sorted into the following cate- gories: primary sexual reSponses, secondary sexual responses, and non-sexual reaponses. The responses were classified in terms of the anatomical area being drawn at the time of the inflection of the GSR. Following Handler (l96h), for the male drawings the primary sexual area was defined as that area within the waist, hip, and groin region. Thus, the body parts included in this category were the genital area, waist, and hips. The second- ary sexual bodily areas included the following bodily parts: 13 the beard, chest hair, shoulders, chest, and hair. The non- sexual bodily area included the arms, neck, legs, facial features, hands, fingers, feet, and toes. For the female drawings, the primary sexual bodily area was defined as for the male drawings with the exception of the bodily parts included in the breast area. Thus for the female drawings the primary sexual bodily parts included the genital area, waist, skirt area, hips, and breast area. The secondary sexual bodily areas included the hair, bodily con- tour, and the legs. The non-sexual area included the shoulders, arms, neck, facial features, hands, fingers, feet, and toes. The GSR responses of largest amplitude thus classified are summarized in Table h for the male drawings. The GSR responses of largest amplitude thus classified are summarized in Table 5 for the female drawings. Table 6 summarizes the binomial probabilities of the shifts found between secondary sexual GSR responses, primary sexual responses, and most importantly for the investigation of Hypothesis III the shift from secondary sexual reaponses in the clothed male to primary sexual responses in the nude male drawings. The probability expresses the chances of ob- taining an observed sample proportion p to see if that sample could have come from a population with a proportion 2, In this case the test is to determine if the observed change of bodily area differs significantly from .50; that is to test whether more subjects obtained their largest GSR responses to one sexual bodily area on the clothed drawing and to another 14 Table 4 Tabulation of the GSR's of Largest Amplitude for the Clothed and Nude Male Drawings Nude male Bodily Area Non- Secondary Primary Sexual Sexual Sexual Total Non- Sexual 3 5 8 16 Clothed Secondary Male Sexual h A ll 19 Primary Sexual 2 l l A Total 9 10 20 39 Table reads as follows: Each cell entry represents the number of subjects obtaining a particular combination of GSR responses of largest amplitude to the clothed and nude male drawings. For example, the h in the first column, second row designates the h subjects who obtained GSR's of largest amplitude to secondary sexual characteristics on the clothed male and nonnsexual characteristics on the nude male. 15 Table 5 Tabulation of the GSR's of Largest Amplitude for the Clothed and Nude Female Drawings Nude female Bodily Area Non- Secondary Primary Sexual Sexual Sexual Total Non- Sexual 0 l 8 9 Clothed Secondary Female Sexual 3 6 14 23 Primary Sexual l 2 h 7 Total h 9 26 39 Table reads as follows: Each cell entry represents the number of subjects obtaining a particular combination of GSR responses of largest amplitude to the clothed and nude female drawings. For example, the 3 in the first column, second row designates the 3 subjects who obtained GSR's of largest amplitude to secondary sexual characteristics on the clothed female and non-sexual characteristics on the nude female. 16 sexual bodily area on the nude drawing than vise-versa. With reSpect to the male drawings, the comparison of major interest was whether there were significantly more subjects whose largest GSR reSponses shifted from secondary sexual bodily areas on the bodily areas on the jects whose largest opposite direction. clothed male drawings to primary sexual nude male drawings than there were sub- GSR responses shifted in exactly the Table 6 Tabulation of Shifts of Largest GSR Responses for Bodily Areas and Cumulative Probabilities Male Drawings Shift* Split** p Clothed secondary sexual to nude non-sexual vs. h--5 Clothed non-sexual to nude secondary sexual Clothed non-sexual to nude primary sexual VS. 8"2 01h Clothed primary sexual to nude non-sexual Clothed secondary sexual to nude primary sexual VS. 11“]. 0006 Clothed primary sexual to nude secondary sexual *Note: Shift refers to the obtaining of a GSR of largest ampli- tude to one sexual bodily area on the clothed drawing and to another sexual bodily area on the nude drawing. **Note: Split refers to the number of subjects whose shifts were in one direction as opposed to the number whose shifts were in the opposite direction. ‘ 17 Table 7 summarizes the cumulative binomial probabilities of the shifts found between secondary sexual reSponses, pri- mary sexual responses, and most importantly for the investi- gation of Hypothesis III the shift from obtaining the largest GSR's to secondary sexual bodily areas in the clothed female drawing to obtaining the largest GSR's to primary sexual areas in the nude female drawings. Table 7 Tabulation of Shifts of Largest GSR Responses for Bodily Areas and Cumulative Probabilities Female Drawings Shift* Split** Clothed nude Clothed nude Clothed nude Clothed nude Clothed nude Clothed nude secondary sexual to non-sexual vs. non-sexual to secondary sexual 3--1 non-sexual to primary sexual vs. primary sexual to non-sexual 8—-l secondary sexual to primary sexual vs. primary sexual to secondary sexual lh--2 .50 .03 .006 *Note: Shift refers to the obtaining of GSR of largest amplitude to one sexual bodily area on the clothed drawing and to another sexual bodily area on the nude drawing. **Note: Split refers to the number of subjects whose shifts were in one direction as Opposed to the number whose shifts were in the reverse direction. 18 Inspection of Tables h and 6 indicates a nearly sig- nificant shift (p<:.lh) from the GSR of largest amplitude occurring to bodily areas which were classified as non- sexual on the clothed male drawings to bodily areas classi- fied as primary sexual on the nude male drawings. Also, there was a significant shift (pa(.006) from the GSR of largest amplitude occurring to bodily areas which classified as secondary sexual on the clothed male to bodily areas classified as primary sexual on the nude male. However, no significant shifts were demonstrated from bodily areas classified as secondary sexual to bodily areas classified as non-sexual or vise-versa. InSpection of Tables 5 and 7 indicates a significant shift (pa<.03) from the GSR of largest amplitude occurring to bodily areas which were classified as non-sexual on the clothed female drawings to bodily areas classified as pri- mary sexual on the nude female drawings. Also, there was a significant shift (p<(.006) from the GSR of largest ampli- tude occurring to bodily areas which were classified as secondary sexual on the clothed female drawings to bodily areas classified as primary sexual on the nude female. How- ever, no significant shifts were demonstrated from bodily areas classified as secondary sexual to bodily areas classi- fied as non-sexual or vise-versa. In summary, significant differences were obtained be- tween the bodily areas being drawn at the time of the occurrence of the GSR of largest amplitude for clothed and nude male drawings and the clothed and nude female drawings. 19 This was considered support for Hypothesis III. Further, inspection of Table A shows that while the GSR of largest amplitude occurred most often to bodily areas classified as secondary sexual in the clothed male (19 of 39), the GSR of largest amplitude occurred most often to bodily areas classified as primary sexual in the nude male (20 of 39). Inspection of Table 5 shows that while the GSR of largest amplitude occurred most often to bodily areas classified as secondary sexual on the clothed female (23 of 39), the GSR of largest amplitude occurred most often to bodily areas classified as primary sexual on the nude female (26 of 39). Hypothesis IV which predicted that nude figure drawings were significantly more anxiety provoking in terms of GSR activation for those who are judged to be poorly adjusted psychosexually than for those who are judged to be well adjusted psychosexually was investigated as follows. The clothed figure drawings of the 39 subjects were rated by an experienced clinical psychologist (see Appendix for in- structions) as to the ten which demonstrated the best psycho- sexual adjustment and the ten which demonstrated the poorest psychosexual adjustment in terms of fixation or regression to infantile levels of sexuality, overall integration of infantile sexuality into adult sexuality, degree of emotional maturity, sex role differentiation, and manifestation of psychopathology. The reliability of the ratings was determined by having a sample of the drawings independently rated by three clinical psychologists also with considerable experience in working with human figure drawings. ficients of .79, .86, and .81 were obtained. 20 Reliability coef- The GSR mean frequency scores of the two groups were compared by Lord's two sample t-test. levels are summarized in Table 8. Table 8 The group means, t's, and significance Mean GSR Reactivity, t's, and Level of Significance for the Well and Poorly Adjusted Psychosexual Groups Poorly Well Drawing Adjusted Adjusted t Significance Group Group Level Automobile 0.2h5 0.208 .86 .20 Clothed male 0.h25 0.271 2.05 .0h* Clothed Female 0.359 0.323 .37 .38 NUde Male 001988 00333 1071 006* Nude Female 0.392 0.373 .31 .hO Inspection of Table 8 indicates that both the clothed male drawing and the nude male drawing differed significantly in mean GSR frequency between the two groups. While the three other comparisons failed to reach the criteria of statistical significance, the treatment means were in the predicted direction. In each of the five comparisons, the anxiety and arousal as reflected in the GSR activation was highest for the poorly adjusted group. Thus, while Hypothesis IV was only partially supported, a clear trend in the data was established. CHAPTER V DISCUSSION Hypothesis #1 was clearly supported by the data. This result replicates the findings of Handler (196A) in showing that drawing the human form is a significant source of intra- psychic anxiety and arousal when compared to drawing a more neutral stimulus object with which it has been equated in drawing difficulty. The confirmation of this hypothesis tends to support the clinician's assumption that significant symbolic aspects of an individual's personality are "projec- ted," with corresponding anxiety and arousal, into drawing the human form. In addition, it supports the impression of Handler and Reyher (1963) and Handler (l96h) that the auto- mobile is a useful control or baseline figure against which to judge the standard DAP figures. In contrast to the findings of Handler (196A), however, no difference in terms of GSR frequency was obtained between the clothed male and clothed female. In a previous study, Handler (196A) had found that the female drawing, drawn by a male, produced significantly greater GSR frequency than the male figure drawing. While it is possible that the clothed male and female drawings differed on graphic anxiety indices or on other possible GSR scoring measures not in- cluded in this study, it cannot be concluded from this study 21 22 that the presence of more anxiety in a female drawing made by a male "may be natural state of affairs." (Handler, 1964) In terms of GSR frequency the overall activation was essentially the same for the two drawings. This does not mean, however, that the two figures were measuring the same set of variables. As Handler (196A) has pointed out, age groups may differ on the variable of GSR activation to one or another of the standard DAP figures. Further research with special emphasis on age groups, adolescent status, psychosexual maturity, etc. is necessary to clarify this issue. Hypothesis #II was also supported by the data. The activation of the GSR for the nude figures differed signifi- cantly from the GSR activation of the standard clothed fig- ures. Again it is notable that the GSR frequencies between the nude male and nude female drawings did not differ signifi- cantly. The implication of this hypothesis is that by obtain- ing nude figure drawings, greater stress is placed upon the ego-integrity of the §.as indicated by a corresponding rise in the Sig level of anxiety and arousal. 0f the two nude figures, the nude male drawing tended to be somewhat more anxiety arousing, although not signifi- cantly so. This does not support Handler's (1964) feeling that college age males are primarily concerned with hetero- sexual rather than homosexual relationships. However, as was noted for the standard DAP figures, research is necessary to clarify the role of age and adolescent status before exact 23 interpretation of the present findings can be made. The fact that no differences of any magnitude were obtained between either the clothed male and female or between the nude male and female drawings suggests support for the typical clinical practice of giving relatively equal weight to the male and female drawings. In turn this lack of differences between male and female drawings supports the assumption that sig- nificant aspects of a §L§ personality and attitudes are pro- jected without respect to the sex of the figure which is drawn. It may be argued that the increase in GSR activation in the nude figures is simply attributable to the novelty of drawing these figures in the presence of the examiner. How- ever, it should be noted that by randomizing the order of presentation this increase in activation due to novelty should be distributed over the series of drawings. Likewise, after one nude figure was drawn, most §l§‘were able to anticipate the request to draw a nude figure of the opposite sex. This in itself should have reduced anxiety and arousal, unless this anxiety is a necessary concomitant of the expression of symbolic material which is thought to accompany the drawing of the human form, nude or otherwise. The utilization of a covariance model is an important addition to the statistical handling of GSR data when repeated measures are obtained on a single subject. The results of the present study indicate that some departures from an absolutely counter-balanced design can be tolerated without exaggerating the adaptation effect of the GSR over time. 2h Hypothesis III was similarly supported by the data. From this and from the previous two hypotheses, it is clear that not only are nude figures a source of stress upon the ego integrity of the §_as demonstrated by Higher GSR acti- vation, but that this increase in stress is due in large part to the necessity of coping directly with primary sexual bodily areas. For the clothed female drawings, more of the GSR's of largest amplitude were made to bodily areas classified as being directly related to secondary sexual characteristics than to bodily areas classified as being related to primary sexual functions or non-sexual functions. Thus for the male drawing the clothed female, as requested in the standard DAP, bodily areas such as the hair, bodily contour, and legs seem more anxiety arousing than the primary sexual areas. This seems to reflect the potential of the clothed female drawings for the avoidance of all but the obvious external sexual characteristics. In the nude female figures, where the avoidance of primary sexual characteristics was minimized, it was these primary sexual areas, such as the genital region, waist, hips and breast, that reflected the GSR's of greatest amplitude. The comparison of the GSR's of largest amplitude for the clothed and nude male figures showed similar shifts from the largest GSR's occurring to secondary sexual character- istics in the clothed male drawing to the largest GSR's oc- curring to primary sexual characteristics in the nude figures. 25 These findings are somewhat discrepant with those of Handler (196A) who found greater GSR amplitudes to secondary sexual characteristics in the clothed drawings of males by males but greater GSR amplitudes to primary sexual areas in clothed females drawn by males. However, the method of analysis dif- fered somewhat between the two studies. The support of this hypothesis tends to support the body image hypothesis in that it suggests that for males, whose concern presumably is with their own body image as a male, secondary sexual characteristics are of prime concern. Thus they gave a greater number of GSR's of largest amplitude to bodily areas related to the chest, bodily hair, and shoulders. This is consistent with the findings of Mussen, Conger, and Kagan (1963) (as reported by Handler, 196A) who note that the American male adolescent equates his ability to establish satisfying heterosexual relationships with aSpects of his physique, in particular his height, breadth of shoulders and chest, muscular development, and amount of facial and bodily hair. When Slg'were asked, in effect, to cope with the basic problems of their own body image without the social defen- siveness which clothes provide, greater anxiety was exhibited to areas of primary sexual concern. The use of nude figure drawings is somewhat similar to the practice of some clinical psychologists during World war II who interviewed inductees in the nude because of their experience that such a state stripped the interviewees of much of their normal defensive- ness. 26 For males drawing the female form, similar reasoning can be applied. In the conventional DAP, the male projects his anxiety in coping with secondary sexual and socialized aspects of the female form. In drawing the nude female the male projects his anxiety in regard to primary sexual charac- teristics. However, the inclusion of the breast area as a primary sexual rather than secondary sexual characteristic as in Handler's classification may mask a poorer differ- entiation on the part of the male as to the sexuality of the female form as a whole. It should be noted that for male and female drawings, clothed and nude, the GSR's of largest amplitude were almost entirely to either secondary or primary sexual characteristics. This would seem to support the clinician's assumption that the drawing of the human form elicits information about the ,§;§ sexualized bodily feelings. Of the four hypotheses, Hypothesis III is the most cpen to the charge of experimenter basis. It should be realized that not every GSR could be justifiably categorized into the three classifications of primary sexual, secondary sexual, and non-sexual. In these cases the responses were often drawn to more than one area at once. Also, it was largely the experimenter's judgment as to the bodily area corresponding to a particular GSR. This judgment was all the more diffi- cult because of the latency of the GSR responses. When the results of Hypotheses I, II, and III are considered together, it is concluded the five drawings 27 produced in this study provide the clinician with, first, a baseline drawing which reflects the §;§.level of ego func- tioning and anxiety, second, a set of standard figures which are moderately stressful and where the stress is in part con- nected with coping with the secondary sexual characteristics and in turn with more social and conventional concerns, and, three, with a set of very stressful figures where pressures are placed upon the ego integrity of the subject in terms of coping with primary sexual concerns. Hypothesis IV was only partially supported by the data. Only the clothed and nude male drawings differed significantly in mean GSR activation between the two groups. The meaning of this finding is unclear due to the small size of the sample. Tentatively, however, it would seem that for males, psycho- sexual adjustment is significantly related to one's perception of his own body. As was previously noted, the mean differ- ences between the groups were in the predicted direction in each of the comparisons. It seems clear that there is a re- lationship between poor psychosexual adjustment as measured by figure drawings and the manifestation of anxiety and arousal. The partial support of this hypothesis indicates that not only do nude figure drawings place stress upon the subject but that the manner in which this stress is handled reflects a basic personal adjustment rather than a merely static coping with novelty or social taboo. It is interesting to note that the differences in anxiety level were relatively constant over the entire range of drawings 28 includiia the automobile. The fact that the differences failed to reach the criteria of significance may reflect a restricted range of psychosexual adjustment within this par- ticular sample. Further research in this phase of the study seems warranted on the basis of the tentative findings. The results of this study suggest that further research in this entire area would be beneficial. The clear repli- cation of a significant piece of clinical research, particu- larly in the area of projective testing, is highly encouraging. This study presently needs replication with females in order to help establish sex differences in reactivity to human figure drawings. As Handler (196A) has suggested, the estab- lishment of age norms for both sexes might be a significant contribution to final validation of the DAP. Presently, the research seems to have progressed sufficiently to justify the use of the GSR in connection with the drawings of indi- viduals of known personality structure. A particularly interesting application would be the use of the GSR in diag- nostic workups with individual subjects. CHAPTER VI SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION The purpose of the present study was to attempt to replicate some of the findings of Handler and Reyher (196A) and Handler (l96h) in regard to the inherent anxiety mani- fested in drawing the human form and to demonstrate the clinical usefulness of a certain elaboration of the standard DAP--nude figure drawings. Four specific hypotheses were investigated: I. That drawing the human form is significantly more anxiety provoking, in terms of GSR activation, than drawing a more neutral stimulus object with which it has been equated in drawing difficulty. II. That drawing the nude human form is significantly more anxiety provoking, in terms of GSR activation, than drawing the standard, clothed DAP figures. III. That the amplitude of GSR responses for primary sexual, secondary sexual areas, and non-sexual areas will differ significantly between the clothed and nude male draw- ings and between the clothed and nude female drawings. IV. That nude human figure drawings are significantly more anxiety provoking, in terms of GSR activation, for those who are judged to be poorly adjusted psychosexually than for those who are judged to be well adjusted psychosexually. 29 30 Support for Hypotheses I, II, and III was obtained, but Hypothesis IV was only partially supported by the data. The clothed male and female drawings differed significantly from the automobile drawing in mean GSR frequency but not from each other. Similarly, the nude male and nude female drawings differed significantly from the clothed male and clothed female drawings respectively in terms of GSR acti- vation, but not from each other. It was further determined that for the clothed figures the GSR's of largest amplitude occurred to bodily areas connected with secondary sexual characteristics, while in the nude figures the largest GSR's occurred to primary sexual areas. When the ten subjects judged to be the best adjusted psychosexually were compared to the ten subjects judged poorest in psychosexual adjustment, only the clothed male and nude male drawings differed signifi- cantly between the two groups. However, all five drawings. of the poorly adjusted group reflected greater GSR activation. These results were discussed in terms of the body image hypothesis and in terms of the inherent anxiety of drawing the human form. 0n the basis of the findings, the following conclusions seem justified: 1. For males, the drawing of an automobile serves as a useful baseline figure against which to judge the human figure drawings. 2. For males, the drawing of the nude human form places greater pressure on the ego integrity of the subject than the 31 standard DAP figures in terms of the necessity of coping directly with primary sexual characteristics. 3. For males, human figure drawings reflect greater anxiety and arousal for those judged to be poorly adjusted psychosexually than for those judged to be well adjusted psychosexually. 5. 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY Block, J. Measurement dimensions in a palmer resistance situation. Psychol. Review, 1962, 11, 319-331. Edwards, A. Experimental design in psychological research. (Revised ed.) New York: Rinehart, 1960. Handler, L. The effects of stress on the Draw A Person Test. Nbster's thesis, Michigan State Univ., 1963. Handler, L. & Reyher, J. The effects of stress on the Draw A Person Test. J, Consult. Psych., l96h, 28, 259-26h. Handler, L. The relationship between GSR and anxiety indices in projective drawings. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, 1964. Machover, Karen Personality projection in Egg drawing g§,§hg‘hgmag figure. Springfield, 111.: Charles Thomas, l9h9. Mosteller, F. and Bush, R.R. Selected quantitative techniques in G. Lindzey (Ed.) Handbook gf_social pgychology. Vol. I. Reyher, J. Use of figure drawings in differential diag- nosis. Paper read at the State Diagnosticians' Conference, Michigan, 1959. 32 10. ll. 12. 130 14. 33 Speisman, J., Osborn, Janet, Lazarus, R. Cluster analyses of skin resistance and heart rate at rest and under stress. Psychosomatic Nbd., 1961, 23, 326-343. Snedecor, G.W. Statistical methods. The Iowa State College Press, 1940. Sundberg, N. The practice of psychological testing in clinical services in the United States. Aggy. Psychologist, 1961, 16, 79-83. Swensen, C. Empirical evaluations of human figure drawings. nggh, figll., 1957, 54, 431-466. walker, H.M. and Lev, J. Statistical inferences. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1953. Woodworth, R. & Schlosberg, H. Experimentgl Psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1954. APPENDIX Table I Thesis Data - Raw Form - GSR Scores Subject Drawings 1 2 3 4 5 l .16 .42 .32 .33 .52 2 .10 .15 .2 .30 .37 3 .37 .45 .33 .37 .41 4 .13 .06 .12 .11 .14 5 .08 .09 .15 .10 .29 6 .26 .25 .77 .28 .36 7 .36 .27 .19 .23 .20 8 .30 .51 .23 .28 .43 9 .38 .66 .53 .88 .51 10 .20 .35 .29 .64 .36 ll .56 .58 .75 .78 .75 12 .48 .52 .50 .76 .59 13 .27 .29 .25 .32 .40 14 .29 .35 .41 .39 .40 15 .09 .27 .54 .78 .93 16 .33 .35 .45 .40 .33 17 .28 .32 .17 .33 .16 18 .34 .53 .34 .63 .63 19 .31 .65 .52 .83 .48 20 .40 .56 .39 .76 .66 21 .04 .28 .26 .25 .15 22 .16 .23 .14 .30 .23 23 .22 .38 .38 .41 .53 24 .20 .31 .36 .45 .33 25 .06 .16 .19 .21 .24 26 .09 .10 .12 .06 .14 27 .29 .21 .30 .33 .40 28 .25 .40 .27 .31 .27 29 .25 .22 .22 .42 .37 3O .20 .44 .17 .37 .46 31 .05 .03 .05 .04 .14 32 .2 .53 .35 .76 .43 33 .12 .22 .15 .37 .29 31" 016 .70 074 069 059 35 .24 .45 .52 .57 .54 36 .14 .25 .58 .39 .47 37 .08 .19 .17 .28 .35 38 .18 .18 .33 .37 .23 39 .2 .22 .32 .25 .42 36 Table II Order Designations For Subjects ---‘.—r’—~.‘_ Drawings Subject 31 54 121411151324 5354 51254 224324 33553224 4 31 54533552 32 2 32314 214 33253554111444 152 123121413342314545254351345313255221543 554234222.43141411243335425.421145522112315 24 2353554254555312112214114221344 3354 31 123456789 Table III Tabulation of Drawings With Respect to Order Position No. of Drawings/ Position AUTOMOBILE lst. 2nd 0 3rd. 4th. 5th. (D'QWOQCD Clothed Male lst. 2nd 0 3rd. 4th. 5th. CDQQO cc Clothed Female lst. 2nd. 3rd. 4th. 5th. \l\0\0\}\} Nude Male lst. 2nd 0 3rd. 4th. 5th. cocoa ococ Nude Female 181:. 2nd. 3rd. 4th. 5th. (3me oc 38 Instructions to Raters - Hypothesis #IV Rating the Drawings The following 39 pairs of figure drawings were obtained from undergraduate male college students as part of a re- search project at Michigan State University. The drawings were done in randomized order within a series of other drawings and have been re-arranged in a male-female order in every case. Therefore, do not use this as a criteria for rating the draw- ings. You are to rate each of the figure drawings on a l to 5 scale determined by the demonstrated level of psycho-sexual development. In Judging the figures you will have one over- all rating for each subject. The higher your rating, from 1 to 5, the better psychosexual adjustment of the subject in your judgment. Since the object of your rating is to ul- timately choose the best and poorest psychosexual adjusted subjects within the sample, feel free to use the extreme ratings in the scale. In deciding upon the psycho-sexual adjustment of the drawings, follow as closely as possible the classical psycho- analytic formulation in terms of fixation or regression to infantile levels of sexuality, overall integration of infan- tile sexuality into adult sexuality, degree of emotional maturity, sex role differentiation, and manifestation of psychOpathology. Table IV Thesis Data - Raw Form - for Psychosexual Groups Well Adjusted Subject Drawings 1 2 3 4 5 l 010 015 .22 030 037 2 .08 .09 .15 .10 .29 3 .26 .25 .77 .28 .36 4 .27 .29 .25 .32 .40 5 .34 .53 .34 .63 .63 6 .20 .31 .36 .45 .33 7 .29 .21 .30 .33 .40 8 .25 .40 .27 .31 .27 9 .05 .03 .05 .04 .12 10 .24 .45 .52 .57 .54 Poorly Adjusted Subject Drawings 1 2 3 4 5 1 .37 .45 .33 .37 .41 2 .30 .51 .23 .28 .43 3 .38 .66 .53 .88 .51 4 .20 .35 .29 .64 .36 5 .33 .35 .45 .40 .33 6 .31 .65 .52 .83 .48 7 .16 .23 .14 .30 .23 8 .06 016 019 .21 021* 9 .16 .70 .74 .69 .59 10 .08 .19 .17 .28 .35 Table V Tabulated Positions of Drawings for the Well and Poorly Adjusted Psychosexual Groups Well Adjusted Poorly Adjusted lst. position 2nd. " 3rd. " 4th. " 5th. " lst. position 2nd. " 3rd. " 4th. " 5th. " lst. position 2nd. " 3rd. " 4th. " 5th. " lst. position 2nd. ” 3rd. " 4th. " 5th. " lst. position 2nd. " 3rd. " 4th. " n 5th. NNOWW HWNI—‘W NI—‘Pf—‘N WNNWO NNNNN Automobile Clothed Hale Clothed Female Nude Male Nude Female lst. position 2nd. " 3rd. " 4th. " 5th. " lst. position 2nd. " 3rd. " 4th. " 5th. " lst. position 2nd. " 3rd. " 4th. " 5th. " lst. position 2nd. '1 3rd. position 4th. " 5th. " lst. position 2nd. " 3rd. " 4th. " 5th. " WWONN Ol—‘WNN l—‘NNNW le—‘NN WNNNH 40 mIllllfllllllllllll|||||||||||||||l|)llllllllllllllilllllnHI 312930082386