House Tree Person Test

The House-Tree-Person projective technique developed by John Buck was originally an

outgrowth of the Good enough scale utilized to assess intellectual functioning. Buck felt
artistic creativity represented a stream of personality characteristics that flowed onto graphic
art. He believed that through drawings, subjects objectified unconscious difficulties by
sketching the inner image of primary process. Since it was assumed that the content and
quality of the House-Tree-Person was not attributable to the stimulus itself, he believed it
had to be rooted in the individual's basic personality. Since the House-Tree-Person Test was
an out cropping of an intelligence test, Buck developed a quantitative scoring system to
appraise gross classification levels of intelligence along with at qualitative interpretive
analysis to appraise global personality characteristics.

Scoring: The Post-Drawing Interrogation form consists of 60 questions varying from direct
and concrete to indirect and abstract. Once the Post-Drawing Interrogation form has been
administered and the interview has been completed, the examiner records items of detail,
proportion, and perspective in the Scoring Folder. After completing the scoring tables, the
examiner derives an IQ figure for the percentage of raw G, a net weighted score, a weighted
"good" score, and a weighted "flaw" sore, which then comprise the items for the profile
configuration.

Reliability and Validity: The manual contains no information on validity and reliability.

Norms: The standardization sample included 140 adults. No attempt was made to randomly
select a stratified sample of subjects from the general population. Twenty adults were selected
for each of seven intellectual levels (imbecile, moron, borderline, dull average, average, above
average, and superior).

Suggested Uses: This instrument is recommended for projective assessment in research and
clinical settings.

Purpose:The House-Tree-Person Interrogation Test is designed as a supplemental scoring form

for the house-tree-person technique.

Population: Children and adults.

Score: IQ score.

Time: Not reported.

Author: John N. Buck.

Publisher: Western Psychological Services.

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, and persons, and
these drawings provide a measure of self-perceptions and attitudes. As with other projective
tests, it has flexible and subjective administration and interpretation.

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.

Results

The HTP is scored in both an objective quantitative manner and a subjective qualitative manner.
The quantitative scoring scheme involves analyzing the details of drawings to arrive at a general
assessment of intelligence, using a scoring method devised by the test creators. Research has
shown this assessment of intelligence correlates highly with other intelligence tests such as the
Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS).

The primary use of the HTP, however, is related to the qualitative scoring scheme in which the
test administrator subjectively analyzes the drawings and the responses to questions in a way that
assesses the test taker's personality. For example, a very small house might indicate rejection of
one's home life. A tree that has a slender trunk but has large expansive branches might indicate a
need for satisfaction. A drawing of a person that has a lot of detail in the face might indicate a
need to present oneself in an acceptable social light.

Other methods of interpretation focus on the function of various parts in each of the drawings. In
the house drawing, the roof might represent one's intellectual side, the walls might represent the
test taker's degree of ego strength, and the doors and windows might represent the individual's
relation to the outside world. In the tree drawing, the branches might indicate the test taker's
relation to the outside world and the trunk might indicate inner strength.
As with other subjectively scored personality tests, there is little support for its reliability and
validity. However, there is some evidence that the HTP can differentiate people with specific
types of brain damage. More specifically, it has been shown to be effective when looking at the
brain damage present in schizophrenic patients.

HOW TO BEGIN

How to Start . . . Use three pieces of plain white 8.5x11 paper, give the first and say "Here I want
you to
draw as good a house as you can." Question, give the next sheet. "Draw as good a tree as you
can",
question, give the next sheet. "Draw as good a person as you can," (if a profile or head only, say,
"Wait, I
want you to draw a whole person, not just the head or profile").
The child is told to draw (1) a house, (2) a tree, and (3) a person on white paper. The figure gives
the
therapist some indication of how the child perceives himself of herself in the world (the figure is
usually
considered to be a reflection of the self).
The Questions . . . Ask questions after each picture is drawn:
Person
Who is this person, how old are they, what's their favorite thing to do, what's something they do
not like,
has anyone tried to hurt them, who looks out for them?
House
Who lives here, are they happy, what goes on inside, what's it like at night, do people visit here,
what else
do the people in the house want to add to the drawing?
Tree
What kind of tree is this, how old is it, what season is it, has anyone tried to cut it down, what
else grows
nearby, who waters the tree, trees need sunshine to live so does it get enough sunshine?
For instance, the branches of the Tree overextended upward or outward frequently mirror the
subject's
overstriving for achievement. Plancing of the windows against the wall of the House so that the
side of the
House serves also as one side of the windows implies feelings of insecurity. If only a part of the
Person is
drawn in a profile view (for example, head in profile, body in front view), it appears to reflect an
evasive
attitude in social relations.
Lack of many details, incomplete wholes, and use of very faint lines are a combination found in
subjects
who are deeply depressed. A ground line sloping downward and away from the drawn whole on
either side
may reflect a feeling of isolation, exposure, and helplessness in the face of environmental
pressures.
House interpretations are loosely based on research and on the symbolic meaning of the aspects
of the
house. They should hopefully be nurturing places with normal levels of detail and normal size.
Too little
and the client may reject family life; too big and they may be overwhelmed by it.
Lines and walls represent boundaries and strengths of the ego, thus weak lines in the structure of
the house
are weaknesses in the ego, while strong lines are problems with anxiety and a need to reinforce
boundaries.