HAND TEST

Introduction
Diagnostic Technique
Contain pictures of hands as a projective medium
Stimulus material consist of 10 unbound cards
containing simple line drawings of hands in
various position
The 10thcard is blank
Cards are presented one at a time
 Examinee projects by telling what the hand is doing
Responses are recorded verbatim
Initial response time per card and other relevant
behavior is also noted
Hand Test contain both quantitative and qualitative
categories
Simple and easy to administer
DEVELOPMENT
OF HAND TEST
 The development began in later 1950s.
Piotrowski (1957) was felt that a projective
instrument was needed by its nature was designed to
mirror attitudes and action tendencies which are
close to the surface and apt to reveal the individuals
behavior.
Responses to hands in ambiguous poses indicate
these hierarchical and diagnostically useful scheme.
 USE OF
HAND TEST
Hand Test measures overt behavior
The research has shown that Hand Testscores
arerelatedtoactingout behavior among juvenile
delinquents
Hand Test can also measure acting-out behavior among
disruptive students, adult prisoners, schizophrenics,
mental retardates, and alcoholics
The Hand Test can also predict workshop performance of
mentally retarded subjects, occupational orientation in
normal populations, and withdrawal from reality in
brain-injured versus non-brain-injured samples
LIMITATIONS
OF HAND TEST
 This test cannot be used alone as it does not provide
complete and concrete diagnosis

The test is short as compared to other projective

techniques. It is fairly structured providing good or bad
responses that may hinder its discriminatory ability
The Hand Test is optimally sensitive to the examinees
immediate psychological state

Expert examinee is required for the purpose of

interpretation of hand test

The test should not be considered complete in regard

to the multidimensional possibilities of personality
assessment as they are close to motor system therefore
fantasy life, specific defense mechanism, intelligence
can be partially discovered by hand test
ADMINISTRATION
OF HAND TEST
 Time required is 10 min including recording of responses
but not the scoring
Before administering, we have to establish rapport
Examiner and examinee should be seated
atatablefacingeachother
Stimulus cards should be lined faced down on the table
The examiner show the cards to the examinee. Cards are
always presented to the examinee right side up; that is, the
card number on the reverse side of the card is in the upper
right-hand corner
An examinee may turn the card as he wishes
 When response to first card is finished next card is
presented to the subject
In the last he will be shown the blank card(i.e. 10th
card) and asked to imagine whatever come to mind
Responses should be copied verbatim
Initial time response for each response should be
recorded
If the examinee cannot provide a scorable response
to a card (i.e., produces a failure) no initial response
time is recorded for that card
 INSTANCES
Instances include the following:
If the examinee gives a short, response card, such
as Its up, the examiner should prompt the
examinee by asking, What is it doing?
If the examinee gives only one response to the first
card, the examiner should ask, Anything else?
When an examinee fails a card the examiner says,
Can you guess?
 RECORDING PROCEDURES
Booklet is designed for the ease of
administration, recording and tabulation of
responses
Comments, exclamations and other remarks
made are recorded but not counted as
scorable responses
 USE OF SYMBOLS
The recording of responses can be simplified by using the following
scoring symbols.
I.:Examineeturnscard.
II.<,>,v,:Examineeturnscardfrom initial position to a position with
the top margin of the card to the left (<),top margin of the card to the
right (>),top margin of the card down (v), or if the examinee leaves the
card in its initial position.
(Q): Examiner has ask a question.
(E): Examinee illustrates the position of the hand on the card with his
or her own hand.
(D): Examinee demonstrates with his or her own hand in order to
illustrate his or her response.
 RECORD FORM
Used to record responses of the client
Initial response time response is also
recorded
Also rotations of cards are recorded in
the record form as: <,>
 SCORING
CATEGORIES OF
HAND TEST
 SCORING CATEGORIES

Quantitative Categories
Qualitative Categories
Interpersonal (INT)
Ambivalent (AMB)
Affection (AFF)
Automatic Phrase (AUT)
Dependence(DEP)
Communication (COM) Cylindrical (CYN)
Exhibition (EXH) Denial (DEN)
Direction (DIR) Emotion (EMO)
Aggression (AGG) Gross (GRO)
Hiding (HID)
 Qualitative Categories
Immature (IMA)
Quantitative Categories
Impotent (IMP)
Environmental (ENV)
Inanimate (INA)
Acquisition (ACQ)
Active (ACT) Movement (MOV)
Passive (PAS) Oral (ORA)
Maladjustive (MAL) Perplexity (PER)
Tension (TEN) Sensual (SEN)
Crippled (CRI) Sexual (SEX)
Fear (FEAR) Original (O)
Withdrawal (WITH) Repetition (RPT)
Description (DES)
Bizarre (BIZ)
Failure (FAIL)
 DESCRIPTION OF
SCORING CATEGORIES

Quantitative Scoring Categories

 INTERPERSONAL (INT)
1. Affection (AFF)
Involves pleasure, affection or friendly feeling
2. Dependence (DEP)
Expressed dependence on need for help
3. Communication (COM)
Presenting or exchange of information
4. Exhibition (EXH)
Displaying oneself in order to approve other
5. Direction (DIR)
Dominating, directing or influencing activities of
others
6. Aggression (AGG)
Involves giving of pain or aggression
 ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE (ENV)
Represent generalized attitude towards the impersonal world
Activities that individual consider important for survival
It is classified in two subcategories
1. Acquisition
Attempt to obtain goal or object
2. Active
An action or attitude designed to manipulate, attain or
alter an object or goal
 MALADJUSTIVE RESPONSE (MAL)

Tension indicates energy in being exerted

but nothing or little is accomplished
Crippled includes response like A dead
person hand
Fear is classified as fear if hand is perceive
as causing pain, injury or death
 WITHDRAWAL RESPONSE (WITH)
Those responses of which individual is partially
aware, in carrying out various actions due to
experienced inner weakness.
Description examinee gives simple responses
Bizarre based on hallucinatory content, or
other peculiar thinking
Failure No scorable response at all is given to
particular card
 DESCRIPTION OF
SCORING CATEGORIES

Qualitative Scoring Categories

1.Ambivalent this response occur when
hesitation or uncertainly is voiced about
imparted action tendencies
2.Automatic Phrase occur in the beginning or
end of a response to the series of cards
3.Cylindrical hand is perceived as holding,
manipulating or using an object
4.Denial the reaction is stronger than in
ambivalence response and is definitely avoided
by the examinee
5. Emotion response is full of intense feeling
6. Gross indicates an aggressive act which is
uncontrolled and completely unsocialized
7. Hand hand is perceived as concealing something
8. Immature perceives hand as relating to children
or animals
9. Impotent expressed inability on examinees part
to respond to or figure out the test stimuli
10. Inanimate does not see the hand as belonging to live
human being
11. Movement it specifies random, unproductive activity
12. Oral the response implying ingestion of food, liquid or
drug scored in oral response
13. Perplexity the stimuli are different and that he or
she is puzzled
14. Sensual hand is seen as deriving pleasure from
feeling or touching people or objects
15. Sexual hand is directly engaged in sexual activity
16. Original response is appropriate to the drawn
hand unusual and original
17. Repetition the examinee gives same response on a
number of cards
EVALUATION
Overall the hand test is meant to give the
psychologist some idea of the mental state and
preoccupations of the person taking the test. Do they
foresee a lot of disaster? Do they work with their
hands? What do we imagine when we see an
upraised hand?
HAND TEST
QUIZ
1. A Hands Test contain pictures of
hands as a _________________ medium.

A. Descriptive
B. Projective
C. Objective
D. Adjective
2. How many stimulus material do Hand
Test have?

A. 8 unbound cards
B. 9unbound cards
C. 10 unbound cards
D. 11 unbound cards
3. The development of Hands Test
began in year _____.

A. 1920s
B. 1930s
C. 1940s
D. 1950s
4. Displaying oneself in order to
approve other.

A. Exhibition
B. Affection
C. Aggression
D. Direction
5. Dominating, directing or influencing
activities of others.

A. Exhibition
B. Affection
C. Aggression
D. Direction
6. It involves giving of pain.

A. Exhibition
B. Affection
C. Direction
D.Aggression
7. It involves pleasure or friendly
feeling.

A. Exhibition
B. Direction
C. Affection
D. Aggression
8. Represent generalized attitude
towards the impersonal world.

A. Environmental Response
B. Maladjustive Response
C. Withdrawal Response
D. Interpersonal Response
9. Responses of which individual is
partially aware, in carrying out various
actions due to experienced inner weakness.
A. Environmental Response
B. Maladjustive Response
C. Withdrawal Response
D. Interpersonal Response
10. This response occur when hesitation or
uncertainly is voiced about imparted action
tendencies.
A. Ambivalent
B. Gross
C. Cylindrical
D. Denial
11. In this response, the reaction is
stronger than in ambivalence response and
is definitely avoided by the examinee.

A. Ambivalent
B. Gross
C. Cylindrical
D. Denial
12. In this response, it indicates an
aggressive act which is uncontrolled and
completely unsocialized.

A. Ambivalent
B. Gross
C. Cylindrical
D. Denial
13. The hand is perceived as holding,
manipulating or using an object.

A. Ambivalent
B. Gross
C. Cylindrical
D. Denial
14. It does not see the hand as belonging to
live human being.

A. Perplexity
B. Inanimate
C. Sensual
D. Movement
15. It specifies random, unproductive
activity.

A. Perplexity
B. Inanimate
C. Sensual
D. Movement
16. The hand is seen as deriving pleasure
from feeling or touching people or objects.

A. Perplexity
B. Inanimate
C. Sensual
D. Movement
17. The stimuli are different and that he or
she is puzzled.

A. Perplexity
B. Inanimate
C. Sensual
D. Movement
18. Perceives hand as relating to children
or animals.

A. Sexual
B. Impotent
C. Original
D. Immature
19. Expressed inability on examinees part
to respond to or figure out the test stimuli.

A. Sexual
B. Impotent
C. Original
D. Immature
20. Hand is directly engaged in sexual
activity.

A. Sexual
B. Impotent
C. Original
D. Immature