Draw a Person Test (DAP) - a great way to tell a kid's intelligence
Recently I went to the doctor for my son's yearly check-up. Our doctor is fantastic, and I am so lucky that I was fortunate enough to get him. Everytime we go, I learn something very interesting, this time was no exception.
The Doctor started asking standard medical questions: Was Jakub seriously ill this past year? Any ear infections? etc. Then he turned to his mental, social and physical development. And he asked me:
"Does Jakub know how to draw a person?"
I answered that probably yes, because he draws dinosaurs all the time, but I can't remember any people he drew recently... So the doctor gives Jakub (my 4 year old son) a piece of paper and asks him: "Draw a person". After a bit of shock and shyness, Jakub complies and draws a person. He started with a head, then a body, arms, legs, some eyes and mouth on the head - in their proper positions, and then also some hair. Nothing artistically pleasing, but just a stick figure (unfortunately I couldn't take the picture with me, as the doctor wanted to keep it in his records - the picture above is also Jakub's picture, from February 2008 - he was 3 years and 20 months old). The doctor said that was interesting, and started explaining the theory behind the "draw a person" test to me.
He said that at the test is very universal. Many studies show that the results are similar in all the corners of the earth. The way the kids draw the person determines at what mental developmental stage they are at. You can pretty much test for intelligence with a simple drawing. At the age of 3 kids start to draw circles and lines, but usually can't really make a stick figure look like a person. At the age of 4, they are supposed to start drawing people more like we're used to: head, arms, legs. But at the age of 4 (mental age of 4) most kids draw the arms and legs coming out of their heads - no body. Jakub didn't do this. His picture had a body. Even in the picture above - drawn when he was 4 months shy of four, Jakub drew a body. The doctor said that this was an indication that his mental development stage is more like a 5 year old rather than a 4 year old (I always knew my son was smart :)). At the age of 5, children start drawing bodies, arms and legs coming from the bodies. Then, between 5 and 5.5, kids start to draw more detail, including 3 fingers (not 5), clothes, etc. The doctor didn't go into more than this - figuring I'm not interested past my son's age anyway.
But when I got home, I wanted to know more about this cool non-invasive test: the Draw a Person test. I actually didn't know it was called that until I researched it online. Supposedly this test has been around for a whole century, and it's been used everywhere in the world, for children of many ages (up to 13 as I've seen in the few studies I read through), and by psychologists to analyze not only intelligence but also emotional stability of kids. It is the perfect test, because it is very simple and non-invasive, yet so telling of the child.
As I understand it, the procedure to administer the test is to tell the child: "Draw a Person" with not much more explanation. After that, there is a series of points the psychologist can award, depending on the picture's details (is there a neck? clothing? proportions correct? size of picture? etc.). Then, based on the child's age and the points of the picture, a mental age equivalence can be given. Cool!
A few days after my appointement, after picking up Jakub from Pre-School, I found a picture of two stick figures in his school bag. The hands and legs were coming out of the head. I was shocked... Jakub drew this? Did he regress in just a few days? I asked him: "Did you draw this?" He said: "No, a Emily drew this picture for me." He was so proud that his friend drew a picture for him, and I was happy to see that the DAP test is for real.
If you want to see some real studies (not on my child but on a statistical level) on this DAP test, here are some good sites I found:
This one is based in Pakistan, but is in english and has many sample drawings of the children's drawings and the analysis of them. The author of this paper also links culture and mental stability into the DAP test. Very interesting: STANDARDIZATION OF DRAW-A-PERSON test
This one is an exerpt from a book. I think eventually I will purchase this book, because this stuff fascinates me, but for now, this will do: Using Drawings in Assessment and Therapy
This is very interesting!
This is very interesting! Our son is 2 1/2 years old and has been painting since he was a year old... in recent months his paintings and drawings now actually look like things... he draws trucks, robots, planes, spaceships, rockets, and animals... he also likes to draw pictures of mommy and daddy. His pictures of people involve a head, arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, eyes, and mouths... so, from what your post says, he must be quite advanced for his age! But he's shown high intelligence in other ways as well, so that's really cool to see it evident also in his drawings/paintings. We're so proud of him :)
yes I know
He must be very advance... there are kids that can actually learn to read at 3. I taught at a gifted school, and lots of them actually read story books at three. I think your son is a are a candidate for this.
Very Interesting
My daughter was evaluated for a developmental preschool last October and they asked her to draw her mom. She had never drawn anything other than scribbles and letters/numbers at that point and she was 4 years 5 months. She wrote the word M O M on the piece of paper rather than drawing a person.
This week, five months later, she started drawing people and came to me with a picture of Maggie and the Ferocious Beast and their friend Hamilton! (cartoon on Noggin) All the parts were there except fingers and she had actually put the hat on Maggie and horns and polk a dots on the beast. She's even using the appropriate colors!
This is a huge step for her developmentally since she is thought to have Asperger Syndrome, but has not recieved a formal diagnosis as of yet. I found this Draw a person test to be very interesting and will watch her figures more closely for facial expressions etc when she draws now! I think it will also help me to teach her about TOM (Theory of Mind).
That's so cool. She could
That's so cool. She could write letters and words before drawing... wow! Your daughter is exceptional.
My son now is very concious of colours now too. He is almost five and draws very well and in the appropriate colours. However, I don't know if colour is significant in development... probably though.
Good luck with your daughter and keep me updated.
Neat!
What a fascinating test...I'm going to see what our 5yo does tomorrow with this! :)
That's interesting; it would
That's interesting; it would also have the bonus of not disadvantaging children through language or cultural barriers too.
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