Judging Whether a Patient is White or Black by his Draw-A-Person Test

Summary

Attention was directed to the projection of racial characteristics in the Draw-A-Person Test (DAP). DAP protocols from 28 matched black and white adult male patients were presented to 34 untrained and 17 trained judges who were asked to identify race of patient from his DAP. Average correct identification ranged from 53.8% (black judging black, n. s.) to 62.9% (white judging white, t = 6.43, p < .01). White untrained judges were more accurate than black untrained judges (t = 2.43, p < .05). Black judges had more difficulty with black stimuli than with white stimuli, as did trained judges. The modest success achieved by both black and white judges adds minimal evidence to the body image hypothesis. Possible explanations are offered.