Associative elaboration and integration scales for evaluating TAT protocols

An Associative Elaboration Scale and an Integration Scale were constructed for evaluating Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) protocols. Interrater reliabilities and the correlation between the two scales were determined for a selection of TAT cards. The Integration Scale was dropped from further analyses, because its interrater reliabilities were low and it correlated highly with the Associative Elaboration Scale. The relation between the Associative Elaboration Scale and age was then investigated for randomly selected patients aged 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15. There tended to be a rapid increase in Associative Elaboration scores up to age 11 and then little or no increase in scores. There was no significant relation between Associative Elaboration and IQ.