Systematic method for evaluating the process used in a common drawing task to evaluate cognitive abilities

Cecil Reynolds and Julia Hickman

• Ages: 4-0 through 89-11
• Testing Time: 10-12 minutes
• Administration: Individual or Group 

The Draw-A-Person Intellectual Ability Test for Children, Adolescents, and Adults (DAP:IQ) provides a common set of scoring criteria to estimate intellectual ability from a human figure drawing. Until now, measurement of cognitive ability by scoring drawings of human figures focused mainly on children and adolescents. The DAP:IQ applies this form of evaluation to adults as well, allowing for a more direct, continuous measurement of a common construct across the age range.

The DAP:IQ improves the practice of evaluating human figure drawings (HFDs) as a measurement of cognitive ability by scoring elements representative of universal features of the human figure. The collection of a HFD is easily standardized with a set of simple, easily understood instructions, and requires a very short period of time.

This flexible assessment is for use by psychologists, school counselors, and professionals working with special-needs populations. The DAP:IQ allows you to derive reliable, quantitative ability estimates by using the largest single collection of normative data on this task ever gathered. Psychometric data, including normative reference data, are provided for ages 4 years to 89 years and are based on a total sample of 3,090 individuals across the United States. The validity and utility of this test lie in the scoring system¹s emphasis of concepts over artistic skill and motor coordination.

Features of the DAP:IQ

• Standardized instructions for the task are easy to derive
• Standardized scoring systems emphasize conceptual aspects of drawings, not artistic quality
• Drawings collected in a rapid, efficient manner
• Few people are hesitant to do the drawing once they are assured that the artistic quality is not being evaluated
• Drawings can be obtained in even the most challenging of clinical situations (such as the assessment of autistic or severely hyperactive children, non-reading or non-English speaking clients)
• Scoring criteria have less cultural specificity than most intelligence tests, verbal or nonverbal (culture-reduced)
• All you need to give and score of the DAP:IQ is the test manual, the Administration/Scoring Form, and a sharpened pencil.

COMPLETE DAP:IQ KIT INCLUDES: Examiner's Manual, 50 Administration/Scoring Forms, and 50 Drawing Forms, all in a sturdy storage box. (2004)