Emotional Indicators in the Human Figure Drawings Of Hearing-Impaired Children: A Small Sample Validation Study

Abstract

The use of human figure drawings as projective personality assessment techniques is a well-established practice among psychological service providers to hearing-impaired children yet few studies have shown these techniques to be valid indicators of emotional functioning in any population. The purpose of the present work is to establish concurrent validity for the Koppitz scoring technique in a sample of 7- to 12-year old hearing-impaired students. Results indicate that the Koppitz technique shows a positive correlation with emotional status as measured on the Stress Response Scale. The Koppitz technique is especially sensitive to impulsive and passive-aggressive types of response modes.