Measurement of Personality - C.A.T. (Children’s Apperception Test)

The Children’s Apperception Test (C.A.T.) is a projective psychological test created by Dr. Leopold Bellak in 1950 to assess the personality and emotional health of children aged 3 to 11 years. It uses picture cards showing animals in familiar, social or conflicting situations to encourage children to tell stories that reveal their underlying feelings, conflicts, and attitudes.

• Purpose: To evaluate personality traits, drives, and psychological health in young children, particularly their reality testing, judgement, conflicts, and emotional maturity.
• Theory: Children project their unconscious feelings and conflicts onto the animal pictures, making their stories useful for psychological assessment.
• Dimensions assessed: Control/regulation of drives, defenses, autonomy, family roles, attachment, sibling rivalry, aggression, and coping mechanisms.

Cards: A standard set of 10 cards, each showing animals in relatable child-life situations (e.g., family meals, play, toilet training).

Procedure:

• The child is shown each picture one by one and asked to make up a story: What’s happening, what the characters feel, and what might happen next.
• No right or wrong answers: All stories are valid and analyzed for underlying themes.
• Only trained professionals should administer and interpret the CAT.
• Typical duration: 20–45 minutes per child.

• Main theme/storyline: What is the story’s central focus?
• Protagonist & motives: Who is the ‘hero’ and why?
• Environment: Family, social setting, emotional tone.
• Conflict: Disagreements, anxieties, punishments.
• Resolution: Does the story end happily, sadly, or unresolved?

• Forcing children to tell ‘correct’ stories or rushing their replies.
• Interpreting single stories independently, instead of looking for overall patterns.
• Ignoring the child’s background or family context.

• Card: Bear alone outside the cave.
• Child’s Story: “The small bear has to sleep outside because he made the big bears angry.”
• Analysis: Possible feelings of rejection, guilt, or fear of parental anger.

• C.A.T. is a projective test for children (ages 3–11) using animal pictures to understand their emotions and personality.
• It was created by Dr. Leopold Bellak in 1950 to assess inner feelings through storytelling.
• The test uses 10 picture cards, and the child tells a story about each one.
• It reveals issues like family roles, sibling rivalry, aggression, and emotional coping.
• Only trained professionals should conduct the test, and stories must be interpreted in overall patterns, not individually.