Go back

Draw-A-Person Intellectual Ability Test for Children, Adolescents, and Adults (DAP:IQ)

The DAP:IQ provides an additional source of information regarding an individual's level of cognitive function that supplements other measures. Because of its universal nature, it may be helpful in understanding and interpreting scores on other more culturally bound instruments. 

The DAP:IQ provides a common set of scoring criteria to estimate intellectual ability from a human figure drawing (HFD). 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 ranges. 

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

This flexible assessment is designed for use by psychologists, school counselors, and professionals working with special-needs populations. The DAP:IQ allows you to derive reliable, quantitative estimates of intelligence by using a large single collection of normative data. Psychometric data, including normative reference data, are provided for ages 4-89 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 system's emphasis of concepts over artistic skill and motor coordination. 

Features of the DAP:IQ 

• Standardized instructions for the task are easy to use.

• Standardized scoring systems emphasize conceptual aspects of drawings, not artistic quality.

• Drawings can be 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 (e.g., 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).