House Tree Person Test Report

HOUSE TREE PERSON
TEST
HTP TEST
 Is a Projective Personality Test in which the test taker responds to

or provides ambiguous, abstract, or unstructured stimuli (often in the
forms of pictures or drawings.
 The Test Taker is ask to draw a house, a tree and a person, and this
drawings provide a measure of self perception and attitudes.
HTP TEST
 It was developed by John Buck in 1948 and was updated in 1969. He

included the qualitative and quantitative measurement of intellectual
functioning.
 Published by: Western Psychological Services
 It was based on the Goodenough scale of Intellectual functioning.
 Buck choses those three items because:
• They are familiar for everybody, even for a child
• As a concept, they have a better acceptation
• They stimulate an spontaneous communication
 The HTP can be given to anyone ages three and older, and is often
used with children and adolescents.
 Takes an average of 150 minutes to complete; it may take less time

with normally functioning adults and much more with neurologically
impaired adults.
SCORING
 The result of the HTP are subjective and open to interpretation by

the administrator of the exam and it aims to make inferences of
personality traits and past experiences.
 It has little empirical evidence to support its reliability or validity.

However it is still consider an accurate measure of brain damage and
used in assessment of schizophrenic patients and those suffering
from brain damage.
DISADVANTAGES
 Poorly Established Reliability and Validity
 Marks and signs in HTP have multiple meaning and may be

interpreted in multiple ways
 Uses colour drawings but failed to establish absolute meanings for

the colours
 Possibility of Overinterpreting
METHOD
 The first phase of the test, is non-verbal creative, almost completely

unstructured, the medium of expression is a relatively primitive one, drawing
 The second phase is verbal, apperceptive, and more formally structure; in it the
subject is provided with an opportunity to define, describe, and interpret the object
drawn and their respective environments and to associate concerning them
 Another variation of the HTP is to have test takers to draw on a piece of paper
INSTRUCTIONS
 Draw a house, a tree, and a person on separate papers.

 No more additional comments (size, etc.)
 While the participant is drawing, the test administrator has a more

passive role which involves observing and documenting the order, any
comments, emotions, the latency period any pauses as well as the time
spent on drawing.
QUESTIONS
• Who is this person, how old are they, what's their favorite thing to do,
what's something they do not like, has anyone tried to hurt them,
who looks out for them?
• Who lives here, are they happy, what goes on inside, what's it like at
night, do people visit here, what else do the people in the house want
to add to the drawing?
• What kind of tree is this, how old is it, what season is it, has anyone
tried to cut it down, what else grows nearby, who waters the tree,
trees need sunshine to live so does it get enough sunshine?
INTERPRETATION
 House interpretations are closely based on research and on the

symbolic meaning of the aspects of the house. They should hopefully
be nurturing places with normal levels of detail and normal size. Too
little , the client may reject family life; too big and they may be
overwhelmed by it.
INTERPRETATION
• Lines and walls represent boundaries and strengths of the ego, thus
weak lines in the structure of the house are weaknesses in the ego,
while strong lines are problems with anxiety and a need to reinforce
boundaries.
• The roof symbolizes the fantasy life, and extra attention to it can
indicate extra attention to fantasy and ideation, while incomplete, tiny,
or burning roofs can indicate avoidance of overpowering and
frightening fantasies (think about fears of ghosts in the attic - these
are based on the association for us).
INTERPRETATION
• Windows, doors, and sidewalks are all ways that others enter or see
into the house, so they relate to openness, willingness to interact with
others, and ideas about the environment. Thus, shades, shutters, bars,
curtains, and long and winding sidewalks indicate some unwillingness
to reveal much about yourself (think about expression like windows
to the soul or the door to the mind). Cars could be signs of visitors
coming or people in the home leaving. Lights could be signs to
welcome visitors or reveal prowlers. Open doors or many windows
could mean strong needs to engage others. Big windows, especially in
the bathroom, could be exhibitionistic desires.
INTERPRETATION
 Tree interpretations:
• The trunk is seen to represent the ego ,sense of self, and the
intactness of the personality. Thus heavy lines or shadings to
represent bark indicate anxiety about one's self, small trunks are
limited ego strength, large trunks are more strength
• Limbs are the efforts our ego makes to "reach out" to the world and
support "things that feed us" what we need. Thus, limbs detached are
difficulties reaching out, or efforts to reach out that we can't control.
• Small branches are limited skills to reach out, while big branches may
be too much reaching out to meet needs. Club shaped branches or
very pointy ones represent aggressiveness.
INTERPRETATION
• Leaves are signs that efforts to reach out are successful, thus no
leaves could mean feeling barren.
• Roots are what "ground" the tree and people, and typically relate to
reality testing and orientation. No roots can mean insecurity and no
feeling of being grounded, overemphasized roots can be excessive
concern with reality testing, while dead roots can mean feelings of
disconnection from reality, emptiness, and despair.
• Other detail:
Christmas trees after the season is over can mean regressive fantasies
(thinking about holidays and family and good times to make yourself
feel better).
INTERPRETATION
 Person interpretations:
• Here, the idea is that the person of the same sex is like you, and the
person of the opposite sex is what you may not admit is like you
• Arms are the way we reach out to the environment, and hands the
way we effect it. Open arms indicate willingness to engage, closed
arms are defensiveness, disconnected arms are powerlessness...
pointed fingers or balled fists can be aggression, hidden or gloved
hands can be anxiety or antisocial tendencies
INTERPRETATION
• Legs and feet are also like the roots of trees, and represent grounding
and power too. If cut off at the bottom of the paper (think of
cutting someone off at the knees) it can mean loss of autonomy,
small feet (inadequate base) can indicate a need for security, while big
feet can indicate the same
• The neck separates the head (cognition) from the body (drives and
needs), so no neck is no separation, long neck is desire for more
separation of the two, etc
• Mouth is how we get needs met (think Freud and oral stuff), so big
or open mouth is neediness, closed tight mouth is denial of needs or
some passive-aggression, and frowns, sneers, and smiles mean with
they do in real life.
INTERPRETATION
• Mouth is how we get needs met (think Freud and oral stuff), so big
or open mouth is neediness, closed tight mouth is denial of needs or
some passive-aggression, and frowns, sneers, and smiles mean with
they do in real life.
• Drawing clowns (hiding face and person), robots (loss of emotions in
a psychotic way), cowboys (masculinized needs), snowmen (rounded
bodies, regressive themes), stick man (childish or regressive themes)
etc... can mean what is noted in parenthesis above.
• Excessive details are consistent with some obsessiveness when
dealing with anxiety, while a marked lack of detail can indicate
withdrawal, low energy, or boredom.

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What is the HTP test and what does it measure?

How is the HTP test administered and scored?

HOUSE TREE PERSON

 Is a Projective Personality Test in which the test taker responds to

 It was developed by John Buck in 1948 and was updated in 1969. He

 Takes an average of 150 minutes to complete; it may take less time

 The result of the HTP are subjective and open to interpretation by

 It has little empirical evidence to support its reliability or validity.

 Poorly Established Reliability and Validity

 Marks and signs in HTP have multiple meaning and may be

 Uses colour drawings but failed to establish absolute meanings for

 The first phase of the test, is non-verbal creative, almost completely

 Draw a house, a tree, and a person on separate papers.

 While the participant is drawing, the test administrator has a more

 House interpretations are closely based on research and on the

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