THE DRAW-A-PERSON TASK IN PERSONS WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION - WHAT DOESIT MEASURE

As a widely used, easy-to-administer, and nonthreatening task, the Dra w-a-Person (DAP) holds particular promise as a nonverbal index of inte lligence in persons with mental retardation. The DAPs of 108 adolescen ts and adults with mental retardation were reliably scored using Nagli eri's cognitive and emotional disturbance scoring systems. Contrary to expectations, visual-motor skills emerged as the best predictor of DA P cognitive scores. Intelligence was correlated with DAP scores, but h ad considerably less predictive value than visual-motor skills. DAP em otional indicator scores were only modestly associated with social ada ptation; even less support was found linking DAP emotional indicators to psychopathology. Findings point to considerable caution in using th e DAP as an index of intelligence or as a screen for adjustment proble ms or specific psychopathology. Although related to intelligence, this popular task seems predominantly to measure visual-motor development in adults with mental retardation.