Future directions for the Thematic Apperception Test

Emphasis on the narrative mode of thought offers new ideas about the interp retation of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). I discuss two new approac hes to the TAT, based on psychodynamic concepts and sensitive to the narrat ive features of TAT stories. Research supporting these coding systems-asses sing the level of object relations and assessing the use of defense mechani sms-has shown these measures to be reliable and valid. I discuss considerat ions of reliability and validity, as they apply to the TAT.