Amen, E. W. (1941). Individual differences in apperceptive reaction: A study of the response of preschool children to pictures. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 23, 319-385.

(Introduction) The reaction of children to pictures has long been utilized in intelligence tests as an index of apperceptive maturity, regarded from the point of view of the level of intellectual function represented. More recently, another use of pictures has been developed in connection with the study of personality differences revealed in apperceptive responses, as in the Murray Thematic Apperception Test. The present study involves an analysis of the responses of 77 preschool children to each of a series of 15 pictures. The pictures were prepared not as items for the measurement of mental ability, but with the purpose of providing material relevant to an "individual's private world of meanings, significances, patterns, and feelings" (Frank, 3, p. 402). This "projective" function was sought by selecting topics approximating the life experiences and interests of preschool children; situations were included which presented possible interpretations in terms of conflict, jealousy, fear, aggression, etc. Consideration was also given to the criteria proposed by Symonds (1939) for the selection of pictures in projection studies; these include the requirements that the pictures shall present a minimum of detail, shall be vague in theme and incomplete in content, and shall present characters with whom the experimental subjects can readily identify themselves.