Scenotest

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The Scenotest is a projective psychodiagnostic test and therapy procedure . The test was developed by Gerdhild von Staabs in early 1938 and is mainly used in German-speaking countries. The Scenotest is used as a general development test, as a projective play test and as a therapy method.

Historical development

The historical forerunners of the Scenotest are the world test by Charlotte Bühlers and the world technology test by Margarete Lowenfelds, which were later succeeded in the sand play test by Dora Kalff. In the opinion of their authors, these tests should encompass the whole world of the child and show what corresponded to the rich play material that should encourage the creation of a story. The child and youth psychiatrist Gerdhild von Staabs developed the children's therapeutic puppet show of the Scenotest in the early 1940s. Since then, the test has established itself as one of the most popular projective game tests in German-speaking countries.

Test material

The test material is standardized and is stored in a flat case that serves as a platform for carrying out the test. The test consists of game items selected according to depth psychological and psychodynamic criteria. There are a total of 16 doll figures, 8 of them adults and 8 children. The dolls are characterized differently by size, clothing and facial expression, so that caregivers of the child can be represented. Flat, rectangular and square wooden blocks in connection with thin and thick wooden pillars encourage the construction of buildings, but also the design of interiors and their furnishings. A selection of animals, trees, flowers, vehicles and everyday objects are used to liven up the game scene and plot. A more recent revision of the Scenotest offers seven additional items as "additional material" based on the published literature.

Application area

The Scenotest is mainly used in psychological diagnostics in the field of clinical psychology, educational and family counseling, school psychology, career counseling and forensic psychology. It is also used in psychotherapy, where it is supposed to help the client to distance himself from his problems by means of the figurative representation of current conflicts and to deal with them. The test can also be carried out with the hearing impaired, deaf and visually impaired.

execution

According to von Staabs, the test instruction is kept relatively open, since the material and the way it is presented have a strongly encouraging character. The child or the test person is asked to create a scene. The test person then creates a scenic setup without further instructions. The observing test leader first records how the test person handles the game material. After completing the scene, the test person is asked to tell about it. Its narrative is deepened through inquiries.

In the course of the development and application of the Scenotest, various observation and protocol sheets were designed. The following factors should be recorded: behavior towards the environment, playing behavior and handling the Sceno material, design of the game, creativity when playing, attention span and stamina, skill in setting up the scene.

In the "targeted scenario test", the test person is given affective themes before setting up the individual scenes. In the "Scenotest group therapy" several clients are stimulated to set up scenes at the same time, and these scenes are then worked on together.

The processing time is a maximum of one hour.

evaluation

The scene set up by the test person is interpreted in terms of depth psychology and is intended to provide insights into the structure and dynamics of the personality. Fears, wishes, relationship experiences and coping strategies are interpreted based on the scenic design. The Scenotest is intended to provide information on deliberately concealed or inaccessible to reflection, and generally enable conclusions to be drawn about attitudes towards people and things in the world. The test is intended to provide insights during initial examinations that could not be obtained through conscious questioning. It should be able to specifically reveal neurotic disorders and support differential diagnostic considerations.

The formal analysis relates to the type of structure, i.e. how the test person deals with the space of the playing area (height, width, symmetry) and its boundaries.

The content analysis is based on two basic assumptions: 1. The test person represents reality with his structure, 2. The test person represents his affective inner life with the scenes. The content interpretation of the scenes is also based on depth psychological meanings of the various game materials assigned. The figure "Heinzelmann" can appear as a good or bad dwarf, the "angel" as a guardian angel or moral authority. The "cow" embodies the maternal principle, but also demanding and oppressive power. The "crocodile" with wide open jaws, the "fox", the "ganter" can represent aggressions in different nuances that are experienced from the outside. At the same time, you can also express your own hostile attitudes towards others.

criticism

There is no standardization of the test evaluation, i.e. H. the test results are not objective and strongly dependent on the individual interpretation of the test leader. However, mean values, standard deviations of material use and frequency tables are available as reference values ​​for orientation. As with all projective psychodiagnostic test procedures, the test quality criteria with regard to objectivity , reliability and validity are comparatively low. Despite these weaknesses, the test is regularly used in child psychotherapy and in child and family psychological assessments.

DER SPIEGEL is critical : "A collection of dolls or animal figures from 1938 is intended to encourage children to reveal their problems and fears in play, with a large cow, for example, as a" mother image "supposedly symbolizing a" demanding and crushing power " Even after more than 50 years, the suitability of puppetry is completely unproven. Nevertheless, it is used, for example, in custody proceedings to clarify with which parent the children are better off. Experts such as Professor Reinhold Jäger from the University of Koblenz-Landau warn against using the Sceno test to make such difficult decisions. "

literature

  • Gerhild von Staabs: The Scenotest, contribution to the recording of unconscious problems and characterological structure in diagnostics and therapy, 2004, 9th edition, Hogrefe Verlag. ISBN 978-3-456-82141-2
  • Jörg Fliegner: Scenotest-Praxis: A manual for implementation, evaluation and interpretation, 1995, Asanger Verlag. ISBN 978-3-89334-285-3
  • Claudia Emert: Scenotest Handbook, 1997, Hogrefe Verlag. ISBN 978-3-456-82912-8

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pavel Humpolicek: The Scenotest: A Special Type of Play Therapy in the Projective Diagnostics Context . In: Srivastava, Nayankika Singh, Shivani Kant (eds.): Psychological Interventions of Mental Disorders . Sarup Biik Publishers PVT, 2014.
  2. ↑ a b Scenotest . In: Dorsch, Lexicon of Psychology . 18th edition. Hogrefe.
  3. ↑ G. Biermann, R. Biermann: The Sceno game in the course of time . In: Practice of child psychology and child psychiatry . tape 47 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998, p. 186-202 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Hogrefe test center: The Scenotest. Retrieved August 31, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Gerd Lehmkuhl, Franz Petermann: Scenotest case book . Ed .: Gerd Lehmkuhl Franz Petermann. Hogrefe, 2014, ISBN 978-3-8017-2518-1 .
  6. ^ Franz Wienand: Projective diagnostics in children, adolescents and families: Basics and practice - a manual . Kohlhammer, 2015, ISBN 978-3-17-029818-7 , pp. 416 .
  7. ↑ Old hats . In: DER SPIEGEL . tape 35 , 1995.