Blacky pictures test

The Blacky pictures test was a projective test, employing a series of twelve picture cards, used by psychoanalysts in mid-20th century America and elsewhere, to investigate the extent to which children's personalities were shaped by Freudian psychosexual development. The test was created by Gerald S. Blum in 1947, who was later Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan. The drawings depicted a family of cartoon dogs in normal situations which could be related to psychoanalytic theory. The main character, 'Blacky', was accompanied by a sibling Tippy, and by a mother and father. Blacky's gender was determined by the gender of the test subject. Children were asked to make up a story, based in the drawings in the pictures, and the content of their responses, when analysed, was thought to indicate the extent of Freudian personality traits, such as an anal personality, castration anxiety or penis envy. The Blacky Pictures Test's worth, as a source of useful data was questioned by psychologists, among them Hans Eysenck, and they since have fallen out of use. Psychosexual development Sigmund Freud (1856– 1939), the "father of psychoanalysis", is well known for his theory of psychosexual development, which has had a lasting effect on the field. He became interested in the psychosexual development of children and constructed five stages of development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. In his early research, Freud approached the treatment of hysteria through a free association technique in which patients simply let their mind wander freely, reporting all thoughts, feelings or memories that came to mind. A self-analysis, following the death of his father, led Freud to develop a theory of childhood sexuality. Through his own free associations, he recovered a childhood dream in which he had wished for the death of his father and sexual desires for his mother. This led to his discovery of what he called the Oedipus complex, in which there exists a strong sexual desire for the opposite-sexed parent and major attitudes of rivalry for the same-sexed parent.