Journal of experimental child psychology
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J Exp Child Psychol · Nov 2011
Children's human figure drawings do not measure intellectual ability.
Children typically follow a well-defined series of stages as they learn to draw, but the rate at which they progress through these stages varies from child to child. Some experts have argued that these individual differences in drawing development reflect individual differences in intelligence. ⋯ Although there was a statistically significant correlation between scores on the DAP:QSS and scores on the Wechsler tests, when the scores of individual children were examined, the DAP:QSS yielded a high number of false positives and false negatives for low intellectual functioning. We conclude that the DAP:QSS is not a valid measure of intellectual ability and should not be used as a screening tool.