Bender-Gestalt Test
Bender-Gestalt Test
Main page

Bender-Gestalt Test

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Bender-Gestalt Test

The Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test (abbreviated as Bender-Gestalt test) is a psychological test used by mental health practitioners that assesses visual-motor functioning, developmental disorders, and neurological impairments in children ages 3 and older and adults. The test consists of nine index cards picturing different geometric designs. The cards are presented individually and test subjects are asked to copy the design before the next card is shown. Test results are scored based on the accuracy and organization of the reproductions.

The Bender-Gestalt test was originally developed in 1938 by child psychiatrist Lauretta Bender. Additional versions were developed by other later practitioners, although adaptations designed as projective tests have been heavily criticized in the clinical literature due to their lack of psychometric validity. All versions follow the same general format but differ in how results are evaluated and scored.

In a Delphi poll, using the Bender-Gestalt test for assessing neuropsychological impairment or even personality assessment has been rated by many mental health professionals as one of the top five most discredited psychological tests. It is criticized because of inappropriate administration and issues with scoring schemes and clinical interpretation.

The first version of the Bender-Gestalt test was developed in 1938 by child neuropsychiatrist Lauretta Bender. The original test consists of nine index cards with different figures on each card. The subject is shown each figure and asked to copy it onto a piece of blank paper. The test typically takes 7–10 minutes, after which the results are scored based on accuracy and organization. It can be administered to both children and adults ages three and older.

Bender first described her Visual-Motor Gestalt Test in a 1938 monograph titled A Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Its Clinical Use. The figures were derived from the work of the Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer. It ranked in the top five most popular psychological tests used by mental health practitioners, particularly school psychologists, from the 1960s until the early 1990s when participation in the required training began to decline. It measures perceptual motor skills, and perceptual motor development, and gives an indication of neurological deficits.

Additional versions were developed by later practitioners, although adaptations designed as projective tests have been heavily criticized in the clinical literature due to their lack of psychometric validity. All versions follow the same general format but differ in how results are evaluated and scored.

The impetus for the clinical use of the Bender Gestalt came in the late 1930s when Max L. Hutt, an Instructor at the Educational Clinic of City College of New York became interested in developing a nonverbal projective personality test. The advantages of such an instrument would eliminate problems with language as well as prevent the test subjects from consciously screening their responses and the reproduction of the nine Bender Test Figures by test subjects could be accomplished in as little as ten minutes.

Reasoning that providing a test subject with several sheets of blank paper, a pencil, and explaining that "you are going to be shown some cards, one at a time, with a simple design on each of them and you are to copy them as well as you can. Do it any way you think is best for you. This is not a test of artistic ability, but trying to copy the designs as well as you can" would confront the subject with an ambiguous problem to solve. With no further instructions and the response of "do it in any way you think is best" to any questions, the subject was forced to interpret the task and proceed in a manner that was consistent with the individual's accustomed personality style.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.