Roberts-2

Josh Lapin and Amanda Walters

2 Assessment Functions
1. Developmental Adaptive Function

Documents changes as children grow older and

more socially experienced

2. Clinical Function

Children who are experiencing social and

emotional problems tend to include more
unusual and atypical elements when expressing
social understanding than do their nonaffected
peers

Roberts-2
Not a Projective test
Uses a childs expressive language as an index
of his or her social cognitive skills
Intended for use with children or adolescents
who have been referred to mental health or
special education facilities for social or
emotional adjustment problems

Roberts-2
Pictures provide a structured set of situations
that direct the child to deal with common social
situations
The story the child tells is seen to reflect
relatively stronger or weaker abilities to
recognize, assimilate, and organize these
situations into competent social problemsolving situations

Roberts - 2
Use with children and adolescents aged 6-18
years
Used as part of a full evaluationintended to
supplement info that is obtained through
interviews and with the child and parents,
objective assessment (Personality Inventory),
and intelligence measures
Should not be taken as a substitute for
cognitive assessment or other more structured
forms of behavioral, social, or emotional
assessment

Administration
Step 1
Select the appropriate card set for the child you
will be testing
White, Black, or Hispanic?
Male or Female?

Choose the set that you feel the child is most

likely to find similar to the people in his or her
home
Within each set, 5 cards are used for both boys
and girls

Administration
Step 1 (contd):
Place the 16 cards facedown in ascending
numerical order
Keep Card 1 on top

Administration
Step 2:
Establish rapport
Try to present an environment that is both
supportive and friendly, as if you are playing a
game together

Observe the child

Keep notes on the childs behavior throughout
testing
Note level of motivation, ability to interact, ability to
maintain focus, general emotionality, and nature of
the behavior

Administration
Step 3:
Transcribing the stories
Write what the child says verbatim
You can ask the child to slow down or repeat material
that you missed

Or you can tape record what the hcild says and

transcribe it later
Make sure to obtain a clear recording and to query any
unclear remarks during the session

Administration
Read the instructions on page 11 of the manual
aloud
Add the other directions if the child does not
understand the original instructions

Use Cards 1 and 2 to structure the session

Use inquiring or structured questions during
these cards to help the child learn what is
expected when completing the stories

Administration
Questions to ask during Cards 1 and 2 (page 11)
What is happening?
How is he/she feeling, or how are they feeling?
What is he/she doing or talking about, or what are
they doing or talking about?
What happened before?
How does this story end, or what happens next?

Note any prompts that were given

You may only give prompts related to before,
during, after, and feelings on the first two cards
only

Administration
For children who are younger or less able, it
may be necessary to de-emphasize the story
aspect
Instead encourage these children to describe the
picture and then follow up with structuring
questions

Administration
On Cards 3-16, DO NOT prompt the child with
structuring questions
You may, however use clarifying questions
Ask the child what they mean when they use a
particular word
Ask the child which person they are referring to if
they say he or she if that clarifies the story
Ask the child what they mean by more vague
words such as bad, upset, and frustrated

Administration
Do not pressure the child to complete a story if
they are unable or unwilling
After completing the 16 cards, return to the cards
that were refused during the initial administration
Do not exert pressure to respond during the second
presentation
Include any new story with any story the child
previously told

Note each effort to administer a card

Discontinue the test if either of the first two cards
are refused after encouraging and prompting

Groups of Scales
Theme Overview Scales
Available Resources scales
Problem Identification scales
Resolution scales
Emotion scales
Outcome scales
Unusual or Atypical scales

Test Pictures
Card 1: Family Interaction (Parents and Child)
Nature of the interaction varies from a corrective action
on the part of the father because the child has done
something wrong TO informing the child of bad news TO
giving advice and/or help in problem solving. Mother
usually plays a passive role or is supportive to the father

Card 2: Maternal Support

Embrace of an adult female and her child
What happened to child?, how mother figure responds,
how the story ends.
Child usually characterized as experiencing a negative
situation
Reasons for hugging

Test Pictures
Card 3: Schoolwork
Characterized with being frustrated with the
difficulty of the task and may or may not be able
to complete the work successfully
Ability or inability of main character to resolve
problem and obtain help from his or her support
system are important factors in the story

Card 4: Peer Support

Characterized as being injured or sick for a
variety of reasons
Girl who is standing is usually seen as providing
help either directly or going for help

Test Pictures
Card 5: Parental Affection
Adults usually described as childs parents, but a stepparent
or unrelated person may be interacting with a parent
Child may be characterized as approving, rejecting,
embarrassed about, or angry about the show of affection

Card 6: Peer or Racial Interaction

3 adolescent of same gender are depicted in situation in
which 2 of the figures are from an ethnic group that differs
from the 3rd figure (who should represent that of the child
telling the story
Positive interaction? Negative Interaction?
Some children ignore ethnical difference, while others reject
with racial prejudice

Test Pictures
Card 7: Anxiety or Illness
Usually elicits stories involving fear
Noises causing fearful reaction
Figure characterized as being sick or injured and
needing attention

Card 8: Family Interaction

Characterized as the parents discussing
punishment for the children, who were involved
in some wrongdoing
Positive interactions discussing plans and
problem solving
Parents seen arguingNegative
problemdivorce, illness

Test Pictures
Card 9: Physical Aggression
Characterized as aggressive interaction between
2 boys in which the standing boy has hit or
pushed the second boy to the ground
Reasons for action vary
Boy on ground usually seen as fearful and trying
to avoid altercation

Card 10: Sibling Rivalry

Older child characterized as feeling jealous or
rejected
Sometimes admiration towards mother for taking
care of infant

Test Pictures
Card 11: Fear
Characterized as experiencing fear in reaction to a threat
against her or as observing a fearful situation such as an
accident or fire
Reasons for fear vary greatlybeing run over by car,
attacked

Card 12: Maternal Depression or Illness

Characterized as a family, with the mother being
depressed or ill
Reasons for mothers state vary
Most frequent thememother being depressed as the
result of conflict with the father
Fathers role variescan be seen as helper or instigator

Test Pictures
Card 13: Aggression Release
Child or adolescent experiencing angry feelings
and about to throw chair in anger
Cause of anger varies
If chair is thrown, usually there is subsequent
punishment
Infrequently characterized as nonaggressive
situation

Card 14: Maternal Limit Setting

Messing up walls by smearing paint with his or
her hands
Mothers response is important, and how she
handles the problem

Test Pictures
Card 15: Female in Bath
Young male observing older female in bathtub
Usually identified as his mother or older sister
Wide range of interpretations
Reaction of female anger, limit setting, embarrassment

Card 16: Paternal Support

Nature of relationship between a child and his or her
father
Father reading material related to the child
Child seeking permission, asking for help, money
Most non-referred say father will be helpful
Some referred may describe rejection by the father

Scoring
Use the group scales in the manual
to score the childs responses
The scoring is outlined in detail in
Ch 3 of the manual
Record scores on Scoring Profile
sheet

Reliability
Interscorer Agreement
Across all scales, reliability coefficient = .92
Highest on Outcome Scales

Test-Retest
ScalesNonreferred group r = .71
ScalesReferred group r = .75
ScalesCombined r = .75

Validity
Validated through statistical tests of its two primary functions:
1. its power to document developmental differences
2. its power to document different performance in non-referred and
referred groups

10 Scales showed simple main effects for both development and the
clinical factor
1 showed effects for just development (Anxiety)
12 showed effects for clinical
Only 1 of 28 scales tested, showed no relation to developmental or
clinical
Valid distinctions between children and adolescents whose social
understanding is at different developmental levels and between those
whose social understanding is at different levels for reasons that relate
to the presence of social and emotional adjustment difficulties

Strengths
Allows the child to express
themselves without specific
examination restraints

Weaknesses
Difficult to score; objectivity
required when scoring
Important to know the scoring
scale really well
Cannot be given to nonverbal
children