A projective art test for determining the degree of schizophrenics′ perceived reality of television

The visual medium of television is the dominant mass medium used by residents in a state-supported mental health center. The extent to which residents perceive the content of TV to be real may be an important intervening variable in the eventual use of TV content by the resident in his or her own life, as well as for therapeutic purposes. A traditional pencil-and-paper measure of the perceived reality of TV is not wholly satisfactory for schizophrenics in a chronic state. An easily scored experimental projective drawing test is explained which has promise as a measurement approach to determine the person's perceived reality of television. The results for schizophrenics are compared to those for a matched sample of non-institutionalized persons.