Primary Process Elements in the Draw-a-Person Protocols of Creative Young Women

Abstract

A previous study showed that creative high school girls, as compared with their peers, exhibit more elements of primary process thinking in their thematic literary productions. The present study examined the incidence of several such elements in the graphic productions (Draw-A-Person protocols) by the same Ss. Results disclosed that the creative girls reveal more primary process elements of a strange, bizarre nature than their peers. No significant differences between the two groups were found in the incidence of drive-dominated aspects of primary process, i.e., sex and aggression.