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Determining Stereotypical Images Of Psychologists: The Draw A Psychologist Checklist - Statistical Data Included
College Student Journal, March, 2000 by Rosemary Barrow
A greater number of studies have focused upon perceptions of scientists. Some of these studies are MacCorquodale, 1984; Odell, Hewett, Bowman and Boon, 1993: Rosenthal, 1 1993; Ross, 1993; Smith and Erb, 1986. One of the most frequently used instruments about perceptions of scientists was the "Draw A Scientist" Test (DAST) developed by Chambers (1983). Chambers administered the DAST to 4708 children in grades K-5 to determine at what age children first developed distinct images of scientists. He also studied the impact of socioeconomic class, intelligence, and sex, on formation of the image. The DAST was criticized because the criteria for scoring was not explicit so it was hard for others to replicate and score. Subsequently, Finson, Beaver, and Cramond (1995) formulated a checklist for the scoring of the DAST called the DAST-C.
Using the DAST-C, Finson, Beaver, & Cramond (1995) found that as children progress through successively higher grade levels, their images of scientists become more and more stereotypical. By the fifth grade, they found the "image" had fully emerged. Finson found that pretest images drawn at the beginning of the school year fit more closely with the stereotypical standards whereas posttest drawings completed at the end of the school year showed far fewer stereotypical images and illustrated a more realistic and broader image of the variety of persons involved in science. More female images were drawn during posttesting, fewer images were drawn with lab coats or eyeglasses, and many drawings had comments written describing scientists as normal, regular people. Several posttest drawings included multiple images of scientists. Facial expressions became more happy (more smiles) over time and the attire of the scientist went from less ragged and wild to a more groomed and casual appearance. Research has provided a standard image of a "scientist" as:
a man who wears a white coat and works in a laboratory. He is elderly and middle aged and wears glasses ... he may wear a beard ... he is surrounded by equipment: test tubes, Bunsen burners, flasks and bottles, a jungle gym of blown glass tubes and weird machines with dials ... he writes neatly in black notebooks. .. his work may be dangerous ... he is always reading a book (Mead, & Metraux, 1957, pp. 386-7.)
Was there a standard image of a "psychologist"?
A standard image was a picture drawn by adults who wished to convey graphically the concept of "psychologist." Every element either conveys a standard image that portrayed directly some part of the psychologist's actual world or was taken as symbolic of some part of that world. Each element in the stereotype of the psychologist reflected a symbolic value. Eyeglasses, for example, might be associated with intense observation, lab coats with research, and beards with working long or unusual hours (Chambers, 1983.)
Is there a standard image of a "psychologist"? Will taking one general education basic psychology course change the image from the one drawn on a pretest?
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