The development of a rating scale for the study of formal aesthetic qualities in the paintings of mental patients

Author(s): McWhinnie, Harold J.

Journal/Book: Art Psychotherapy. 1973; 1: 201-220.

Abstract: The form characteristics of paintings by mental patients were rated on a scale derived from M. Beardsley's concepts of esthetics. 4 art educators rated 33 paintings on 18 questions dealing mostly with shape, size, color, contrast, and equilibrium. Some positive correlations with psychiatric categories and the age of patients were obtained, but sex did not relate significantly to the judges' ratings. A shorter scale, limited to questions on the frequency of colors in the paintings, is proposed for further research.

Note: development of rating scale; formal aesthetic qualities of paintings; mental patients

Keyword(s): Psychiatric patients; rating scales; painting art; aesthetics ; art therapy

Zurück | Weiter