Thursday, March 01, 2007

What Ever Happened To Murray?
I am wondering if Murray is still around. No, that's not him in the picture. I was, actually, thinking about the old Murray Thematic Apperception Test (which was introduced in 1935...but I digress). The TATis an old psychological test in which the patient is shown a picture (drawings, actually) and asked to describe the story behind the image. The idea is that he or she will project their "stuff" into the story, thus revealing the "nasties" going on in their heads.
So, what do you see in the picture? The possibilities are endless. Is the woman wicked and torturing the man by not sharing the cake? Is the man afraid because he thinks he may be tasting arsenic in the frosting? Or maybe they're in it together, putting a file in the cake to get a person or persons unknown out of jail. Then, again, they could be two sugar addicts who have recently been kicked out of their sugar support group. And on and on and on. It is amazing the stories one can create around a single stimulus.
It is amazing how different stories we all might create, and that is a sign of our wonderful uniqueness. It is this very quality that I find so wonderful about people. It is what makes them interesting, and it makes their contributions to the world unique.
At this point, I was going to explain what is actually going on in the photo, but why deny you the pleasure of your unique fantasy?
Paddle safe...
DS

1 comment:

JohnB said...

While grand mother is concentrating on cutting Scott a nice large piece of cake, he is trying to hide the evidence of his having stuck his finger in the cake directly in front of him . . . he should learn to be more careful around women with sharp instruments in their hands.