Tell-Me-A-Story (TEMAS) Assessment for Culturally Diverse Children and Adolescents

Abstract

The Tell-Me-A-Story (TEMAS) narrative test is a multicultural measure developed for both minority and nonminority children and adolescents. As the off-spring of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), it enhances several narrative features, including the use of chromatic cards, diminished ambiguity and structured pictorial stimuli of the cards, familiar and contemporary themes, problem-solving situations, and an objective scoring system. This article describes the standardization of the TEMAS in the US, the validation of the Orthodox Jewish version of the TEMAS, and the internal reliability of the Argentinian version of the TEMAS. In the US, the test was normed on a sample of 642 children (281 boys and 361 girls) from public schools in the New York City area, ages 5–13 years, with a mean age of 8.9 years (SD = 1.9). The total sample represented four ethnic/racial groups: Puerto Rican and other Hispanic, Black, and White children. The TEMAS measures 10 personality functions, 18 cognitive functions, and seven affective functions. This paper presents two studies. The first study describes the reliability of the TEMAS measurement, using the Argentinian version of the TEMAS. The second study provides the rationale as well as the procedures for developing culturally suitable pictures, and also presents novel data for the cultural validity of the Orthodox Jewish version of the TEMAS. Overall, these results provide support for TEMAS as a reliable and culturally valid tool for the measurement of cognitive, personality, and affective functioning.