ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors present sufficient theoretical evidence to discuss the value of the Tell-Me-A-Story (TEMAS) test as a narrative assessment tool. They argues that schemas are conscious mental structures embodying symbolic representations of past learning with an on-going feedback system interacting with present perceptions and experiences within a cultural social-cognitive milieu. The principal rationale for the development of TEMAS was to address the emic and etic validity in constructing psychometrically sound multicultural narrative tests developed specifically for use with children and adolescents. The pictorial representation of psychological conflicts and problem solving in TEMAS pictures is a reformulation of the methodology of Kohlberg, who developed stories portraying moral dilemmas to assess the moral development of children. According to the TEMAS definition of psychopathology, the nine Personality Functions depicted in the stimulus cards are assessed along an adaptive-maladaptive continuum according to psychosocial criteria.
