ABSTRACT
The development of early projective techniques was strongly influenced by the psychoanalytic movement. Clinicians working with the Thematic Apperception Technique (TAT) differ in how they use the tool as source material for finding characteristics of their clients they believe are signifi-cant. According to Rotter (1946), interpretations from the TAT should be considered only as hypotheses or leads for further investigation, and "the value, significance, nature, and validity of the tests are dependent upon the interpreter, his experience, and his approach to the field of personality". Projective techniques have been a matter of concern to psychometricians because they do not conform to the usual methods of establishing reliability and validity. There is a prevailing trend in sport psychology to focus on observable and self-reported traits of athletes. This chapter serves as a kind of launching pad for an account of how we went about developing the Athlete Apperception Technique.
