ABSTRACT
The Berkeley Puppet Interview (BPI), building on a rich tradition of using puppets in clinical settings, was developed to address the absence of standardized methodologies appropriate for measuring young children's perceptions of themselves and their interpersonal environments. BPI, two identical hand puppets make opposing statements about themselves and then ask children to describe themselves. The majority of young children interviewed with the BPI respond verbally, either by describing themselves or by indicating which puppet is most like them. The BPI has provided a strong challenge to the suggestion that 4- to 8-year-old children cannot provide valuable information about themselves. Substantial research indicates that the BPI is a reliable and valid measure of children's perceptions of themselves and of relationships that they both observe and in which they participate. Clinically, the BPI has also served as a useful assessment tool as well as a resource to support therapeutic processes with young children.
