ABSTRACT

Symbiosis is lack of differentiation between self and other. The scoring system identifies for each dyad in a story the presence or absence of several components of symbiotic attachment. The scorer must determine in each Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and MakeA-Picture-Story (MAPS) story what dyads are being described and then for each one whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant a positive score. There is no spectrum or scale; the scorer decides if the variable is present or absent. For example, is there sufficient evidence to say that a given figure does not differentiate his or her feelings or thoughts from the other? If so, a score is given; if not, that vector of the dyad for that variable is scored as not present, or 0.