ABSTRACT
Psychologists and psychiatrists have long been interested in proverbs for testing intelligence, attitudes, aptitudes, and various mental illnesses. Numerous so-called “proverbs tests” have been devised for this purpose, the best known and most commonly used being the Gorham Proverbs Test. It was developed by Donald R. Gorham in 1956 as a tool for diagnosing schizophrenia, since schizophrenics have difficulty in understanding the metaphors of proverbs. See Donald R. Gorham, “A Proverbs Test for Clinical and Experimental Use,” Psychological Reports, 2 (1956), 1–12. Dozens of articles and dissertations have appeared especially in the United States reporting on the use of proverbs for clinical testing but also for psycho- and sociolinguistic purposes. For a first review article see Wolfgang Mieder, “The Use of Proverbs in Psychological Testing,” Journal of the Folklore Institute, 15 (1978), 45–55.
