There are several different versions of "draw-a-person tests" that I can find on the internet. Some are used to determine mental health issues, the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test is the classic test of Intelligence, and other assessors will use just an informal drawing of a person to help with assessment. In OT I typically use drawing of a person on an informal basis to assess things like body awareness, spatial awareness, fine motor skills, visual motor integration and more. I use reassessment of draw-a-person as a way to measure progress. My son's preschool class did a "Draw A Man" journal, with pictures drawn each month and put in the book for the end of the year. It was fun to see the changes in my son's drawings. But he typically drew a head with legs and arms out of the head until he was well past five years old!! Scared me as an OT, but he seemed just much more interested in numbers and letters back then. He now (almost 7) draws fairly detailed pictures of people and other objects.
The Goodenough-Harris test, when used properly, is scored on the presence of 73 different criteria using three different drawings that the child does. It is wholly based on the presence of parts, location of parts, etc to determine an intellectual level. Not the quality or perfection or artistic ability displayed. The child is also instructed to "draw a whole person" and is allowed to erase, talk to the examiner about the picture and has no time limit. Supposedly there is a high correlation to IQ and this test. Stuff I found on it cites high validity and reliability of the test.
