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Through the study of spontaneous drawings, the author is attempting to develop a test which will give diagnostic and prognostic information about children's emotional difficulties. She believes that the content of the drawing is useless for such a purpose. Its meaning is so disguised by displacement, condensation and other mechanisms analogous to those of dreamwork, that interpretation is unreliable without free association and extensive knowledge of the patient. She thinks that the formal elements in a drawing are more stable and reliable criteria. Her method permits the child free choice of drawing materials, paper, color, format, and size. In the present preliminary investigation she utilize d at least twenty pictures from each child. Many characteristics were analyzed, of which she mentions only seven. These are: size, format, size of the single form elements, distribution of form elements, the use of lines or spots, choice of colors, and the representation of motion. Her findings are as follows: with respect to size, normal children prefer large or medium-sized sheets of paper while neurotic children show a preference for small sizes and psychotics exhibit the greatest variation in choice, typically picking either very large or very small papers. By format, the author means the proportions of the drawing and the shape of the paper chosen. Normal children prefer the conventional rectangle. Psychotics pick either very long, very large, or very bizarre forms, such as ovals or rhomboids. The feeble-minded show no preference as to size. All children tend to mix different sizes of single form elements in one picture, except for the dull, who usually employ only one size. The fourth criterion, namely, the distribution of form elements, involves such things as symmetry, balance, and rhythm. Normal children make either a well-balanced or a loose picture. Neurotic depressions show a strong trend toward rigid symmetry. Psychotic and feeble-minded childr