title: The SAT9: a quantitative scoring system for the AT9 test as a measure of symbolic function central to alexithymic presentation.
abstract: This paper reports the result of preliminary efforts to devise a more objective and quantifiable system with which to score the AT9 test. The AT9 traces symbolic function, a trait central to an alexithymic presentation, and until now has been available only to those clinicians who have the prior knowledge necessary to projectively interpret it. Based on a sample of 42 patients, the inter-rater reliability on the new scale (SAT9) reaches highly acceptable levels of significance as does the correlation between the SAT9 and the ranked projectively interpreted protocols (RPAT9). These results support the further refinement of the SAT9 scale as a means of facilitating the use of this test as a measure of a central alexithymic process.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D001154:Art; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D011386:Projective Techniques; D011594:Psychometrics; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012660:Semantics; D013561:Symbolism