Dipl. Psych. Patrizia Thoma

Development of a German Proverbs Test

Both in research and in clinical routine, proverb interpretation has had a long tradition in the assessment of abstract thinking abilities. In the English speaking world, the Proverbs Test by Gorham (1956) has been used for many years as a standardized diagnostic tool for the assessment of proverb interpretation. Currently, a German proverbs test is being developed in our lab. Both the degree of familiarity with a given proverb and different categories of proverbs are included in test develoment.

Item examples:

  • Bellende Hunde beißen nicht.
  • Barking dogs don`t bite.
  • Ende gut, alles gut.
  • All is well, that ends well.
  • Man kann kein Tigerjunges fangen, ohne sich in die Höhle des Tigers zu wagen.
    • You con not catch a tiger kid if aou do not enter a tiger's cave.