Using empirical findings, this author evaluates the psychometric properties of AD dolls and addresses the use of dolls in sexual abuse evaluations and the use of AD-doll-based evidence in court. The four factors related to the standardization of AD dolls include materials, administration procedures, scoring, and training for use of the dolls. Normative doll play patterns of both sexually abused children and children with no history of sexual abuse have been established through several studies, which may be flawed by their use of an interview format dissimilar to those used in validation interviews and by their failure to consider variables that may have a significant impact on a child's AD doll play. High interobserver reliability has been reported consistently in studies involving both sexually abused and nonabused children. A correlation exists between the content validity of AD dolls and the anatomical completeness of the doll set. Available construct validity evidence is weak and the only study that addressed the criterion-related validity of AD dolls failed to offer supporting evidence. 73 references