The Rorschach

History
(1921) Hermann Rorschach
Psychodiagnostik
Form Interpretation Test

Diagnostic approach for schizophrenia

Original set contained 40 inkblots
15 used regularly (eventually narrowed down to 10
due to printing costs)
Devised a set of codes
Printing error led to use of shading

History (cont.)
After Rorschachs death - use of blots focused on
clinical and/or vocational applications
Focus on content analysis
David Levy (1926) brought plates to US
Samuel Beck (1927)
standardization study of the inkblots

Bruno Klopfer (1922) - Germany

studied under Carl Jung in Zurich
immigrated to US in 1934

History (cont.)

Klopfer and his students developed a scoring system(1936)

Beck scoring system (1937)
David Rapaport - Psychological Diagnostic Testing (1946)
clinical applications of 8 tests including the Rorschach

Roy Schafer (1954)

Psychoanalytic Interpretation in Rorschach Testing
content analysis

John Exner (1995-2003)

Most extensive and well researched scoring system

Nature of the Rorschach

How they perceive their environment

How they process information
How they prefer to cope with problem
solving situations

Provides clues to current and characteristic

ways of dealing with life experiences
Psychological states and traits

Use of Projection
Tendency of people to be influenced by
their needs, interests and overall
psychological organization in the cognitive
translation or interpretation of perceptual
inputs whenever the stimulus field includes
ambiguity
projective hypothesis (Frank, 1939)
projective methods

Rorschach: Assumptions
Stimuli from the environment are organized by persons
needs, motives, conflicts and by certain perceptual sets
These needs become exaggerated when subjects are
confronted with ambiguous stimuli
These responses are representative of how individuals
confront other ambiguous situations
Responses are scored along three categories:

location
determinants
content

Exner
Began collection of broad normative
database
Integrated system of scoring and
interpretation
Scoring category included only if showed .
85 agreement
The Rorschach: A Comprehensive System

Reliability
Excellent interscorer reliabilities .82 - .97 for
scoring categories
Test-retest 1 year interval (nonpatient)- .26 to .
92
worse for children

Ratios and percentages show higher test-retest

stability

Validity
Primary focus is to discriminate among
different clinical populations
example - schizophrenics show poor-quality
responses

Hard to establish because of multiple scoring

categories and formulas
Meta-analysis show validity between .40 and .
50

Validity (cont.)
Not effective at assisting with diagnosis
except; schizophrenia, borderline, bipolar

May predict variables such as outcome from

psychotherapy, detection of psychosis,
dependent behavior
Response productivity confounds validity

Assets and Limitations

Bypasses conscious
resistance
High resistance to
faking good
Ease of administration
50 minutes

Questionable reliability and

validity
Complex scoring systems
Lack of standardized
administration and scoring
system
Limited use with children
(esp. under 14)
Large number of variables
can produce spurious
random significance

Appropriate Uses
Not a cognitive or neuropsychological
measure
Not necessarily the best measure for
prediction of behavior
Best if used as part of a battery
Best if questions concerns a description of
psychological operations, needs, styles,
habits

Scoring
Summary

The nine questions:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

What is the location?

What is the developmental quality
What are the determinants?
What is the form quality?
Is there a pair?
What are the contents?
Is it a popular?
Should there be a Z score?
Are there any special scores?

Interpretation:
The Structural Summary

1.
2.
3.

Three steps:
Listing the sequence of codes or scores
Recording frequencies for each variable
Performing various calculations required to
obtain the ratios, percentages and derived
scores

Other Interpretive Questions

What is the quality of the persons self-focus?
With what frequency and efficiency does the
person try to organize his/her environment?
With what balance and passivity does the
person interact with his/her environment?
How will the person respond to the affective
stimuli of his/her world?
Is the person likely to be schizophrenic?
Is the person suicidal?