What does the rorschach test measure

What Is the Rorschach Inkblot Test?

This psychological test can help doctors analyze your personality and was once used to diagnose mental illnesses like schizophrenia.

Doctors often use tools and rating systems to ensure accuracy and consistency when making a psychological diagnosis.

The Rorschach inkblot test, also known as the Rorschach test, is sometimes used alongside other approaches to diagnose personality and mental health disorders. Chances are, you’ve seen the test performed in popular culture but may have never experienced the assessment itself.

Hermann Rorschach held a strong interest in inkblots from childhood, continuing into adulthood. In 1921, he published the inkblot test, and Samuel Beck introduced it to the United States nine years later.

The Rorschach inkblot test may be one of the most widely known psychological assessments, but it is an imperfect test with skeptics and criticisms.

The Rorschach inkblot test consists of 10 symmetrical inkblots, some are colored, black and red, or just black. One at a time, the person being tested is shown each inkblot and asked to describe what they see.

There are no right or wrong answers, and you can see more than one thing. The clinician then records the responses verbatim.

Next, the clinician begins the inquiry phase. As they hold up the same cards one by one, the participant is asked to point out the location of their responses in each inkblot and why they see what they see.

According to Rorschach’s theory, their responses can give clues on the inner workings of their personality. This is known as a projective measure. In other words, the test is used to assess an individual’s response to ambiguous stimuli to uncover unconscious thoughts.

Hermann Rorschach was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who followed the teachings of another famous psychiatrist and founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.

When developing the test, Rorschach noticed that those diagnosed with schizophrenia saw similar things in the inkblots. This allowed doctors to assess others by analyzing how they interpreted visual information.

To market the tool as a key to unlocking secrets of the human mind, Rorschach promoted it as a “psychological X-ray.”

The Rorschach test, used in conjunction with other diagnostic tools, is a projective measure for identifying a person’s state of mind and various personality traits.

The inkblots have up to 300 different reported interpretations for each blot. You may wonder if the Rorschach test is able to help diagnose mental illness, or just an exciting means to spark your interest and intrigue.

Though Rorschach’s inkblot test is not used as widely as it once was, there are some diagnostic situations it’s still used for today.

Schizophrenia

Doctors and psychoanalysts once used the inkblot test to help diagnose mental disorders, such as schizophrenia.

This is because the Rorschach test was believed to identify common traits related to schizophrenia, specifically those relating to emotions, affect, and cognitive distortions.

For example, those with schizophrenia might have an intense reaction to inkblots, such as expressing emotional distress or anxiety from the images.

Adoption

People interested in adopting a child from the Czech Republic are required to undergo a psychological evaluation and submit the psychologist’s report as part of their application documents.

The main psychological evaluation requires conversations with a therapist as well as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) — a standardized test of more than 300 true or false questions to assess a person’s mental health and personality.

However, in addition to this mandatory evaluation, applicants are also strongly encouraged to undergo the Rorschach test, which is not only used to assess the applicants’ suitability as adoptive parents but also help match them with a child.

Creativity

Back in the 1950s, the inkblot test was used to measure intelligence and creativity, and famous artists like Andy Warhol used the inkblot patterns to trigger their imaginations to create art.

A 2014 study also highlighted that those who experience higher emotional stress during the Rorschach test may have greater creative strength.

When analyzing your responses to the inkblots, a mental health professional can learn about different areas of your personality, including:

coping style
emotions
stress management
mediation
self-perception
interpersonal relationships
cognitive meditation

Testing

Each inkblot is specifically designed to look like many possible images.

Your doctor or therapist typically looks for three things in your response:

what you perceive
where it is in the inkblot
how the inkblot feature contributes to your response

Next, the clinician categorizes your response as:

human
animal
inanimate
reflective
paired
shading
color
depth
symmetry
other specific characteristics

Scoring

The clinician applies scores to your responses using a coding system, known as the Exner system. The scoring system is time-consuming and complex.

Interpretation

Interpreting Rorschach inkblot tests requires a high level of knowledge, skill, and training. The interpretation is also done with extensive supervision.

Some professionals might use a computer system to analyze your scores, but this may not be reliable enough on its own. That’s why many use both the standard test and computer-assisted scoring methods.

As mentioned, the Rorschach test comes with concerns and controversy.

Self-reported data

The only data measured is spoken by the person tested. So, anyone can misrepresent or incorrectly verbalize what they see in the inkblots, whether intentional or not.

Therefore, the person being tested must feel comfortable being open and honest with the clinician while also remaining fully cooperative to ensure accuracy.

Individuality

Testing tends to assume that people with certain mental health diagnoses have a significant amount of overlap in symptoms.

However, people are unique and can exhibit different behaviors and symptoms in their individual diagnoses.

Predicting behaviors

Like the weather, predicting behaviors isn’t always possible.

The human brain is complex and multi-dimensional, influenced by your environment and your body’s physiology. This could mean that your test’s predictions may not be accurate.

The Rorschach inkblot test may not be a foolproof way to identify one’s thoughts. However, when used with other testing measures, it may help identify emotional functioning, personality traits, and specific mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia.

The test may also be an excellent way for you and your new therapist to begin the conversation and review any concerns bothering you. Taking an inkblot test, although timely and potentially costly, can allow you to shine a light on some of your subconscious thoughts.

If you are experiencing mental illness, you can find a therapist near you by checking out Psych Central’s guide to seeking mental health care, or browsing the many mental health apps available.

When you ask for help, you are taking a positive step in improving your mental health and wellness. Being open and honest with your therapist can allow them to learn more about you and your symptoms, while gaining better insight into the causes of your behaviors and issues.

What Is the Rorschach Inkblot Test?

This psychological test can help doctors analyze your personality and was once used to diagnose mental illnesses like schizophrenia.

Doctors often use tools and rating systems to ensure accuracy and consistency when making a psychological diagnosis.

The Rorschach inkblot test may be one of the most widely known psychological assessments, but it is an imperfect test with skeptics and criticisms.

There are no right or wrong answers, and you can see more than one thing. The clinician then records the responses verbatim.

Hermann Rorschach was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who followed the teachings of another famous psychiatrist and founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.

To market the tool as a key to unlocking secrets of the human mind, Rorschach promoted it as a “psychological X-ray.”

The Rorschach test, used in conjunction with other diagnostic tools, is a projective measure for identifying a person’s state of mind and various personality traits.

Though Rorschach’s inkblot test is not used as widely as it once was, there are some diagnostic situations it’s still used for today.

Schizophrenia

Doctors and psychoanalysts once used the inkblot test to help diagnose mental disorders, such as schizophrenia.

This is because the Rorschach test was believed to identify common traits related to schizophrenia, specifically those relating to emotions, affect, and cognitive distortions.

For example, those with schizophrenia might have an intense reaction to inkblots, such as expressing emotional distress or anxiety from the images.

Adoption

People interested in adopting a child from the Czech Republic are required to undergo a psychological evaluation and submit the psychologist’s report as part of their application documents.

Creativity

Back in the 1950s, the inkblot test was used to measure intelligence and creativity, and famous artists like Andy Warhol used the inkblot patterns to trigger their imaginations to create art.

A 2014 study also highlighted that those who experience higher emotional stress during the Rorschach test may have greater creative strength.

When analyzing your responses to the inkblots, a mental health professional can learn about different areas of your personality, including:

coping style
emotions
stress management
mediation
self-perception
interpersonal relationships
cognitive meditation

Testing

Each inkblot is specifically designed to look like many possible images.

Your doctor or therapist typically looks for three things in your response:

what you perceive
where it is in the inkblot
how the inkblot feature contributes to your response

Next, the clinician categorizes your response as:

human
animal
inanimate
reflective
paired
shading
color
depth
symmetry
other specific characteristics

Scoring

The clinician applies scores to your responses using a coding system, known as the Exner system. The scoring system is time-consuming and complex.

Interpretation

Interpreting Rorschach inkblot tests requires a high level of knowledge, skill, and training. The interpretation is also done with extensive supervision.

As mentioned, the Rorschach test comes with concerns and controversy.

Self-reported data

The only data measured is spoken by the person tested. So, anyone can misrepresent or incorrectly verbalize what they see in the inkblots, whether intentional or not.

Therefore, the person being tested must feel comfortable being open and honest with the clinician while also remaining fully cooperative to ensure accuracy.

Individuality

Testing tends to assume that people with certain mental health diagnoses have a significant amount of overlap in symptoms.

However, people are unique and can exhibit different behaviors and symptoms in their individual diagnoses.

Predicting behaviors

Like the weather, predicting behaviors isn’t always possible.

The human brain is complex and multi-dimensional, influenced by your environment and your body’s physiology. This could mean that your test’s predictions may not be accurate.

If you are experiencing mental illness, you can find a therapist near you by checking out Psych Central’s guide to seeking mental health care, or browsing the many mental health apps available.

How the Rorschach test works Each of us has seen at least one picture with blots that resemble ... And here, in fact, the test begins, since the answer determines the individual properties and inclinations of a particular person. Recently, due to mass distribution in social networks, the Rorschach test is often presented in much simplified versions, but in fact it is a powerful psychological tool.

I often glimpsed these pictures and heard about this test, but I didn’t have to take it myself, and even more so I didn’t quite understand the methodology and specifics of this test. Let's all find out about this together now, and at the same time remember about its author and the history of the creation of the Rorschach test

HERMANN RORSCHACH WAS BORN ON NOVEMBER 8, 1884 IN ZURICH (SWITZERLAND). He was the eldest son of an unsuccessful painter who was forced to earn his living by giving art lessons at school. From childhood, German was fascinated by color spots (in all likelihood, the result of the creative efforts of his father and the boy's own love for painting), and his school friends called him Blob. When Herman was twelve, his mother died, and when the young man was eighteen, his father also died. After graduating from high school with honors, Rorschach decided to study medicine. At 19In 12, he received a doctorate in medicine from the University of Zurich, after which he worked in a number of psychiatric hospitals. In 1911, while still at university, Rorschach conducted a series of curious experiments to test whether artistically gifted schoolchildren were more imaginative when interpreting ordinary inkblots. This study had a huge impact not only on the future career of a scientist, but also on the development of psychology as a science in general. It must be said that Rorschach was not the first to use color spots in his research

It is a very difficult task to say how the Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Hermann Rorschach came up with the idea of creating such a test. PhD Jane Framingham, for example, believes that the children's game "Klecksographie" popular at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, charades based on ink spots, could have prompted such an idea. Blots as a psychological tool could be used by Rorschach's teacher and friend Konrad Goering.

The history of the test itself can be started from 1911, when E. Bleuler first introduced the term "schizophrenia" into scientific use, and G. Rorschach became interested in this disease and devoted his dissertation to its study. In the process of conducting the experimental part, he noticed that patients interpret spots from the Klecksographie game in different ways. But then he made only a small report on his observation.

Several years of practice followed, during which G. Rorschach actively tested the inkblot technique on his patients in order to determine personal behavioral factors. As a result, 40 cards with inkblots were created and theoretical material was collected to present the methodology. But there were difficulties with the publication. Now it's hard to believe, but not a single publishing house of that time wanted to take on the printing of Rorschach's book. And the reason for this was not the fantastic or anti-scientific nature of his ideas, but the banal technical complexity in printing so many blot drawings. As a result, they had to be reduced first to 15, and then to 10. Only after that one of the publishers agreed to release the book. She left at 1921 under the name "Psychodiagnostic". In it, the author outlined his theory about the personal characteristics of people. One of the main points is that in the personality of each person such qualities as introversion and extraversion are represented - in other words, that we are motivated by both external and internal factors. According to the scientist, the test with ink spots allows you to evaluate the relative ratio of these properties and identify any mental deviation or, on the contrary, the strengths of the personality. The psychological scientific community paid little attention to the first edition of Rorschach's book, since at that time the opinion prevailed that it was impossible to measure or test what a person's personality was made of. However, over time, colleagues began to understand the benefits of the Rorschach test, and at 19In 22, the psychiatrist discussed the possibilities of improving his technique at a meeting of the Psychoanalytic Society. Unfortunately, on April 1, 1922, after suffering for a week with severe abdominal pain, Hermann Rorschach was admitted to the hospital with suspected appendicitis, and on April 2 he died of peritonitis. He was only thirty-seven years old, and he never saw the huge success of the psychological tool he invented.

In it, in addition to introducing the concept of "psychodiagnostics" into science, the results of studies with inkblots and the test itself with explanations were presented. Rorschach's own scoring system (in other words, explaining how to interpret the results) focused on the classification of possible answers, and paid little attention to their content. The author of the test died the following year. Despite the weakness of certain aspects of the test (it is not clear to which category of the proposed classification all possible answers should be attributed due to the lack of their description in the work), its developments were highly valued for a long time and were the main diagnostic tools in clinical psychology (for 40-50 years). 1900s). At 19In the 60s, the Rorschach test was criticized, mainly due to the lack of a unified methodology for evaluating answers (there are several of the most common scoring systems: Beck, Piotrovsky, Klopfer, etc.).

But complete discredit was avoided. Mainly thanks to the work of John Exner. He compared 5 dominant rating systems and created something like a unifying system (The Rorschach: A Comprehensive System). Today, many psychologists use the Rorschach test precisely within the Exner Integrative System. It is used for diagnosis in correctional facilities in the United States and some other countries, in forensic science, for the diagnosis of personality disorders in clinical psychology. Also, the test finds validity in understanding the personality and emotional state of a person in cases where the patient does not want or cannot (due to dementia, for example, as in the case of Charlie Gordon in "Flowers for Algernon") talk about it directly. Globally, based on the answers, one can judge the psychology of a person, understand his past and predict future behavior.

The Rorschach test uses ten inkblots: five black and white, two black and red, and three colored. The psychologist shows the cards in strict order, asking the patient the same question: "What does it look like?". After the patient has seen all the pictures and given answers, the psychologist shows the cards again, again in strict order. The patient is asked to name everything that he sees on them, in which place of the picture he sees this or that image and what in it makes him give just such an answer. Cards can be flipped, tilted, manipulated in any other way. The psychologist must accurately record everything the patient says and does during the test, as well as the timing of each response. Then the answers are analyzed and points are calculated. Then, by means of mathematical calculations, the result is displayed according to the test data, which is interpreted by a specialist. If some ink spot does not evoke any associations in a person or he cannot describe what he sees on it, this may mean that the object depicted on the card is blocked in his mind, or that the image on it is associated in his subconscious with a topic that at the moment he would not like to discuss.

CARD 1

ON THE FIRST CARD WE SEE A SPOT OF BLACK INK. It is shown first, and the answer to it allows the psychologist to suggest how this person performs tasks that are new to him - therefore, associated with a certain stress. Usually people say that the image reminds them of a bat, a moth, a butterfly, or the face of some animal, such as an elephant or a rabbit. The answer reflects the respondent's personality type in general.

For some people, the image of a bat is associated with something unpleasant and even demonic; for others, it is a symbol of rebirth and the ability to navigate in the dark. Butterflies can symbolize transition and transformation, as well as the ability to grow, change, overcome difficulties. The moth symbolizes a feeling of abandonment and ugliness, as well as weakness and anxiety. The face of an animal, particularly an elephant, often symbolizes the way we face adversity and the fear of inner problems. It can also mean "an elephant in a china shop", that is, to convey a feeling of discomfort, and indicate some kind of problem that a person is currently trying to get rid of.

Card 2

This card shows a red and black spot, and people often see something sexual in it. Parts of the red color are usually interpreted as blood, and the reaction to it reflects how a person manages his feelings and anger and how he copes with physical damage. Respondents most often say that this spot reminds them of an act of supplication, two people, a person looking in a mirror, or some kind of long-legged animal, such as a dog, a bear, or an elephant.

If a person sees two people in the spot, this can symbolize interdependence, obsession with sex, ambivalent attitudes towards sexual contact, or a focus on connection and close relationships with others. If the spot resembles a person reflected in a mirror, this may symbolize self-centeredness or, on the contrary, a tendency to self-criticism. In each of the two options, either a negative or a positive personality characteristic is expressed, depending on what feelings the image evokes in a person. If the respondent sees a dog in the spot, this may mean that he is a faithful and loving friend. If he perceives the stain as something negative, then he needs to face his fears and recognize his inner feelings. If the spot reminds a person of an elephant, this can symbolize a tendency to think, a developed intellect and a good memory; however, sometimes such a vision speaks of a negative perception of one's own body. The bear, imprinted in the spot, symbolizes aggression, rivalry, independence, disobedience. In the case of English-speaking patients, a play on words can play a role: bear (bear) and bare (bare), which means a feeling of insecurity, vulnerability, as well as the sincerity and honesty of the responder. The spot on this card is reminiscent of something sexual, and if the respondent sees him as a praying person, this may indicate an attitude towards sex in the context of religion. If at the same time the respondent sees blood in the stain, it means that he associates physical pain with religion or, experiencing complex emotions like anger, resorts to prayer, or associates anger with religion.

Card 3

The third card shows a spot of red and black ink, and its perception symbolizes the patient’s attitude to other people as part of social interaction. Most often, respondents see on it the image of two people looking in the mirror of a person, a butterfly or a moth.

If a person sees two people having lunch in a spot, this means that he leads an active social life. A spot resembling two people washing their hands indicates insecurity, a sense of their own impurity, or paranoid fear. If the respondent saw two people playing some kind of game in the spot, this often indicates that he takes the position of a rival in social interactions. If the spot resembles a person looking at his reflection in a mirror, this may indicate self-centeredness, inattention to others and inability to understand people.

CARD 4

THE SPECIALISTS CALL THE FOURTH CARD "FATHER'S". The spot on it is black, and some of its parts are fuzzy, blurry. Many people see something big and frightening in this picture - an image that is usually perceived not as female, but as male. The reaction to this stain makes it possible to reveal a person's attitude to authorities and the features of his upbringing. Most often, the spot reminds the respondents of a huge animal or monster, or the hole of some animal or its skin.

If the patient sees a large animal or monster in the spot, this may symbolize feelings of inferiority and worship of authority, as well as an exaggerated fear of people in positions of power, including his own father. If the spot resembles the skin of an animal, this often symbolizes the strongest internal discomfort when discussing topics related to the father. However, this may also indicate that the problem of one's own inferiority or worship of authorities is irrelevant for this respondent.

CARD 5

ON THIS CARD WE SEE THE BLACK SPOT AGAIN. The association caused by him, like the image on the first card, reflects our true "I". Looking at this image, people usually do not feel threatened, and since the previous cards caused them completely different emotions, this time the person does not experience much tension or discomfort - therefore, a deeply personal reaction will be characteristic. If the image he sees is very different from the answer given when he saw the first card, this means that cards two through four most likely made a big impression on him. Most often, this image reminds people of a bat, butterfly or moth.

CARD 6

THE PICTURE ON THIS CARD IS ALSO SINGLE COLOR, BLACK; it is distinguished by the texture of the spot. This image causes a person to associate with interpersonal intimacy, which is why it is called the "sex card". Most often, people say that the stain reminds them of a hole or an animal skin, which may indicate a reluctance to enter into close relationships with other people and, as a result, a feeling of inner emptiness and isolation from society.

CARD 7

Since people most often see images of women and children in this spot, it is called "maternal". If a person has difficulty describing what is shown on the card, this may indicate that he has difficult relationships with women in his life. Respondents often say that the stain reminds them of the heads or faces of women or children; it can also evoke memories of a kiss.

If the spot looks like women's heads, it symbolizes the feelings associated with the respondent's mother, which affect his attitude towards the female sex in general. If the spot resembles children's heads, this symbolizes the feelings associated with childhood and the need to take care of the child that lives in the respondent's soul, or that the patient's relationship with the mother needs close attention and, possibly, correction. If a person sees two heads bowed for a kiss in a spot, this indicates his desire to be loved and reunite with his mother, or that he seeks to reproduce the once close relationship with his mother in other relationships, including romantic or social.

Card 8

This card has gray, pink, orange, and blue color. This is not only the first multi -colored cards in the test, it is also especially complicated for interpretation. If it is precisely when demonstrating it or changing the pace of displaying pictures that the respondent experiences obvious discomfort, it is very likely that in life he has difficulty processing difficult situations or emotional stimuli. Most often, people say that they see a four-legged animal, a butterfly or a moth here.

Card 9

The spot on this card includes green, pink and orange. For this reason, this card allows you to evaluate how well a person copes with the lack of a clear structure and uncertainty. Most often, patients see on it either the general outlines of a person, or some indefinite form of evil.

If the respondent sees a person, then the feelings experienced at the same time convey how successfully he copes with the disorganization of time and information. If the stain resembles some abstract image of evil, this may indicate that a person needs to have a clear routine in order to feel comfortable, and that he does not cope well with uncertainty.

Card 10

In the last Rorshah test card, the most colors: there are orange, green, pink, gray, and blue. In form, it is somewhat similar to the eighth card, but in terms of complexity it is more similar to the ninth. Many people experience quite pleasant feelings at the sight of this card, with the exception of those who were very puzzled by the difficulty of identifying the image depicted on the previous card; when they look at this picture, they feel the same way. This may indicate that they have difficulty coping with similar, synchronous, or overlapping stimuli. Most often, people see crab, lobster, spider, rabbit head, snakes or caterpillars on this card.

The image of a crab symbolizes the respondent's tendency to become too attached to things and people, or such a quality as tolerance. If a person sees a lobster in a picture, this may indicate his strength, tolerance and ability to cope with minor problems, as well as the fear of harming himself or suffering damage from someone else. If the spot resembles a spider, it may be a symbol of fear, a feeling that a person has been dragged into a difficult situation by force or deceit. In addition, the image of a spider symbolizes an overprotective and caring mother and the power of a woman. If a person sees the head of a rabbit, this can symbolize reproductive ability and a positive attitude towards life. Snakes reflect a sense of danger or a feeling that a person has been deceived, as well as a fear of the unknown. The serpent is also often regarded as a phallic symbol and associated with unacceptable or forbidden sexual desires. Since this is the last card in the test, if the patient sees caterpillars on it, this indicates the prospects for his growth and the understanding that people are constantly changing and developing.

[ sources ]

sources

http://www.factroom.ru/psychology/rorschach-test

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http://www.psysocialis.ru/rorshah/

Here are some more interesting tests: for example, the Clark Doll Test, and here is the controversial Gene of Omnipotence: Didier Desor's experiment. Let's also remember the Minnesota experiment and such an unusual experiment lasted 79years

The original article is on the site InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made - http://infoglaz. ru/?p=70811

Tags: Science, Psychology

"Rorschach spots" or a test for psychopaths: vakin — LiveJournal

The Rorschach test ("Rorschach spots") is a psychological projection test containing 10 printed cards (5 black and white and 5 color). It was created in 1921 and published by psychologist Hermann Rorschach in the journal Psychodiagnostik. During 19In the 40s and 1950s, this test was inextricably linked with clinical psychology.

During most of the 20th century, the Rorschach test was very common and was a well-interpreted psychological test. For example, in studies in 1947 (Louttit and Browne) and 1961 (Sundberg), it was named, in terms of frequency of use, the fourth and first psychological test, respectively.

Despite its widespread use, a large number of controversies have been associated with the Rorschach test. Researchers often found it difficult to systematically study the test and its results, and the use of several different rating systems for the responses given to each image created a certain amount of confusion.

Rorschach test (ink blot test) is a projective test that can be used to analyze a person's personality and character traits based on the interpretation of ink blots.

Hermann Rorschach (1884-1922) - Swiss psychiatrist. He was the eldest son of an artist who, having achieved success, earned his living by teaching in Zurich. Thanks to his father, he became interested in the art of ink as a child, and in high school he had the nickname "Klex" (lit. "ink spot").

The history of Rorschach

Herman Rorschach dreamed of becoming an artist in his youth, and in the gymnasium he bore the nickname "Blob". After graduating from high school with honors, Rorschach went to college to study medicine.

Rorschach with his wife Olga Shtempelin, 1910s, Switzerland

He met his future wife Olga Shtempelin, a native of Kazan, while studying medicine. In 1909, Herman received a medical degree and proposed to Olga. To feed his family, he got a job in the cantonal psychiatric hospital in Müsterlingen, on the shores of Lake Baden.

In 1911, while still at university, Hermann Rorschach began experimenting with schoolchildren. With the help of ink, he tried to find out whether artistically gifted children have a better developed imagination. He drew the corresponding conclusions on the basis of their interpretations of inkblots.

In 1912 he received his MD from the University of Zurich and has since worked in various psychiatric clinics. Together with two assistants, Rorschach had to take care of 400 patients alone. In the absence of a secretary or social worker, Herman was responsible for the entire organization of the clinic, including organizing leisure activities for patients. It was there that Rorschach began his research, which 10 years later led to the publication of his work Psychodiagnostics. The Rorschach technique is used by doctors to this day.

Hermann Rorschach never told anyone how he came up with the idea for the test. However, like many figures of the time, he often played the popular game Blotto (Clexography), in which associations associated with poetry are selected or charades are created using inkblots.

Cards with these ready-made inkblots were readily available in stores at the time. In addition, his close personal friend and teacher Konrad Goering could suggest using these spots as a psychological tool.

Although the results of this experiment have not been preserved, the Rorschach tests significantly influenced not only Herman's further scientific activity, but also the development of psychology in general. Rorschach was not the first scientist to use inkblots in his work, but his experiments were the first to be used as an important tool for analysis.

When Eigen Bleuler coined the term "schizophrenia" in 1911, Rorschach took an interest in the subject and wrote a dissertation on hallucinations (Bleuler was the chairman of Rorschach's dissertation council). While working with patients with schizophrenia, Rorschach accidentally discovered that they react to Blotto's game differently than other people.

He gave a brief presentation of his discovery to the local psychiatric society, but that was the end of it. It was only after he opened a psychiatric practice in the Russian Krombaza hospital in Herisau in 1917 that he became interested in systematic research on Blotto's game.

In his research, which took place from 1918 to 1921, Rorschach conducted research to improve his method of studying personality traits using inkblots. Rorschach used about 40 inkblots, but regularly applied only 15 of them to his patients.

Working in a psychiatric clinic, he analyzed the perception of mentally unhealthy and emotionally unstable people. And by involving healthy people in research, he was able to create a generalized test. Ultimately, he collected data from 405 subjects (117 were not his patients and he used them as controls).

His method of scoring did not focus on the content of the responses, but on classifying the responses according to their various characteristics. To do this, he used a set of codes - today called ratings - to determine whether the answer was for the entire image (W), a large part of it (D), or a smaller part. The F score was used for the shape detail of the spot, and the C score indicated that the color of the spot was included in the answer.

In 1919-1921 he tried to find a publisher to publish his discoveries and 15 regularly used inkblot cards. However, all publishers refused to publish all 15 stain images due to the cost of printing. Finally, in 1921, he found a publisher - House of Bircher - who agreed to publish his stains, but only 10 of them. Rorschach revised his manuscript to include only 10 of the 15 most commonly used stains.

Alas, the print was not of high enough quality to accurately reproduce the original stains. The original Rorschach spots did not have halftones - they consisted of pure colors. Reproducing them on print added tints. But according to rumors, Rorschach was quite pleased with this appearance of a new addition to his spots.

In the book "Psychodiagnostics" (1921) Rorschach stated his views. In it, the scientist formulated his own theory of personality. According to her, all people are characterized by a combination of introverted and extroverted traits - they are motivated by both internal and external factors.

An extraversive type is a type of personality that predominantly determines its behavior by reasons that lie outside its "I", and an introvert builds its activity based on internal reasons inherent in its "I".

The concept of extraversion and introversion in Rorschach does not fully coincide with those of other well-known psychologists - C. Jung, G. Eysenck and others. The ratio between the parameters of introversion and extraversion (“extratension” according to Rorschach) determines the “type of experience” - the most important indicator of the test Rorschach. The type of experience indicates "how" and not "what" the individual experiences, how he interacts with his environment. Introversion is more dependent on internal experiences, extratension - on external impressions.

Rorschach believed that on the basis of the inkblot test, some of these traits could be identified and both mental deviations and strengths of a person could be identified. The predominance of kinesthetic responses (in terms of movement) in the tested person is associated with the introversive type of experience, the predominance of color responses - with the extratensive one. In addition to establishing the general orientation of the personality (“type of experience”), the Rorschach test allows you to obtain diagnostic data on the degree of realism in the perception of reality, the emotional attitude to the world around you, the tendency to worry, anxiety, inhibiting or stimulating human activity.

After the publication of a monograph entitled the Form Interpretation Test ("Analysis of the interpretation of forms"), he died in April 1922 in the hospital, where he was admitted due to abdominal pain. Rorschach until the last refused to go to the doctor and received medical attention when diffuse (diffuse) peritonitis was discovered, caused by inflammation of the appendix. Surgeons failed to save a colleague.

When Rorschach's book went into print, psychiatrists largely ignored it, as the prevailing belief at the time was that the personality could not be analyzed or protested. At 19In 1922, experts drew attention to the Rorschach test, and at a meeting of the Psychoanalytic Society, the question of further improvement of the experiment was raised.

Herman Rorschach formally worked on his inkblot tests for only four years. Rorschach lived only 37 years before the world popularity of his test.

Rorschach scoring systems

Until the 1970s, there were five main scoring systems for people who see these spots. Two systems dominated among them - the systems of Beck and Klopfer. The other three systems were used less frequently. These were the systems of Hertz, Piotrovsky and Rapaport-Schafer. At 1969 John E Exner, Jr., published the first comparison of these five systems, called The Rorschach Systems ("Rorschach Systems").

The discovery of Exner's stunning analysis was that for Rorschach spots, there really were no five rating systems. Exner came to the conclusion that these five systems differ from each other so strongly and significantly that it can be considered that five different "Rorschach tests" were created. It's time to get back to the drawing board.

After his disturbing discovery, Exner set out to create a new, comprehensive Rorschach scoring system that would combine the best components of the five existing systems, supplemented by extensive empirical research on each component.

The work began in 1968, and as part of it, important research was carried out to create a new rating system for Rorschach spots. As a result, in 1973, Exner published the first edition of The Rorschach: A Comprehensive System. In this work, he introduced a new grading system that became the new gold standard (and the only grading system taught to psychologists today).

What does the Rorschach test measure?

The Rorschach Spot Test was not originally intended to be a projective measure of personality characteristics. Instead, he had to build a personality profile of a person with schizophrenia (or another mental disorder) based on frequency scores.

Rorschach himself was skeptical about using his test to measure personality characteristics projectively.

The Rorschach test at its most basic level is a task that reflects the psychology of the person taking this test, and also establishes some level of understanding of the patient's past and future behavior.

Patients often use imagination to formulate an answer, but the underlying process of solving this problem has little to do with imagination or creativity.

How the Rorschach test is done

The person taking the test is presented with a card with a spot printed on it and asked, "What could it be?". Answers are usually recorded verbatim (today, recorders are used for this), because they will later be evaluated by a psychologist.

The subject's answer to the question about what is shown on the map, Exner divided into three primary phases:

* In phase 1, while the person is looking at the map, his brain encodes the stimulus (spot) and all its details. Then he classifies the stimuli and their parts, and an informal ordering (ranking) of possible responses appears in the brain.
* In phase 2, the person discards possible low-ranking answers and checks the remaining answers that seem appropriate.
* In phase 3, the person selects some of the filtered responses based on characteristics, styles, or other sources of influence.

If a person reacts to the general contours of the spot, then, according to Exner, there is a slight projection. However, when the subject begins to embellish his answer, or adds more information than was originally provided to him, this may be a sign of a projection in progress at the moment. In other words, the person tells the psychologist something about himself, or about his life, because he goes beyond the characteristics of the spot itself.

After the patient goes through all ten spots for the first time and tells the psychologist what he sees in each spot, the psychologist should again offer each spot to the person, asking the person taking the test to help the psychologist see what the person saw at the first answer. It is here that the psychologist gets certain details for a clearer understanding of what and different aspects and where exactly the subject saw in each spot.

Rorschach score

The evaluation of the Rorschach test is a very complex task that requires good preparation and experience in administering this test. Only professional psychologists are properly trained and have the experience necessary to correctly interpret the results.

Thus, any "Rorschach test" that you can take online on the Internet, or that is performed/interpreted by a specialist in another field, may give unreliable results or be of little use.

Exner's scoring system tests every aspect of the answer, from how many spots are used to what story is associated with the answer (if provided by the answerer), at the level of detail and type of content in the answer. Evaluation begins with examining the quality of the response's elaboration—in other words, how well it is crafted, whether the response is generic, vague, or arbitrary.

The basis of the evaluation is related to the coding of the response in accordance with all the characteristics of the spot that are involved in the formation of the response.

The following characteristics are coded:

* Shape.
* Motion - Whether motion appears in the response.
* Chromatic color - when color is used in the response.
* Achromatic - when only black, white, or gray is used in the response.
* Halftone texture - when a texture is used in the response.
* Halftone dimension - when halftone dimensions are used in the response.
* Halftone scatter - when halftones are used in the answer.
* Shape dimension - when non-halftone dimensions are used in the answer.
* Pairs and reflections - when pairs or reflections are used in the response.

Since many people give complex and detailed answers to the question of what they see in spots, the scoring system uses the concept of "blends" to account for complex responses. These blends take into account multiple objects or the way the object is described.

The organizational activity of the response measures how well the response is organized. Finally, it evaluates the quality of the form - that is, how well the answer matches the spot itself (depending on how the person taking the test describes it). If the spot looks like a bear, and the person describes it as a bear, then it may have an "ordinary" quality of shape - perfectly acceptable, but not showing much creativity or originality.

There are, of course, many popular responses to spots that resemble real life objects or creatures. Exner's scoring system takes this into account by providing extensive tables for each card containing common responses and how they can be coded.

Rorschach Interpretation

After the answers to each card are correctly coded by the psychologist, an interpretative report is formulated based on the response scores. Such a report combines the results obtained from all test answers in such a way that the combined answer cannot distort the results of the test.

First, the psychologist checks the adequacy of the test, the tolerance for stress, and the amount of resources available to the person taking the test, comparing them with the requirements placed on the patient at this time.

Next, the psychologist must study the individual's cognitive activities, the accuracy of perception, the flexibility of ideas and attitudes, the ability to calm and control one's emotions, goal orientation, self-esteem and interests, as well as the relationship of these aspects with others.

There are also a number of less commonly used special indexes to measure suicidal tendencies, depression, schizophrenia and other disorders. Usually all of this can be assessed more quickly during a clinical interview, but the Rorschach test can help identify areas of concern in a patient when some questions remain.

Rorschach test: the opinion of foreign psychologists

What do you see? The answer will tell a lot about you!

For decades, the Swiss psychiatrist's Rorschach test, created in 1921, helped decipher the workings of the human mind. But now the secret is out, and psychiatrists are outraged by it.

The test was carried out on an ink pattern on 10 standard sheets of paper: ink was dripped onto the sheet, then it was folded in half and straightened - a symmetrical picture appeared. Images were black and white, red and white, or multicolor. The test subject had to say what it looked like - the first thing that came to mind.

Some saw a pair of dancing wolves, others saw a butterfly or a man's pelvic joints. The psychiatrist got an idea of his patients depending on what they were reacting to, the shape and color, or they saw only the whole image. The test participant explained his reaction to each pattern. On the basis of what was said, a picture of the work of his brain was constructed, and conclusions were drawn about the patient's condition.

James Heilman, an emergency physician from Canada, posted 10 ink drawings of Herman Rorschach on Wikipedia. He accompanied the pictures with the most common reaction to them, angering the psychiatric community. Critics likened the publication to prematurely releasing the answers to exam questions, destroying this psychiatric test. James Heilman explained his provocation by the need to lift the ban on the discussion of the topic - from that moment the debate began.

Psychologists were worried because the information appeared on the popular Wikipedia, believing that the more material is published, the more meaningless the test results become. Some doctors believe that the test helps the patient open up in a psychoanalytic session, but it has ceased to be the main psychological method.

Psychiatrist Tony Black practiced in a particularly strict British prison Broadmoor and used the Rorschach test, but he was not happy with the results. Today, he is skeptical about the test, as there is little room for physician intuition in modern surveys and interviewing techniques.

The Wikipedia website states that the 10 ink images have been previously published in several editions, that they are in the public domain in Hermann Rorschach's homeland of Switzerland, as well as in the United States. In addition, it is not known how easy it is to study the inkblot and fool the psychiatrist.

Conclusion

The Rorschach test is not a magical way to look into a person's soul. This is just an empirically validated method of projective measurement of personality characteristics.

It is backed up by almost four decades of modern research (after the previous four decades of its existence since it was first published in 1921).

When asked about what they see in a simple set of ten inkblots, people can often reveal a little more information about themselves than their conscious self might intend. This leads to a deeper understanding of the internal motivations of human behavior and the emergence of existing problems.

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Like other well-known psychological methods, the Rorschach test has long gone beyond the scope of psychology and psychiatry and has become part of the global mass culture.

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