Rorschach Inkblot Test

The Rorschach was designed by Herman Rorschach and is also known as the Rorschach technique and the inkblot test. The Inkblot Test is a test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex scientifically derived algorithms, or both.

Some clinicians use The Rorschach to view an in-depth perspective of a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning. The Rorschach has also been utilized to detect underlying thought disorders, especially in difficult cases where the subject's are not forthcoming or able to describe their the way they think during an evaluation. The Rorschach is widely used for both children and adults. There is no reported time limit or administration time indicated for this test.

The Rorschach uses inkblots and using forms obtained through chance by folding over a piece of paper into the center of which ink had been dropped) to explore an aspect of personality, created the Rorschach. He standardized the inkblot procedure and synthesized the procedure with Jung's work on the Word Association Test and Bleuler's notions regarding personality assessment. When responses to inkblots had been used to assess imagination, emphasis was placed on the content of the responses. By contrast, Rorschach stressed not the content, but rather the formal properties of the response, and as such this enabled him to conceptualize the Inkblot Test as one of perception and not of imagination. By noting the intimate relationship between perceptual reactions and other psychological functions, Rorschach was able to conceptually place his technique in the middle of the assessment of total personality functioning.

Score: 4-square (Exner).

Author: Hermann Rorschach.

Publisher: U.S. Distributor - Grune and Stratton, Inc.

Suggested Uses: The Inkblot Test is recommended for projective personality assessment in clinical and research settings.

Scoring: The foundation for Rorschach interpretation based upon the Comprehensive System is what Exner terms the "4-square," which incorporates the basic scores and ratios thought to be characteristic of one's problem-solving style.

The Four Indices of the 4 Square Are

• Erlebnistypus (EB, the ratio of human movement to weighted color responses
• Experience Actual (EA, the sum of human movement and weighted color responses
• Experience Base (eb, the ratio of nonhuman movement to shading and gray-black responses
• Experience Potential (ep the sum of non-human movement, shading, and gray-black responses

Reliability and Validity: Refer to Exner's Comprehensive System publications for detailed information on the reliability and validity of this scoring system. There is also abundant literature on several other alternate scoring systems for the Rorschach.