When was rorschach test invented

So, what is the Rorschach inkblot test? It's simply a set of cards containing pictures of inkblots that have been folded over on themselves to create a mirror image. The Rorschach is what psychologists call a projective test. The basic idea of this is that when a person is shown an ambiguous, meaningless image ie an inkblot the mind will work hard at imposing meaning on the image.

That meaning is generated by the mind. By asking the person to tell you what they see in the inkblot, they are actually telling you about themselves, and how they project meaning on to the real world. But the inventor of the test, Hermann Rorschach, never intended it to be a test of personality. As a child, the young Hermann was a big fan of a popular game called Klecksographie, so much so that his nickname was Kleck. The idea of the game was to collect inkblot cards that could be bought from local shops and make associations and stories from the inkblots.

Rorschach went on to study psychiatry and while training, in , he noticed that patients diagnosed with schizophrenia made radically different associations to the Klecksographie inkblots than did normal people. He therefore developed the Rorschach test as a diagnostic tool for schizophrenia. It wasn't until that the test was used as a projective test of personality.

Rorschach himself had always been sceptical about this. This controversy about the reliability and validity of the Rorschach has been present since its conception. Sadly, Rorschach died in at the age of He had only invested just under four years in his inkblot test.

With no clear leader to take the helm, at least four separate "systems" developed to administer, score, and interpret the test. Needless to say, questions and concerns regarding the test's reliability and validity was eventually brought into question. Rorschach divided individuals who were non-patients into two categories: educated and not educated. Rorschach stressed the need for further experimentation and study. In , he died before achieving this. While the Rorschach test can help provide descriptions, it is not a diagnostic test.

INKBLOTS Wikipedia sparked controversy in the psychology community when the entire set of Rorschach images appeared on the website, altering the outcome of future tests where patients are already exposed to the inkblots.

On the website, each image appears with a set of popular responses. Established in , the Tavistock clinic in London is one of the first outpatient clinics to utilize psychotherapy inspired by the psychoanalytic theory. In , Theodora Alcock—a child psychotherapist—brought the Rorschach technique to the Tavistock clinic. Later, while working under the Tavistock Insitute of Human Relations, Alcock began training others to administer and score the Rorschach technique.

In , she published The Rorschach in Practice. McCarthy Woods, Some common contents include:. Some responses are quite common, while others may be much more unique. Highly atypical responses are notable since they might indicate disturbances in thought patterns.

Identifying the location of your response is another element scored in the Rorschach system. Location refers to how much of the inkblot you used to answer the question. Determinant coding is one of the most complex features of scoring Rorschach. This is where the examiner considers the reasons why you see what you see. What inkblot features helped determine your response and how? There are six broad categories of inkblot determinants you could be responding to:.

For example, if you report seeing a flower in Card 8 because of the red color, your examiner may code that response as Color determinant.

Each category has its own subcategories and there are at least 26 possible determinant codes. More than one determinant can be used in a single response. Interpreting a Rorschach record is a complex process. It requires a wealth of knowledge concerning personality dynamics generally as well as considerable experience with the Rorschach method specifically. In addition to formal scores, Rorschach interpretation is also based on behaviors expressed during the testing, patterns of scores across responses, unique or consistent themes in the responses, and unique or idiosyncratic perceptions.

A relatively fast response might indicate being at ease with others and comfortable with social relationships. A delayed response, however, might reveal that the individual struggles with social interactions. Despite its popularity, the Rorschach is a controversial test. Many of the criticisms center on how the test is scored and whether the results have any diagnostic value. Before , there were as many as five scoring systems that differed so dramatically that they essentially represented five different versions of the test.

In , John Exner published a comprehensive new scoring system that combined the strongest elements of the earlier systems.

The Exner scoring system is now the standard approach used in the administration, scoring, and interpretation of the Rorschach test. Some experts caution, however, that since the Exner scoring system contains errors, clinicians might be prone to over-diagnosing psychotic disorders if they rely heavily on Exner's system.

Another key criticism of the Rorschach is that it lacks reliability. Reliability means you get the same results no matter who is scoring the test. Scoring relies heavily on examiner interpretation. Because of this, two examiners can arrive at two very different conclusions when looking at the same person's responses.

In addition to early criticism of the inconsistent scoring systems, detractors also find fault with its validity. In other words, does it measure what it claims to measure?