The infamous 'Rorschach test' has since evolved into a personality evaluation, the idea being that your reaction to the blot speaks to your personality type — and so, now, you've shared the. “People don't understand it's about how you see, not what you see,” says Searls.Photograph by MARK THIESSEN, NGM STAFF. RORSCHACH TEST CARD.
Though the Rorschach is the most famous psychological test in the world, it is little understood outside of psychology circles. The test, in the news this week and under much debate, is a series of 10 colored ink blots created nearly a century ago by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach.The ink blots are a projective test; patients are asked to interpret the patterns for a psychologist or psychiatrist. As a subjective test, there are no official right or wrong answers, but test-givers do have a list of what are called normed responses — the most common answers.The premise behind the test is that the answers provided by people who suffer from mental illness will be markedly different than the answers provided by normal people.A controversy erupted recently when Wikipedia posted the ink blots online, along with the 'correct' answers to each.No big deal, right? Well, here's the problem: The Rorschach blots (not to mention the 'answers') are supposed to be kept secret.
Many psychologists were outraged, believing that having the information out there would make the test worthless, since test-takers could memorize the answers and 'cheat.' Rorschach's open secretIn fact, the Rorschach blots have been publically available for more than 30 years; they were published in the 1975 book 'The Nuremberg Mind,' available online for under $3.William Poundstone's 1983 book 'Big Secrets' not only shows all the Rorschach blots, but devotes a whole chapter to them, including discussing how to 'cheat' — what answers to provide so that you don't appear psychotic. (Here's a hint: don't say, 'It looks like the mess I made this morning when Capt.
Crunch told me to gut my dog with a butter knife.' )So the Rorschach images themselves are hardly top secret, though never so easily available.Validity problemsThe furor over Wikipedia's posting of the Rorschach blots obscures a far more important issue. The real concern should not be whether people might be able to cheat on the test, but whether or not the Rorschach is valid in the first place.After all, if the test is worthless at diagnosing, assessing personality disorders, or predicting behavior, there is no point in 'protecting' it.Scott Lilienfeld, an associate professor of psychology at Emory University and co-author of the 2003 book 'What's Wrong with the Rorschach?' Is one of many psychologists who doubts the validity of the test. Lilienfeld and the other authors surveyed more than 50 years of research and studies on the scientific evidence for the Rorschach, concluding that it is 'weak at best and nonexistent at worst.' Furthermore, Lilienfeld and colleagues point out, studies show that about half of the normal Rorschach test-takers will be labeled as having '.'
This staggeringly high false-positive error rate (among many other problems) suggests that the Rorschach should be relegated to the pile of once-promising but now-discredited psychological tests.It seems that the test has remained in use more out of tradition than good evidence. Wikipedia's publication of the test blots may unintentionally be the final nail in the coffin for Hermann Rorschach's idea. The Most Popular Myths in Science.Benjamin Radford has a degree in psychology and is managing editor of the Skeptical Inquirer science magazine. His books, films, and other projects can be found on his. His Bad Science column appears regularly on LiveScience.
Few devices from the world of psychology have entered popular culture quite so much as Hermann Rorschach's famous inkblot test. But the test still divides psychologists, writes Dr Mike Drayton.I first came across the Rorschach inkblot test when I was training to be a clinical psychologist. I was shown a series of cards containing inkblots and asked to say what they looked like to me (Tester: 'What does this look like?'
) I remember thinking that it felt more like a tarot reading than a proper psychometric test.However, when the test was scored and interpreted, it produced a scarily accurate profile of my personality. It knew things about me that even my mother didn't know. I've been a fan, if a rather sceptical one, ever since.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. Image captionSome might see two elephants dancingAs 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 1918, 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 1939 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. Today, many - probably most - psychologists in the UK think the Rorschach is nonsense. In 2009, all 10 images from the Rorschach test were, along with possible answers. Many psychologists complained that publishing the inkblots online rendered them useless, as patients should not see the images before undertaking the test. They argued that patients would not answer honestly if they were already familiar with the inkblots and had memorised the 'correct' answers.
It wasn't the first time inkblots from the test had been published. In 1983, William Poundstone printed them in his book Big SecretsCriticisms of the Rorschach have centred on three things:First, some psychologists have argued that the testing psychologist also projects his or her unconscious world on to the inkblots when interpreting responses.For example, if the person being tested sees a bra, a male psychologist might classify this as a sexual response, whereas a female psychologist may classify it as clothing.Second, the Rorschach has also been criticised for its validity. In other words, is it measuring what it says it is measuring? Rorschach was clear that his test measured disordered thinking (as found in schizophrenia) and this has never been disputed. But whether it accurately measures personality as well is up for debate.Finally, critics have suggested that the Rorschach lacks reliability. Two different testers might come up with two different personality profiles for the same person.I am also sceptical about the scientific validity of the Rorschach.
But I do think it is a useful tool in therapy and coaching as a way of encouraging self-reflection and starting a conversation about the person's internal world.Here's an example of how I have used the Rorschach:Samantha is a 28-year-old lawyer. She is happily married and has recently discovered she is pregnant.
She and her husband had been trying to conceive for the past year. I used the Rorschach as part of a leadership coaching programme with her. To give you a flavour of the Rorschach in practice, here are her responses to this card.' It's two people facing each other.
You can see their heads, arms and legs spread out. (1) There is a big cooking pot between them.
They are stirring the cooking pot, making food. (2) The thing in the middle is like two hearts - maybe it's meant to show that they are in love?' (2) The red thing in the middle looks like a butterfly.
I know it's silly - and probably because I'm pregnant, but the (3) red things on each side look like newborn babies with the umbilical cords still attached. When I think of that, the (4) two people could be a mummy and daddy holding a Moses basket or cot. Look, you can see the blanket round the side.' (2) The red in the middle is their two hearts joined and is the baby. (1) They could be fighting for the baby, like a tug-of-war with the cot. That reminds me of work, which I haven't thought about for ages. Parents divorcing and fighting over the children.
God forbid that would happen to me.' Rorschach's influence. Many artists have been influenced by Rorschach's inkblots, including Andy Warhol - who created a series of 'Rorschach paintings' in 1984. The 'inkblot' style has been used in promotional London Underground maps and to advertise US drama Dexter.
Rorschach's work has also inspired fiction, including the Rorschach character in Watchmen - and music videos such asSamantha is a well-adjusted, confident and successful woman who is experiencing a particularly happy period in her life. It is clear to see how she projects the themes of her current life on to the inkblot.There is a strong theme of partnership and attachment. The two people making something ('stirring the cooking pot'), alludes to Samantha's pregnancy. This theme is then reinforced ('the red things on each side look like new-born babies with the umbilical cords still attached'), and then instantiated ('the two people could be a mummy and daddy holding a Moses basket or cot').Anxiety is the opposing emotion to joy in Samantha's emotional dynamic. Worries about future conflict with her partner intrude into her narrative ('they could be fighting for the baby, like a tug-of-war with the cot').This is only a snapshot.
There were many other things in Samantha's Rorschach that opened the doors to how her internal psychological world impacted on her life at home and work.
