Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 111 adult nonpatients from Romania

In this study Rorschach data from a Romanian sample of 111 respondents was collected and analyzed in a first attempt to establish national norms. The protocols were collected in a 5-year period (2002-2006) by the author. Interrater reliability statistics are presented for a sample of 20 cases, along with scores for the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1993). These results can be used for cross-cultural comparisons of the CS.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 517 adults from Spain (Barcelona)

This study is composed of 517 adult voluntary participants, from Barcelona and its surroundings, all of whom are from Spain, Barcelona, and Catalonia. The study builds on a previously published report for a smaller sample (N = 250; see Alvarez, Baeza, Campo, Garcia, Guardia, et al., 1993) and is the result of collaboration between students and professors at the Barcelona Rorschach School (Catalan Rorschach Society). Our aim is to offer local data that should help to understand possible differences with existing reference data for the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2005), which is the system that has been taught at this school since 1978. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are described and interrater reliability statistics at the response level are presented, along with scores for the CS, followed by a discussion and very brief comparison with other international reference samples.     

Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Superego Functioning Following CS Readministration Procedures: Case Illustration

The Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003) has specific procedures to address brief Rorschach protocols when the first administration yields fewer than 14 responses. These procedures involve the assessor's asking the client to retake the test by providing more responses on the second administration than the first administration. The request carries with it an implicit criticism of the client's initial effort and a mandate to improve performance on retake. The retake request, with its ambiguously worded demand for improved performance, engages the client's superego (i.e., the client feels judged) and makes it possible to study superego manifestations (e.g., guilt, shame) on the Rorschach test, using a model of (a) brief first record, (b) retake directive, and (c) second administration. We present a case that illustrates a clinical strategy, modeled on a psychoanalytic understanding of the CS retake procedure, for studying the client's superego functioning under retest conditions.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 343 adults from Finland

This article combines Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1990, 1993) data from four projects conducted in Finland between 1990 and 1995. The projects studied a stratified random sample of Finnish nonpatients, a cohort of twins, a group of elderly men, and a random sample collected to investigate sleep difficulties. The 343 records from these four studies provide a representative survey of Rorschach responding throughout the Finnish population.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 309 adult nonpatients from Portugal

Three hundred and nine nonpatient adults, evenly distributed according to sex, age, educational level, and residence, took part in the Rorschach test study carried out in Portugal. The sample was drawn from selected regions of the country and was balanced for population density in urban and rural areas. Test administration was controlled through the services of psychologists familiar with the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1993). Results indicate that, in Portugal (Pires, 2000), level of education is the variable that seems to have the largest effect on Rorschach responding.     

Toward international normative reference data for the comprehensive system

We build on the work of all the authors contributing to this Special Supplement by summarizing findings across their samples of data, and we also draw on samples published elsewhere. Using 21 samples of adult data from 17 countries we create a composite set of internationally-based reference means and standard deviations from which we compute T-scores for each sample. Figures illustrate how the scores in each sample are distributed and how the samples compare across variables in eight Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003) clusters. The adult samples from around the world are generally quite similar, and thus we encourage clinicians to integrate the composite international reference values into their clinical interpretation of protocols. However, the 31 child and adolescent samples from 5 countries produce unstable and often quite extreme values on many scores. Until the factors contributing to the variability among these samples are more fully understood, we discourage clinicians from using many CS scores to make nomothetic, score-based inferences about psychopathology in children and adolescents.     

Coming to grips with negative evidence for the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach: a comment on Gacono, Loving, and Bodholdt; Ganellen; and Bornstein

The Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1991, 1993) for the Rorschach is currently engulfed in controversy. This comment article responds to 3 articles by Rorschach proponents in this issue of the Journal of Personality Assessment. Contrary to the claims of Gacono, Loving, and Bodholdt (this issue), CS scores do not bear a well-demonstrated relationship to psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder, or conduct disorder. Contrary to the claims of Ganellen (this issue), both the original and the revised CS Depression Index (Exner, 1993) bear little or no relationship to depression diagnoses. Furthermore, the scoring reliability of some CS scores is problematic. Although we agree with Bornstein (this issue) that Rorschach scores generally bear little or no relation to psychiatric diagnoses or self-report questionnaires, we believe this lack of relationship tends to disconfirm hypotheses concerning the validity of the Rorschach. In the spirit of the philosopher Sir Karl Popper, the Rorschach community should not minimize negative evidence or engage in post hoc arguments to immunize the CS against falsification.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 98 adult nonpatients from Greece

Ninety-eight adult nonpatients from Greece were administered the Rorschach according to the Rorschach Comprehensive Systems (CS; Exner, 2003) procedures. These participants were of Greek heritage, were older than 21 years of age, and resided in Greece. Participants were residents of an urban area, Athens, as well as residents of provincial areas including smaller cities and villages. The examiner was a native Greek and of Greek heritage and administered the protocols in Greek. Exclusion criteria are described. Interrater reliability statistics at the response level are presented along with scores for CS variables.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 41 adult nonpatients from Israel

This study presents data concerning Rorschach protocols of 41 Jewish Israeli students. The sample includes 20 males and 21 females, ranging in age from 19 to 35, who were selected from a larger sample of 50 undergraduates by applying psychiatric exclusion criteria. The results concerning the main Rorschach Comprehensive System's (CS; Exner, 2003) measures of distress (D and Adj D scores, S-Constellation, and DEPI) revealed substantial elevation. These results are analyzed in relation to the constant threat of terror, which the participants are exposed to within the context of the ongoing political conflict in the Middle East. The analysis is supported by data concerning a new Rorschach index, the Reality-Fantasy scale (RFS; Tibon, Handelzalts, & Weinberger, 2005), which applies the CS to psychoanalytic conceptualization of transitional space.     

Rorschach Intercoder Reliability for Protocol-Level Comprehensive System Variables in an International Sample

This study examines the intercoder reliability of Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2001) protocol-level variables. A large international sample was combined to obtain intercoder agreement for 489 Rorschach protocols coded using the CS. Intercoder agreement was calculated using an Iota coefficient, a statistical coefficient similar to kappa that is corrected for chance. Iota values for the variables analyzed ranged from .31 to 1.00, with 2 in the poor range of agreement, 4 in the fair range, 25 in the good range, and 116 in the excellent range of agreement. Discrepancies between variables are discussed.     

Rorschach intercoder reliability for protocol-level comprehensive system variables in an international sample

This study examines the intercoder reliability of Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2001) protocol-level variables. A large international sample was combined to obtain intercoder agreement for 489 Rorschach protocols coded using the CS. Intercoder agreement was calculated using an Iota coefficient, a statistical coefficient similar to kappa that is corrected for chance. Iota values for the variables analyzed ranged from .31 to 1.00, with 2 in the poor range of agreement, 4 in the fair range, 25 in the good range, and 116 in the excellent range of agreement. Discrepancies between variables are discussed.     

A new U.S. adult nonpatient sample

A project to collect an American adult nonpatient sample for the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2001) took place between 1999 and 2005, and this article presents data for 450 participants in the project. Inclusion criteria, demographic information, and interrater agreement statistics are described. Findings for most of the CS variables are similar to earlier Rorschach Workshops samples, but some differences emerged and their implications for modifying interpretive guidelines are discussed.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 100 adult nonpatients from the Belgian French-speaking community

This article presents normative data for the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) on 100 adult nonpatients from the Belgian French-speaking community. We compare our Belgian sample to a French one (Sultan et al., 2004), data of Exner's (Exner & Erdberg, 2005) and a Californian sample (Shaffer, Erdberg, & Haroian, 1999). Each sample's specific characteristics are explored, as well as findings provided by sample-specific comparisons. Exner's data, ultimate normative reference for the CS, differ significantly from the three other samples for many variables. Cultural factors, examiner's level of experience, as well as participants' selection and recruitment, presumably flow into calculated differences between the four samples. Our findings indicate the necessity for constituting normative data for different communities, as well as the indispensability of examiners' familiarity with the CS, in order to provide reliable clinical information.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 283 adult nonpatients from the United States

This article presents an update on adult nonpatients living in central California previously described by Shaffer, Erdberg, and Haroian (1999). In this study an additional 160 nonpatients were administered the Rorschach for a total sample size of 283. Graduate students enrolled in a 2-year Rorschach research seminar administered the Rorschach (Exner, 1995), WAIS-R (Weschler, 1981), and MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989), and were provided with extensive supervision and ongoing quality control. All protocols were recoded by the first two authors and a psychologist with extensive Rorschach experience. Exclusion criteria are described. Interrater reliability statistics at the response level are presented along with scores for Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS), WAIS-R, and MMPI-2 variables.     

Temporal stability in the Rorschach method: a meta-analytic review

The temporal stabilities of the Rorschach method scoring systems were investigated. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to find all test-retest studies, both regular and from control samples in therapy evaluation studies. Meta-analyses were conducted for samples, individual entries, and variables in 36 samples. Separate analyses were made for 10 samples using the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1993). The temporal stability was high, especially those obtained from regression model predictions. The CS consistently shows higher stability than other systems, whereas increasing retest intervals leads to decreasing stability. Shortcomings of the available studies are highlighted and discussed, and recommendations are given for design and methodology.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 249 adult nonpatients from Italy

This project provides information on how Italian adult nonpatients perform on the Rorschach test administered and scored following Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) guidelines (Exner, 1995). Lis, Zennaro, Calvo, and Salcuni (2001) reported previously initial data for 101 of the nonpatients who were administered this instrument between July 1998 and February 2001 by graduate and postgraduate students in a 2-year research course at the Psychotherapy School of the University of Padua. The current study extends that previous work and includes information on an additional 148 participants gathered between April 2001 and March 2004, for a total of 249 individuals. Exclusion criteria are described and interrater reliability statistics at the response level for scoring segments are reported using both percent of agreement and iota. Comprehensive System findings are presented.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for 100 nonpatient children from the United States in two age groups

Building on our previously published study (Hamel, Shaffer, & Erdberg, 2000), which provided data on 100 nonpatient children aged 6 to 12 from the United States, we here provide reference data for two more homogeneous age subgroups: 6 to 9 (N = 50) and 10 to 12 (N = 50). Inclusion criteria are described, and expanded interrater reliability statistics at the response level are presented along with scores for the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2001) at each age grouping. In addition to the children being administered the Rorschach, their parents were given the Conners' Parent Rating Scale-93 (CPRS-93; Conners, 1989), and these results are presented as well.     

Beyond “Objective” and “Projective”: A Logical System for Classifying Psychological Tests: Comment on Meyer and Kurtz (2006)

Using a diverse sample of 4,786 protocols obtained with the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, &; Erdberg, 2011), we provide a contemporary overview of how people organize Rorschach's inkblots into identifiable regions while formulating responses. After examining how frequently each location was used across all cards in this sample, we examined the consistency of their use by computing parallel information in 17 samples (N = 4,701) obtained using the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003), including clinical, nonclinical, and adult, child, and adolescent data. Even though the CS data could only record a single location for each response, the average correlation of location use across samples was .96. The results also document continuous dimensionality in use rather than any discontinuities that would demarcate a boundary between common and uncommon locations. Implications of this notable reproducibility and dimensionality are discussed for future conceptualization of location typicality, including location coding considerations and possibilities for improved measures of perceptual fit.