Application of the consensus Rorschach to couples

The consensus method of administering the Rorschach is described and the literature reviewed. The consensus method is viewed as an adaptation of the Rorschach as a form of behavioral assessment, especially as regards couple interaction. Materials on two couples are presented as illustrations.     

A preliminary report on a new auditory after-effect

It is found that protracted monotic stimulation at a certain frequency lowers the DL of that frequency for the contralateral ear by some 47 per cent. There were eight subjects and six controls; the frequency was 1,000 c.p.s. at 40 d.b.s. It is suggested that this after-effect is analogous to figural after-effects in vision. (Some further related findings, as yet preliminary, are also reported).     

On the use of symmetry in the Rorschach Test.

Rorschach's justifications for the use of symmetry in his inkblots are evaluated in the light of recent empirical research concerning the perception of symmetry. The role of symmetry in response facilitation, in the production of whole and movement responses, in the creation of similar conditions for left- and right-handers, and as a response determinant, is discussed and re-evaluated.     

A preliminary report on the use of directed muscular activity in counter-conditioning

This is a report of a specific technique intended primarily for those individuals who seem incapable of deriving benefit from relaxation or hypnotic procedures. In essence, this paper demonstrates how vigorous and well-timed muscular activity appears to be a suitable anxiety-inhibiting response in these cases.     

An Indicator of Suicidal Ideation on the Rorschach Test

We examined the impact of patient- and therapist-rated alliance developed during psychological assessment on the subsequent alliance measured early and late in formal psychotherapy. We hypothesized that a working alliance developed during psychological assessment conducted from a collaborative therapeutic model of assessment (TMA; Finn &; Tonsager, 1992, 1997; Fischer, 1994) between the patient and therapist would carry into formal psychotherapy. We also hypothesized that alliance for those patients receiving a TMA would be significantly greater than patients receiving psychological testing as usual. To test this hypothesis, we administered the Combined Alliance Short Form-Patient Version (Hatcher &; Barends, 1996) and the Combined Alliance Short Form-Therapist Version (Hatcher, 1999) to a sample of outpatients and their therapists at the end of the assessment feedback session, early, and late in psychotherapy. The hypotheses were supported as alliance scales rated at the assessment feedback session demonstrated positive and significant relationships with alliance throughout formal psychotherapy and in relation to a control group. The clinical utility and research implications of these findings are discussed.     

A cautionary note on the use of probability values to evaluate interobserver agreement

Proposed methods of assessing the statistical significance of interobserver agreements provide erroneous probability values when conducted on serially correlated data. Investigators who wish to evaluate interobserver agreements by means of statistical significance can do so by limiting the analysis to every k(th) interval of data, or by using Markovian techniques which accommodate serial correlations.     

A Reexamination of the Color-Shading Rorschach Test Response and Suicide Attempts

This research adds support to a previous finding that the use of shading in colored areas of the Rorschach plates by hospitalized psychiatric patients is an indicator of suicidal tendencies. The color-shading response occurred significantly more often among patients who had attempted suicide than among those who had not attempted suicide. Speculations about psychological processes that may be involved in the color-shading determinant are offered.     

Interpreter Bias on the Rorschach Test as a Function of Patients' Socioeconomic Status

Hypotheses investigated were: Rorschach interpretation would indicate more negative and pathological factors for patients with lower-class, than for patients with middle-class social histories; and experienced interpreters would be less biased than inexperienced ones. Groups of experts (Fellows of the Society for Projective Techniques) and novices (graduate students) rated the same protocols; a) blind, b) accompanied by a lower-class history, c) accompanied by a middle-class history, on 21 objective scales. Addition of social-class information significantly influences judgments in the predicted directions. Much of the effect was attributable to the novice Rorschachers but the experts were not entirely free of the biasing effect.     

Responses of Comparable White and Negro Adults to the Rorschach Test

Five groups of 20 Ss each, ranging from seven years to college age, were asked to solve a series of problems involving change-making and coin equivalences. Results indicated that the number of Ss able to make change without the use of written calculations increased as a consequence of chronological age, with the greatest increase occurring between 11 and 13 years of age. In addition, it was found that although children at all levels knew the various coin equivalences, younger children used primarily dimes and pennies in making change, whereas older children used all of the coins available. This was interpreted to mean that coin equivalences are probably learned as specific stimulus-response pairs, and that in making change younger children use untransformed base 10 units, such as pennies and dimes, largely because the computational demands placed by change-making operations force them to minimize the number of noncomputational transformations used.     

A new method to evaluate order and accuracy of inaccurately and incompletely reproduced movement sequences

Studying imitation learning of long sequences requires the evaluation of inaccurately and incompletely reproduced movement sequences. In order to evaluate the movement reproduction, it has to be assigned to the original stimulus. We developed an assignment algorithm that considers the Spatial Neighborhood and Order of reproduction (SNOA). To evaluate the features of this analysis it was applied to human performance during learning of long pointing sequences under two conditions: stimulus-guided reproduction with high spatial accuracy and imitation learning with low spatial accuracy. The results were compared with a simple assignment considering Spatial Neighborhood only (SNA) and with a Manual Assignment (MA). In the stimulus-guided reproduction the error measures did not differ between the algorithms. In contrast, with imitation learning, SNOA and MA generated higher estimates of order and omission errors than SNA. The results show that SNOA can be used to automatically quantify the similarity of both movement structure and metric information between long target sequences and inaccurate and incomplete movement reproductions.     

Construct validation of scales derived from the Rorschach method: a review of issues and introduction to the Rorschach rating scale

I suggest the main goal of Rorschach validation should be a refined understanding of what each score means. Toward this end, I review general issues in construct validity, hurdles unique to the Rorschach, and general limitations with validation criteria. I then recommend two approaches for improving criteria so they can begin approximating the gold standards that are necessary for a refined understanding of what scores actually measure. The first is a method for improving expert clinical judgment, and the second is a method for aggregating data across diverse judges. Finally, the Rorschach Rating Scale (RRS) is presented as a criterion tool to be used with either of these approaches to validation. The RRS is a fairly comprehensive summary of the constructs thought to be measured by various Rorschach scoring systems. The utility of the RRS for research and training are discussed, as are other practical, theoretical, and psychometric issues in its application.