Rorschach Assessment of Primitive Defenses: A Review

The Lerner & Lerner Scale for assessing primitive defenses is reviewed, According to its conceptual roots, initial studies assessed the scale's efficacy in distinguishing groups of borderline patients from groups of other diagnostic entities. Later studies extended the use of the scale to assess various clinical groups assumed to have a borderline personality structure. Results from several studies indicate a high level of reliability as judged by degree of interrater agreement. In a host of studies, the scale was found to be valid in distinguishing borderline patients from other types of patients, eating disordered patients from normal controls, and gender disturbed children from normal controls. Another Rorschach scale for assessing primitive defenses was also reviewed and compared.     

The Susceptibility of the Rorschach to Malingering: A Critical Review

Empirical studies of malingering on the Rorschach are reviewed. Results from these studies are to this point inconsistent and inconclusive. Although several indices are related to malingering in individual studies, no specific malingering pattern has been found that replicates across studies. A methodological problem specific to this literature is discussed and future research designs are recommended.     

The Rorschach Technique (Book)

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) overlapping and nonoverlapping scales were demonstrated to perform comparably to their original MMPI forms. They were then evaluated for convergent and discriminant validity with the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) personality disorder scales. The MMPI-2 and MCMI-II personality disorder scales demonstrated convergent and discriminant coefficients similar to their original forms. However, the MMPI-2 personality scales classified significantly more of the sample as Dramatic, whereas the MCMI-II diagnosed more of the sample as Anxious. Furthermore, single-scale and 2-point code type classification rates were quite low, indicating that at the level of the individual, the personality disorder scales are not measuring comparable constructs. Hence, each instrument is providing similar and unique information, justifying their continued use together for the purpose of diagnosing personality disorders.     

Assessment of Alexithymia With the Rorschach Comprehensive System: The Rorschach Alexithymia Scale (RAS)

The Bene-Anthony Family Relations Test was administered to twenty normal, twenty-seven school disordered, and ten institutionalized emotionally disturbed preadolescent boys. Significant differences were obtained between and within groups. The more disturbed children tended to report more positive perceptions of family relationships, particularly their relationships with their oldest siblings. However, institutionalized children tended to perceive themselves more negatively than normal or school disordered children in the context of family relationships. Normal children, but not institutionalized children, tended to perceive their relationships with their oldest siblings as significantly more negative than their relationships to their parents. The data were interpreted as reflecting sibling rivalry and the operation of psychodynamic defenses.     

The Response of African Americans to the Rorschach: A Review of the Research

Studies exploring the performance of African Americans on the Rorschach were reviewed. The review revealed the limited number of studies done in this area of study, as well as the fact that the research paradigm for all of this research has been limited to comparing the Rorschach performance of African Americans to that of Whites. However, no one has offered a rationale for such a research paradigm. Without a scientific reason to expect personality to be a function of race, another research design was recommended, one that explores the effect of a variety of aspects of living conditions on the development of the personality of African Americans.     

A Review of MMPI and Rorschach interrelationships in adult samples

The MMPI and Rorschach are consistently ranked among the most widely used psychological assessment instruments across adolescent and adult clinical settings. Although there is an extensive research literature available on each instrument individually, relatively little research attention has been focused on the interrelationships between these measures. This article reviews the literature derived from 37 studies that have reported interrelationships between MMPI and Rorschach variables in adult populations. The results of these studies generally indicate limited or minimal relationships between the MMPI and Rorschach. A number of methodological issues, however, prevent drawing firm conclusions from the literature at this time. Directions for future research are discussed, including consideration of issues related to sources of alpha and beta error and the need for studies examining the incremental validity of combinations of Rorschach and MMPI data in prediction to relevant external criteria.     

John Exner and the Book That Started It All: A Review of The Rorschach Systems

This article is a review and a reassessment of Exner's (1969) The Rorschach Systems. The book reviews the history of the development of the Rorschach, primarily in the United States, including a detailed analysis of the progressive development of systems devised by Klopfer, Beck, Piotrowski, Hertz, Rapaport, and Schafer. The final versions of each system are compared with each other, and with Rorschach's own system. The development of the book is linked to Exner' s personal relationship with Klopfer, Beck, and Hertz. The book is described as the basic forerunner of Exner's Comprehensive System.     

近十年国外罗夏测验攻击变量研究综述

用罗夏测验测量攻击有助于了解个体的攻击性冲动 ,也有助于外显攻击行为的预测和控制。近十年国外文献中有关研究者主要有Holt、Exner、Gacono和Meloy。综述结果表明 ,他们提出的大多数攻击变量都有明确的定义 ,其实证研究也获得了一些支持。但也可以看到 ,目前的研究依然存在不少问题 :(1 )变量的定义有重复、内容有交叉 ;(2 )变量的分类标准不唯一 ;(3 )某些变量的使用和操作欠方便。因而 ,这些变量的定义、分类和使用都还有待于进一步研究支持。     

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.     

The Rorschach and Intelligence: A Note of Caution

Abstract

(Goldstein, K. Human Nature. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1940. Pp. 258.): Reviewed By Peter Hampton     

The Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI): A Review

This article reviews research conducted to date on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI), a self-report test of psychopathology. The composition of the test and its theoretical basis are described. Data regarding its internal psychometric structure are reviewed. Finally, the article summarizes the research on the validity of the MCMI.     

Socio-Economic Class Bias in Rorschach Diagnosis: Contributing Psychosocial Attributes of the Clinician

The study attempted a replication of William Haase's finding (1956) of psychodiagnostic bias detrimental to the lower socio-economic class among clinical psychologists, while positing that psycho-social characteristics of the clinician, in particular Authoritarianism and Status Anxiety, would be significant correlates of this biased behavior. Sixty clinical psychologists were classified as High or Low Authoritarian, with level of status anxiety experimentally induced. Ss then interpreted paired (equated) Rorschach protocols with appended social histories of alleged lower or middle class origin. Social-class-related diagnostic bias was demonstrated, but was unrelated to the psychosocial characteristics of the clinician.     

Rorschach Aggressive Content (AgC) variable: a study of criterion validity

This study adds to the existing literature on the clinical utility of the Aggressive Content (AgC) variable proposed by Gacono and Meloy (1994). Criterion validity is evaluated by examining the relation between AgC and behavior. Rorschach and clinical chart material taken from psychological assessments were examined for 94 patients in Exner's (1993) psychiatric reference groups. An Aggression Chart Rating Scale (ACRS) was created to score the level of aggressiveness of each patient's diagnostic report. Analyses revealed good interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .73) for ACRS scores and Aggressive Movement (AG; kappa = .73) and excellent reliability for AgC (kappa =.88) and Morbid Content (MOR: kappa = .79). Pearson's correlation revealed significant relations between AgC and both AG and MOR. All 3 Rorschach variables were significantly related to scores on the ACRS. A stepwise regression analysis utilizing these 3 variables resulted in AgC being the only nonredundant predictor of scores on the ACRS. This suggests that AgC was more strongly related to more aggressive ACRS scores than either AG or MOR. The continued support for the clinical utility of AgC as well as recommendations for the addition of the AgC variable to Exner's (1993) Comprehensive System's list of Special Scores are discussed.