Current Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Rorschach Assessment

In this article, I present as clear and as updated an account as possible of several of the essential features that comprise a psychoanalytic approach to the Rorschach. Specific attention is accorded the assessment frame, the language of assessment, sources of assessment information, and differing approaches to the interpretation of Rorschach data. The article comes out of a Rorschach tradition begun by Rapaport, extended by Schafer and Mayman, and presently being updated by Leichtman and Smith.     

Representation of Interpersonal Interactions on the Rorschach and Level of Psychopathology

Recent theoretical formulations emphasize the importance of the quality of interpersonal relationships in personality development and psychopathology and have resulted in the construction of methods for assessing the representation of interpersonal experiences. The Urist Mutuality of Autonomy (MOA) Scale is one of the most frequently used methods for assessing the quality of interpersonal relationships by evaluating interactions portrayed on the Rorschach between people, animals, and/or things. This study of the relationship of the MOA scale to independent assessments of interpersonal relationships and clinical symptoms in a group of seriously disturbed adolescents and young adults recently admitted to a long-term, open, residential treatment facility revealed that the average quality of interactions portrayed on the Rorschach relates significantly to the severity of clinical symptoms and the presence of thought disorder, but not to the quality of interpersonal relations. In addition, the portrayal of at least one intensively malevolent and destructive interaction on the Rorschach is correlated primarily with measures of thought disorder and impaired reality testing, whereas not giving at least one mutual and benevolent interaction response is correlated with impaired capacity for social adaptation (e.g., inappropriate interpersonal behavior and unmodulated affect). The relative failure to give at least one mutual and benevolent response is also correlated with the severity of clinical symptoms. Though the MOA scale was developed to assess object relations, it seems more consistently to assess aspects of psychopathology, such as the severity of clinical symptoms and the extent of thought disorder, and only secondarily the quality of interpersonal relationships.     

Conceptual and empirical perspectives on the Rorschach assessment of psychopathology

Conceptual and empirical perspectives on the Rorschach assessment of psychopathology are described and placed in a complementary perspective that stresses the value of conceptual formulations and the necessity of empirical data. Empiricism without concepts fails to explain adequately why Rorschach assessment yields useful information; conceptualization without empirical support fails to document adequately the psychometric soundness of Rorschach inferences. Used in tandem, explanatory concepts and supportive data enhance the scientific stature and professional utility of Rorschach assessment.     

Rorschach Indices of Perceptual and Conceptual Disorganization

Figure drawings were obtained from 97 preadolescent males who differed in self and behavioral assessments of self-esteem. These subjects had been selected from a much larger sample and represented five different types of self-esteem. The figure drawings were scored for 15 variables, dealing with formal characteristics, content, and global-interpretations of the total drawings. Five significant differences were obtained, with the content and global-interpretative categories proving more differentiating between self-esteem groups than did the formal characteristics. Behavioral expressions of self-esteem were more associated with figure drawing characteristics than were subjective evaluations. Discussion focuses on the nature of self-concept and self-esteem in children as a sensorimotor rather than symbolic expression.     

A Conceptual Validation Study of the Texture Response on the Rorschach

This study addresses the Rorschach texture response (T). The authors proposed a developmental line incorporating tactile self-soothing functions and tactile aspects of interpersonal closeness and related it to T. It was hypothesized that T would be linearly related to one's reliance on tactile cues cognitively by categorizing objects according to texture and behaviorally by touching and stroking. Subjects were 81 women, between the ages of 18 and 30. The results confirm the notion that T is related to both cognitive and behavioral reliance on tactile cues. It was also hypothesized that high T subjects, more than others, would increase their use of tactile cues and touching when stressed, but this hypothesis was not supported. The results were considered to be consistent with, the proposed developmental line but not for differential regression along the line. They also supported T as being related to tactile mode of information processing.     

Perceptual Robustness of the Nonrelationship Between Psychopathology and Popular Responses on the Hand Test and the Rorschach

A Hand Test Popular response is developed using 106 normal subjects and Rorschach's traditional "one-in-three" criterion. Six popular responses were derived. Neither the newly established Hand Test Popular response nor the Korschach Popular discriminated psychosis from nonpsychosis. but as expected, Rorschach X+% and Rorschach WSum6 were significant, and the Hand Test Bizarre (BIZ) score approached significance. Both the Rorschach Popular and the newly developed Hand Test Popular await further elucidation.     

Assessment of substance abusers on the MCMI-III and the Rorschach

We examined 60 substance abusers (SA) on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III; Millon, 1994) and on eight Rorschach variables from the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003). On the MCMI-III, SA scored above the cutoff for clinical significance (M > or = BR 70) on Drug Dependence (94.77), Antisocial (82.95), Depressive (74.33), Self-Defeating (71.48), and Alcohol Dependence (70.70). On seven of the CS variables (M+,o,u, XA%, X-%, WSum6Lv2%, M-%, SumT%, and Pure H%) the scores of the SAs suggested significant more psychopathology compared to the scores of 60 university students, whereas the SA's scores on six of these variables (M+,o,u, XA%, X-%, WSum6Lv2%, SumT%, and Pure H%) suggested significantly less psychopathology compared to the scores of 36 schizophrenics. The effect sizes for the significant differences were in the small, medium and large range (d= 0.31 to d= 1.87).     

Rorschach Assessment of Purging and Nonpurging Bulimics

Research in bulimia has flourished in recent years, and yet minimal attention has been devoted to explorations of the bulimic's basic personality organization. We utilized the Rorschach to differentiate between purging and nonpurging bulimics and controls. There were 15 subjects in each group. The Comprehensive System (Exner, 1986) was used for the scoring of the protocols. Statistically significant differences were not found between the two bulimia groups, but interesting trends were detected in the areas of depression, anger, and self-preoccupation. Results appear to be constrained by the low rate of purging behavior. Comparisons between the combined bulimia groups and the controls resulted in solidly characterizing the bulimics as displaying perceptual inaccuracies, disordered thinking, a vulnerability to interpersonal problems, a damaged self-image, and a pessimistic outlook. The strengths of the study were its use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-III-R]; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) nonpatient bulimic subtypes and a control group that was comparable in terms of demographics. Future Rorschach studies with bulimics displaying higher frequencies of binging and purging behaviors are suggested.     

Commentary: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges to the Study of Emotion Regulation and Psychopathology

In this commentary, I argue that although emotion regulation and its role in psychopathology has been the focus of considerable psychological research with both children and adults, fundamental questions remain about how these phenomena are linked. I pose four challenges to the study of emotion regulation and psychopathology that have yet to be fully met, either empirically or conceptually. I note that a multi-level developmental approach that places emotion regulation within the context of both the larger self-regulatory system and the social relationships within which regulation occurs may be useful in understanding the emergence and maintenance of early behavioral patterns that evolve into disorders of psychological functioning.     

Culture Learning, Acculturative Stress, and Psychopathology: Three Perspectives on Acculturation

John Berry has offered a comprehensive conceptual model for the study of immigration, acculturation, and adaptation that has evolved over more than 20 years of systematic and innovative work in the field. Elaborating and refining this amalgamated framework. Professor Berry has largely demystified the acculturative process by showing that the process and product of changing cultures can be understood in familiar terms and be interpreted in the light of existing theories in mainstream psychology. These theories are referred to as "points of view" and identified as a culture learning/social skills acquisition approach, a psychological model of stress, and a psychopathology or mental disease perspective.     

The Rorschach in the Context of Performance-Based Personality Assessment

Twenty-eight normal and 28 learning disabled children were given the Bender-Gestalt Test under instructional sets of low (standard) attention or high attention. Results failed to support the hypothesis that high attention instructions would lead to differential recall performance of the diagnostic groups. Normal children produced better designs during recall than learning disabled children regardless of instructional set. The evidence suggests that standard Bender instructions should not be altered in an attempt to elicit recall performance differences.     

Assessment feedback integrating MMPI-2 and Rorschach findings

Many clinicians are committed to giving feedback to clients about assessment results, but puzzle over how to integrate Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and Rorschach findings when talking to clients. When the two tests agree, findings may be combined and assessors may use the language of clients' Rorschach percepts to frame findings from the MMPI-2 or the Structural Summary. When the Rorschach shows more disturbance than the MMPI-2, assessors may discuss "levels of personality," praise clients for their usual coping mechanisms, and raise the possibility of underlying problems. When the Rorschach depicts less psychopathology than the MMPI-2, clinicians may talk with Clients about factors influencing them to present as needing help. Alternatively, assessors may hypothesize that clients constrict emotionally in interpersonal, unstructured situations.     

Multidimensional Assessment of Spirituality/Religion in Patients with HIV: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Refinement

A decade ago, an expert panel developed a framework for measuring spirituality/religion in health research (Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality), but empirical testing of this framework has been limited. The purpose of this study was to determine whether responses to items across multiple measures assessing spirituality/religion by 450 patients with HIV replicate this model. We hypothesized a six-factor model underlying a collective of 56 items, but results of confirmatory factor analyses suggested eight dimensions: Meaning/Peace, Tangible Connection to the Divine, Positive Religious Coping, Love/Appreciation, Negative Religious Coping, Positive Congregational Support, Negative Congregational Support, and Cultural Practices. This study corroborates parts of the factor structure underlying the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality and some recent refinements of the original framework.     

目标倾向的理论研究述评

本文系统地回顾了目标倾向及其理论结构的研究,当代流行的成就动机观点认为,在成就目标上,个体的目标倾向可以分为学习目标倾向和统政目标价向。学习目标倾向的特征是寻求挑战,掌握新知识,面对失败时会付出更大的努力必政目标价向的特征是寻求良好的能力评价,避免不良的能力评价,回避挑战,遇到障碍、失败时绩效下降。目前多数研究认为,学习目标倾向和绩效目标倾向是相互独立的结构,而非同一结构的两极。目标倾向主要属于个体的心理特质,同时也受到环境因素的影响。     

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 Assessment of State and Trait Anxiety with the Rorschach Test

The literature on the assessment of anxiety with the Rorschach Test was reviewed in terms of Spielberger's conception of anxiety as a relatively stable personality disposition (A-Trait), and as a transitory emotional state (A-State). On the basis of the research evidence, it was concluded that: (1) Shading variables are the best Rorschach measures of A-State; (2) Movement appears to be the most promising Rorschach variable for measuring A-Trait; (3) Longer reaction times and a reduction in the total number of responses seem to reflect defensive reactions of caution and guardedness that accompany high levels of A-State; (4) Elizur's RCT anxiety scale appears to be more closely related to A-Trait than A-State, but may be a confounded measure of both.     

Clarifying the Placement of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in the Empirical Structure of Psychopathology

Recent work on the empirical structure of psychopathology has aimed to address some limitations that can arise from traditional categorical classification approaches. This research has focused on modeling patterns of co-occurrence among traditional diagnoses, uncovering a variety of well-validated dimensions (or spectra) of psychopathology, spanning common and uncommon mental disorders. A model integrating these empirically derived spectra (the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology; HiTOP) has been proposed. However, the placement of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) within this model remains unclear, as studies have variably found OCD to fit best as part of the Fear, Distress or Thought Disorder spectra. One reason for this may be the heterogeneity of symptoms experienced by individuals with OCD, which is lost when analysing categorical diagnoses. For example, different symptom clusters within OCD—such as washing and contamination versus obsessions and checking—may be differentially associated with different spectra in the HiTOP model. The aim of this study was to test this hypothesis. Data were collected in an anonymous online survey from community participants (n?=?609), largely with elevated symptoms of mental illness, and analyzed in a factor analytic framework treating OCD as a unitary construct and as four separate symptom clusters. The results indicated that OCD and its constituent symptom clusters had significant loadings of varying strength on the Fear and Thought Disorder spectra. These findings suggest that OCD may be best characterized as cross-loading on both the Fear and Thought Disorder spectra, and highlight the importance of accounting for diagnostic heterogeneity in future research.

     

自由意志:实证心理学的视角

自由意志是哲学史上最古老、最持久和最艰难的问题之一,并且一直是哲学,包括实证主义哲学和人文主义哲学关注的问题.近年来,心理学家开始尝试用实证科学的方法探索自由意志的心理机制、影响及表达.研究发现虽然自由意志是一种错觉,但人们仍然相信它的存在,并受到它的影响.自由意志与道德责任、道德行为、创造力、自尊和幸福等概念有密切关系.未来研究应在自由意志的概念界定、产生机制、作用功能等方面进行更深入的探索,并从实证、理论和常识三种水平上综合考察、理解自由意志问题.