Parental correlates of Rorschach human movement responses in children.

The meaning of the human movement response (M) to inkblot stimuli was explored in terms of correlations between children's M productions and the attributes of their parents in 119 familes. M scores were available for the family members; and for each parent there were also measures of personality, values, and childrearing attitudes. A number of the parent-child correlational patterns were congruent with Rorschach's theories concerning the significance of M.     

Rorschach space response and aggression

The study investigated the construct validity of the Rorschach space response by factor analyzing the stress-coping reactions to highly stressful conditions. Self-report reactions to stress of 173 medical students measured on the Habits of Nervous Tension showed that space responding loaded highest on a factor identified as "anger affect" and secondarily loaded negatively on a factor identified as "regressive withdrawal." Findings were consistent with earlier results for space response on validity.     

Rorschach correlates of state and trait anxiety in college students

This study was done to determine whether Elizur's anxiety scoring (AL) for Rorschach content was correlated to scores on Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The definition of anxiety presented by Elizur implies that his technique measures anxiety as a long-term, relatively stable personality characteristic rather than a transitory emotional state, but no research has shown whether AL was correlated with state and/or trait anxiety as defined and measured by Spielberger. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered in small groups to 40 college students with a repeated measure of STAI State-anxiety and the Rorschach given individually following a delay of at least five days. Analysis indicated that the STAI Trait-anxiety measure correlated significantly with AL. Test-retest correlations for STAI State-anxiety measures and STAI State- and Trait-anxiety measures obtained in the same testing session were significant. State-anxiety scores obtained just prior to Rorschach testing were related to STAI Trait-anxiety scores and initial STAI State-anxiety scores correlated with AL.     

Contributions of cognitive science to the Rorschach Technique: cognitive and neuropsychological correlates of the response process

This article presents an understanding of the Rorschach Technique in terms of emergent models from cognitive science. We propose a linkage between cognitive psychology and neuropsychology in understanding the operations that underlie the Rorschach response process. Contemporary information processing models are described. The Rorschach Technique is conceived of as a complex process involving all areas of the cerebral hemispheres, encompassing various aspects of visual attention and perception, object recognition, associative memory, language production, and executive functioning. Exner's model of the response process is delineated, including both Association and Inquiry phases, in terms of requisite underlying neuropsychological abilities and anatomical substrates. The question of the Rorschach Technique's status, utility, and potential as a neuropsychological assessment, tool is discussed. Understanding the Rorschach in terms of contemporary cognitive psychological and neuropsychological models heightens appreciation of the technique's complexity and provides a heuristic and conceptual foundation for empirical research.     

On the Rorschach M response and monotheism

The Rorschach human movement (M) response has recently been debated (Exner, 1991a, Kramer, 1991a, 1991b) with additional wider implications for Rorschach psychology. The objective of this discourse is twofold: (a) to elaborate on the contributions of perceptanalysis (Piotrowski, 1957) to this debate and (b) to develop the thesis that diversity is desirable for the long-term advancement of the field of Rorschach psychology and personality assessment. These motifs are illustrated with an interpretation of a clinical case example and with rationale from the theoretical literature and implications for interpreting short Rorschach protocols. The conclusion is proffered that some degree of diversification is more beneficial than requiring the adoption of a single Rorschach approach (i.e., monotheism).     

Rorschach correlates of sexual abuse: trauma content and aggression indexes

This study compared Rorschach records of nondissociative outpatients with histories of (a) definite sexual abuse (n = 22), (b) suspected but unconfirmed sexual abuse (n = 13), or (c) no sexual abuse (n = 43) on selected variables hypothesized to be associated with sexual abuse. As predicted, clients with definite sexual abuse scored significantly higher than clients known not to be sexually abused on Armstrong and Loewenstein's (1990) Trauma Content index (TC/R), with an effect size greater than 1 SD. Contrary to prediction, there was no significant difference in the frequency of their Aggressive Past (AgPast; Gacono & Meloy, 1994) scores. AgPast scores, however, did positively correlate with sexual abuse that was violent or sadistic. As a test of discriminant validity, we hypothesized that 2 Rorschach variables (PER and Sc) would be unrelated to sexual abuse. This was supported by our data. Although TC/R was strongly associated with the presence and severity of sexual abuse, it could not discriminate sexually abused from nonsexually abused clients with great accuracy. The TC/R score is 1 factor among many that can be used to assess the validity of clients' claims of past sexual abuse.