Psychoanalytic interpretation of the Rorschach: do we have better hieroglyphics?

Schafer (1954) advanced the "Psychoanalytic Interpretation in Rorschach Testing" and asserted that thoughtful interpretation involved more than translating hieroglyphics or scores. In this book, he presented his thesis by describing four defensive styles (repression, denial, projective, and obsessive-compulsive) at various levels of severity of psychopathology. To investigate whether the Structural Summary data from Exner's (1986) Comprehensive System, with its improved reliability and validity and additional scores, allow one to make similar distinctions among the types of defense and severity of disturbance, we rescored the Schafer records. The results of this conservative test of Exner's system suggest that (a) the Comprehensive System reliably distinguishes the repressive style from the other styles, and (b) scores alone may provide adequate measures of severity of disturbance even with form quality excluded. We concluded that Rorschach scores must be understood as complex products of multiple psychological operations and may correspond to different subjective experiences in various contexts.     

Eye Movements and Fixations during Initial Viewing of Rorschach Cards

Abstract

Blum, Lucille H., Davidson, Helen H., and Fieldsteel, Nina D. A Rorschach Workbook. International Universities Press, New York, 1954, $2.00. Pp. 168. Reviewed by Leonard B. Olinger

Endara, Julio Psicodiagnóstico de Rorschach. Técnica General. Aplicaciones Clínicas. Investigations de Clínica Psicológica. (Rorschach Psychodiagnostics. General Technique. Clinical Applications. Clinical Psychological Investigations.) Quito, Ecuador: Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, 1954. 326pp. Reviewed by Marvin Spiegelman

Holsopple, James Quinter and Miale, Florence R. Sentence Completion: A Projective Method for the Study of Personality. Thomas, 1954, $5.50. Pp. xiii + 177. Reviewed by Leonard B. Olinger

Lowenfeld, Margaret The Lowenfeld Mosaic Test. London: Newman Neame Limited, 1954, 349 pp. plus 144 colored plates in separate container. Reviewed by Barbara Bowen

Schafer, Roy Psychoanalytic Interpretation in Rorschach Testing. New York: Grune and Stratton, 1954, 446 pp. + xiv. Reviewed by Mortimer M. Meyer     

A role-play Rorschach procedure.

Rorschach responses of three subjects were used to stimulate the type of role-playing popularized by Fritz Perls' Gestalt therapy. The standard Rorschachs were given first. Afterwards, each subject was presented with certain of his or her own images as a stimulus for the role-playing. The subjects consisted of a 19-year-old female with severe anxiety attacks, an 11-year-old lad diagnosed as having minimal cerebral dysfunction, and a 46-year-old man who had undergone two years of successful psychotherapy. It is proposed that the resulting data are valuable in expanding and clarifying the psychological meaning of the Rorschach images. Further, the procedure can be utilized, if desired, as a spur to therapeutic involvement.     

Prognostic validity of the Rorschach

Fifty adult stutterers entering therapy at the UCLA Psychology Clinic were administered the Rorschach, with a Klopfer method inquiry, scoring, form level rating, and calculation of scores on the Rorschach Prognostic Rating Scale (RPRS). On the basis of independent clinician ratings of attitudinal or psychotherapeutic improvement, subjects were divided into groups of Improved Most (n = 21) and Improved Least (n = 29). Subjects were also divided into Continued (n = 43) and Dropped (n = 7). Logistic regression was employed to compare groups on the following Rorschach dimensions: Prognostic Score (RPRS); Human Movement; Animal Movement; Inanimate Movement; Shading; Color; Form Level. The Improved Most group was significantly higher in M, FM, Shading, and Productivity. The finding that M and FM discriminates between improvement groups corroborates results obtained in a previous study (Sheehan et al., 1954). The Rorschach movement variables, particularly M and FM, seem to be stable indicators of capacity for improvement in psychotherapy.     

An Analysis of the Effect of the Test Situation upon the Rorschach Record: Formal Scoring Characteristics

Abstract

Andrew, Gwen; Hartwell, Samuel W.; Hutt, Max L.; and Walton, Ralph E. The Michigan Picture Test. Chicago: Science Research Associates, 1953. Reviewed by Edwin S. Shneidman, Ph.D.

Beck, Samuel J. The Six Schizophrenias: Reaction Patterns in Children and Adults. New York: The American Orthopsychiatric Association, Inc. 1954. Pp. x + 238. Reviewed by Mortimer M. Meyer.

Bellak, Leopold. The Thematic Apperception Test and the Children's Apperception Test in Clinical Use. New York: Grune and Stratton, 1954. pp. 282. $6.75. Reviewed by Edwin S. Shneidman, Ph.D.

Meehl, Paul E. Clinical versus statistical prediction. A theoretical analysis and a review of the evidence. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1954. Pp. x + 149. Reviewed by Kenneth B. Little

Rubinstein, Eli A., and Lorr, Maurice (Eds.). A Survey of Clinical Practice in Psychology. New York: International Universities Press, 1954, pp. 363. Reviewed by Ruth S. Tolman

Sarason, S. B. The Clinical Interaction: with special reference to the Rorschach. New York: Harper Brothers, 1954. Pp. X + 425. Reviewed by Mortimer M. Meyer

Ulett, George. Rorschach Introductory Manual: A Primer for the Clinical Psychiatric Worker; With Interpretative Diagram to Permit Clinical Use While Learning the Ink-blot Technique; Beverly Hills: Western Psychological Services, 1955; Price: $3.50. Reviewed by Walter G. Klopfer, Ph.D.     

A Simple Statistical Method for Psychology

Schafer, Roy. Psychoanalytic Interpretation in Rorschach Testing: Theory and Application. New York: Grune &; Stratton, 1954. Pp. 446. Reviewed by Richard H. Dana.     

Methodological issues in cross-cultural and multicultural rorschach research

Hermann Rorschach researched the utility of his inkblot experiment to understand psychopathology and cultural differences. Contemporary research with the Rorschach has evaluated its utility as a test, although it may more properly represent a clinical method with somewhat different evaluation criteria. Recent controversy regarding the adequacy of the Rorschach as a test and the adequacy of its normative data has at times distorted and oversimplified important methodological issues inherent in the study of cultural difference. Cultural processes remain a central and inadequately examined variable in Rorschach research; an important emergent area of inquiry is the Rorschach's clinical utility as a cross-cultural assessment instrument. We review multicultural and cross-cultural methodological issues intrinsic to contemporary Rorschach research here. Consideration of cultural issues enlarges and enriches the Rorschach clinical utility debate and suggests underexplored research strategies that can contribute to its resolution.     

Bruno Klopfer,A Measure of the Man and His Work: A Review of Developments in the Rorschach Technique: volumes I,II, and III

This article reviews Bruno Klopfer's life and his contributions to the Rorschach, especially as they are represented in his three volume series: Developments in the Rorschach Technique, volumes I, II, and III. It emphasizes Klopfer's many contributions to Rorschach administration and interpretation, as well as his superior teaching and organizational abilities. Klopfer organized what eventually became The Society for Personality Assessment and began the journal that eventually became the Journal of Personality Assessment. His legacy is reflected in much of Exner's system of administration and scoring.     

Misuse of Computer Software to Detect Faking on the Rorschach: A Reply to Kahn,Fox, and Rhode

Kahn, Fox, and Rhode (1988) made several errors in their article comparing human judgment versus computer scoring in detecting malingering in Rorschach protocols. The Rorschach interpretation software was designed to make hypotheses based solely on unusual findings among structural variables. It does not make diagnoses concerning psychosis nor is it designed to detect malingering. In claiming that the computer program made such diagnostic statements, Kahn and his associates were attributing to it capacities it does not have. Other problems with their study are discussed in areas of wrong application of Rorschach methodology and poor research design. Given that their study has so many flaws, their results and implications are not valid and can be misleading.     

A Practical Guide to the MMPI (Book)

The projective imagery, artwork, and behavior of an artistically trained psychiatric patient are presented 10 years after having committed a murder. The case is examined to see whether the Rorschach responses and the artist's choice of subject matter demonstrate the repetition compulsion familiarly associated with trauma. Additionally, does psychotherapy in which the crime is remembered serve as a stimulus to these other forms of repetition? Our case shows evidence of a continuing psychological struggle to express or deny his involvement in the murder, with phases of limited resolution.     

Research on the clinical usefulness of the Rorschach: 2. The assessment of cerebral dysfunction

A review of research on the use of the Rorschach in the assessment of cerebral dysfunction indicated that the Rorschachs of patients with cerebral dysfunction do not manifest any characteristic response in terms of percentages, ratios, or any unique response to any one of the stimulus determinants of the blots (color, shading, the stimulus for movement). The patient with cerebral dysfunction does manifest a unique style of thinking; responses tend to be concrete, perseverative, and stereotypic. This finding is similar to that found with schizophrenics where research, summarized by Frank in 1990, also indicated no uniquely 'objective' response style but reflected a unique cognitive style. These two reviews taken together suggest that the better way to use Rorschach data in clinical work is as an opportunity to assess patients' thinking as opposed to the Rorschach being used as a psychometric device, yielding 'numbers.'     

The analyst's Rorschach: gateway to opening the dialectical field

The author offers an account of his evolving relationship with the Rorschach test which for over 20 years as a private practice psychologist, he used in his clinical practice with the intent of mining patients’ psyches for useful information about personality organization and functioning . Coinciding with having found himself on the homestretch of analytic training and during a time when he desired clarity on how Rorschach assessment and Jungian analysis could fruitfully merge, there was an unexpected shift in emphasis wherein the Rorschach suddenly became a method for looking at himself as well. This challenge to identify and integrate aspects of self hitherto neglected was found to enrich his clinical practice. An historical perspective on this experience is offered which highlights the enigmatic relationship that existed between Carl Jung and Hermann Rorschach. The proverbial question of ‘What might this be?’ has been asked when administering the Rorschach for nearly a century. From an analytic perspective, the question is more fully and meaningfully asked when the person doing the asking has also been willing to step in, look around, and take notice of what happens.     

Searching for Projection in the Rorschach

The issue of assumptions concerning projection and the Rorschach is discussed in relation to the Rorschach response process and the process of projection. Some data suggest that some minus answers may evolve because of projection, but the limited nature of the findings indicate that these types of projected answers will be difficult to identify in most cases. Findings concerning passive and aggressive movement responses, morbid content responses, and movement answers, coded using a new special score for positive cooperative interaction (COP) in human and animal movement responses, suggest that most projections will manifest in responses that depart from and/or embellish the stimulus field. Caution is recommended about attempting to interpret single answers that appear to be projections, because most any might be the product of simple stimulus classification.     

A Review of Beck's The Rorschach Experiment: Ventures in Blind Diagnosis (1960)

Sam Beck's classic book The Rorschach Experiment: Ventures in Blind Diagnosis is reviewed. The review addresses important issues of blind interpretation, faithfulness to the Rorschach data, validation of interpretive postulates, theoretical and training biases, as well as the Experience Actual score. Beck's tracing his interpretive path through detailed notes to produce a living portrait of his subject is highlighted.     

Searching for projection in the Rorschach

The issue of assumptions concerning projection and the Rorschach is discussed in relation to the Rorschach response process and the process of projection. Some data suggest that some minus answers may evolve because of projection, but the limited nature of the findings indicate that these types of projected answers will be difficult to identify in most cases. Findings concerning passive and aggressive movement responses, morbid content responses, and movement answers, coded using a new special score for positive cooperative interaction (COP) in human and animal movement responses, suggest that most projections will manifest in responses that depart from and/or embellish the stimulus field. Caution is recommended about attempting to interpret single answers tht appear to be projections, because most any might be the product of simple stimulus classification.     

Psychological assessment of an artist and impostor

A Rorschach record and a narrative poem are examined to determine how imagination expresses the psychological trauma of being exposed as an impostor. The subject had been trained as a medical corpsman and deceived people under the grandiose fantasy of being a doctor. The role of the impostor physician is seen as an imaginative identity that was designed with an adaptive purpose. A Jungian analysis of his suicide attempt and the Rorschach suggest that the impostor role was a masculine compensatory fantasy that served as a counterforce to negative maternal imagery, linked to death, that is present in his imagination.     

Psychological Assessment of an Artist and Impostor

A Rorschach record and a narrative poem are examined to determine how imagination expresses the psychological trauma of being exposed as an impostor. The subject had been trained as a medical corpsman and deceived people under the grandiose fantasy of being a doctor. The role of the impostor physician is seen as an imaginative identity that was designed with an adaptive purpose. A Jungian analysis of his suicide attempt and the Rorschach suggest that the impostor role was a masculine compensatory fantasy that served as a counterforce to negative maternal imagery, linked to death, that is present in his imagination.     

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).     

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).     

The Loneliness Questionnaire–Short Version: An Evaluation of Reverse-Worded and Non-Reverse-Worded Items Via Item Response Theory

Two Rorschachs were inadvertently administered to the same client within a period of three months. Although the ensuing personality pictures were very similar, an important difference appeared. The first Rorschach report stopped with the client's present condition. The second report saw the protocol as an interim Rorschach, suggesting the possibility that positive changes could lie ahead, if the client were given the appropriate help. The point is made that unwittingly, examiners may do their clients harm by not thinking ahead, in a way which the Rorschach uniquely makes possible. The Rorschach record and graph are presented, along with the various evidences of potential change. In conclusion, a problem is raised concerning the obligation inherent in the examiner-client relationship.