The Significance of the Rorschach Method for Consulting Psychology

Abstract

A round-table discussion of the Rorschach test was held at Albany, New York, on May 8, 1937, in connection with the eighth annual meeting of the Association of Consulting Psychologists. There were 32 persons present at this conference with Dr. Bruno Klopfer, of Teachers College, Columbia University, presiding. Dr. Klopfer opened the discussion with a brief survey of the development of the Rorschach method. He presented figures to show the growth of the Rorschach Research Exchange which started with 14 subscribers in the Summer of 1936 and has now reached a total of more than one hundred subscribers in the United States and Europe. He then introduced the various speakers.     

Analysis of Christian Character Curricula: Development of Holy Nation Citizens

From an initial sample of fifteen Christian character development curricula, ten were selected for more in-depth analysis. Three were eventually chosen as exemplary models of curricula that promote Sermon on the Mount qualities, considered as the ultimate expression of holy nation citizenship expectations.     

Changes in meaning in life across the course of psychodynamic psychotherapy

Using the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), we studied Presence and Search for meaning for 34 adult clients in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Clients completed the MLQ and Outcome Questionnaire (OQ) before intake and after every eight sessions. Variance in Presence scores was mostly attributable to clients; variance in Search scores was mostly attributable to clients and therapists. Clients initially high in Presence decreased and then increased back to initial levels; clients initially low in Presence increased and then decreased back to initial levels. Clients initially low in Search increased and then leveled off; clients initially high in Search decreased and then leveled off. In lagged cross panel analyses, when clients decreased in psychological distress during one eight-week time period, they increased in Presence during the next eight-week time period; when they increased in psychological distress during one eight-week time period, they increased in search in the next time period. Excerpts from post-therapy interviews illustrate the process of working with meaning in life in psychotherapy. Implications for practice and training are discussed.     

A survey of referral problems in 59 Ohio school districts

Feedback for the school psychologist is vital to construct and maintain remedial or preventative programs in the public schools. This study was undertaken to see if referral data would be useful as a source of such information.

Referral forms were solicited from school psychologists in 59 Ohio school districts and an analysis was made of their contents. The data obtained indicates that referral information can be used to provide school psychologists clues pertaining to referral procedures and the types of children and problems referred.

Specifically, this study indicates a greater need in the area of communication among pupil personnel workers. Further, it indicates that the psychologist in the school deals largely with problems of an academic nature thus offering a direction for in-service programming. Finally, the data reveals an interesting trend in the area of mental health which could possibly be an area of fruitful research.     

Validity of two measures of anxiety in children

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAICj and the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS) were administered to 60 emotionally disturbed children and 60 normal children matched on mental age. Emotionally disturbed children obtained significantly higher scores on the A-State and A-Trait portions of the STAIC and the anxiety portion of the CMAS, while normal children obtained significantly higher scores on the Lie scale of the CMAS. Cutoff scores which maximized the discrimination between normal and emotionally disturbed children were established. Results are interpreted as demonstrating the potential usefulness of these measures for screening.     

Empathy and socialization in first and repeat juvenile offenders and normals

The present study examined empathy and socialization in delinquent and non-delinquent juveniles. From 32 first offenders, 16 repeat offenders, and 19 normals who were administered Hogan's empathy scale and the socialization scale of the California Psychological Inventory, groups of 16 subjects matched on age and race were compared. Results indicated that the three groups did not differ on empathy but that each of the three groups differed on socialization. Results are discussed in terms of potentially identifying recidivists and the efficacy of therapist-trained empathy.     

Why Boys will be boys and girls will be girls: Understanding colloquial tautologies

What do tautological phrases such asBoys will be boys, A promise is a promise, or War is war mean and how are they understood? These phrases literally appear to be uninformative, yet speakers frequently use such expressions in conversation and listeners have little difficulty comprehending them. Understanding nominal tautologies requires that listeners/readers infer the speaker's attitude toward the noun phrase (e.g.,boys) mentioned in the sentence. The purpose of the present studies was to investigate the role of context, syntactic form, and lexical content in the interpretation of nominal tuatologies. Two studies are reported in which subjects rated the acceptability of different tautological constructions either alone (Experiment 1) or with supporting contextual information (Experiment 2). The results of these studies provide evidence that colloquial tautologies can be interpreted differently in different contexts, but that there are important regularities in the syntactic form and lexical content of these phrases which influence how they are understood. Our findings highlight the importance of speakers/listeners' stereotypical understanding of people, activities, and concrete objects in the use and understanding of different tautological expressions. The implications of this research for psycholinguistic theories of conversational inference and indirect language use are discussed.