Rorschach Inkblots Test

Scoring the Rorschach test is a demanding task. Inevitably, due to its "literary" nature, there is no uniform, automated scoring system.

Methodologically, the scorer notes four items for each card:

I. Location - Which parts of the inkblot were singled out or emphasized in the subject's responses. Did the patient refer to the whole blot, a detail (if so, was it a common or an unusual detail), or the white space.

II. Determinant - Does the blot resemble what the patient saw in it? Which parts of the blot correspond to the subject's visual fantasy and narrative? Is it the blot's form, movement, color, texture, dimensionality, shading, or symmetrical pairing?

III. Content - Which of Exner's 27 content categories was selected by the patient (human figure, animal detail, blood, fire, sex, X-ray, and so on)?

IV. Popularity - The patient's responses are compared to the overall distribution of answers among people tested hitherto. Statistically, certain cards are linked to specific images and plots. For example: card I often provokes associations of bats or butterflies. The sixth most popular response to card IV is "animal skin or human figure dressed in fur" and so on.

V. Organizational Activity - How coherent and organized is the patient's narrative and how well does s/he link the various images together?

VI. Form Quality - How well does the patient's "percept" fit with the blot? There are four grades from superior (+) through ordinary (0) and weak (w) to minus (-). Exner defined minus as:

"(T)he distorted, arbitrary, unrealistic use of form as related to the content offered, where an answer is imposed on the blot area with total, or near total, disregard for the structure of the area."

The interpretation of the test relies on both the scores obtained and on what we know about mental health disorders. The test teaches the skilled diagnostician how the subject processes information and what is the structure and content of his internal world. These provide meaningful insights into the patient's defenses, reality test, intelligence, fantasy life, and psychosexual make-up.

Still, the Rorschach test is highly subjective and depends inordinately on the skills and training of the diagnostician. It, therefore, cannot be used to reliably diagnose patients. It merely draws attention to the patients' defenses and personal style.

Sam Vaknin ( samvak.tripod.com ) is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He served as a columnist for Central Europe Review, Global Politician, PopMatters, eBookWeb , and Bellaonline, and as a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent. He was the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101. Visit Sam's Web site at samvak.tripod.com

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