Question

Discuss the administration and scoring in Rorschach Inkblot Test.

Answer 1

Rorschach ink-blot test is a projective psychological test. Projective techniques are used in psychology for assessment of personality. In this technique, the individual projects his or her unconscious wishes or desires on an ambiguous stimuli. These techniques are widely used in mental hospitals and clinics to assess personality and underlying psychopathology especially in cases where patients are reluctant to describe their thinking processes openly.
Rorschach Inkblot Test is done to assess the structure of personality of an individual that includes personality characteristics, emotional functioning.
History: Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach (1921) presented a systematic approach in regard to an ink-blot test. After Rorschach’s death, the original scoring system of the test was improved by Bruno Klopfer and others.

Test description and administration: There are 10 official inkblots, each printed on separate white cards, approximately 18 x 24 cm in size. Each of the ink-blots is bilaterally symmetrical. Five ink-blots are black, two are black and red and three are multi-coloured. The blots are completely unstructured, ambiguous and without any meaning.

The test is administered in the following sequence :
The cards are presented one at a time in a specified order. When the subject gets seated, the examiner gives him the first card with necessary instructions and asks him to say what he sees in it, what it looks like to him.

The subject is allowed as much time as he wants for a given card and is permitted to give as many responses as he wishes. He is also allowed to turn the card around and look at it from any angle he wants.

Besides keeping a record of the responses of the subject concerning these ink-blots on separate pieces of paper, the examiner notes the time taken for each response, the position in which the card is being held, emotional expression and other behaviors during the test.

After all the cards have been presented the second phase of inquiry which is intended to seek clarification or addition to the original responses follows.
Scoring, analysis and interpretation of the test:

The responses are scored in four categories :
Location refers to the part of the blot the testee focuses on. There can be five categories of responses. ‘W’ indicating the subject has seen the blot as a whole. ‘W’ indicating the subject has not seen the blot as a whole and concentrates on specific sections of the blot, ‘d’ indicating the subject focused on minor or less important components. ‘D’ indicating that the subject focuses on major significant details. ‘S’ indicating the subject response to white regions within the blot.

Contents refer to what the responses contain or the nature of the response. Some of the common contents are as follows :

1. Human forms are symbolized as H.
2. Animal forms are symbolized as A.
3. Animal details are symbolized as Ad.
4. Human details are symbolized as Hd.
5. Natural things such as river, meadows are symbolized as N.
6. Inanimate objects like lamp shade, pot are symbolized as O.

Originality refers either to popular (common occurrences) responses or original (which contains something new or is unusual) responses for each of the ten cards. Popular responses are shown as P and original responses are shown as O.

Determinants refer to how the blot is seen or perceived, i.e., it takes note of the manner of perception. The particular characteristics which helped the subject in deciphering the blot or deciding his manner of perception. The main determinants are- form of the blot shown as F, colour of the blot shown as C, perceived movement shown as M and shading of the blot shown as K.