More precisely, these are particular figures (ink blots) with an apparently meaningless shape used to perform the so-called Rorschach test, in order to investigate the personality of an individual.
The Rorschach stains are named after their creator, the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach who made them public in 1921 through the publication of his book "Psychodiagnostik".
The fields in which Rorschach's stains are used to carry out the aforementioned test range from psychology to psychiatry. Of course, to ensure the correct execution of the test, the stains should only be used by psychologists and psychiatrists specialized in this field.
Although the use of Rorschach's stains is still widespread in the clinical setting, the reliability of the test carried out with them is the subject of heated debates among supporters and skeptics.
Curiosity
The use of the interpretation of "ambiguous" images for the analysis of the personality of an individual is not a concept proposed by Rorschach, nor by his successors: in fact, this idea seems to go back even to Leonardo da Vinci.
and not to determine the personality of an individual as it happens today. In fact, the use of Rorschach's spots as a tool for carrying out a projective personality test only spread from 1939, that is to say seventeen years after the Swiss psychiatrist's death.
Did you know that ...
Apparently, the use of Rorschach's spots to carry out the analysis of the personality of an individual raised numerous doubts even in the Swiss doctor himself. Not surprisingly, Rorschach used his spots to diagnose schizophrenia in patients and not to investigate their personality.
However, after Rorschach's death, when the test began to be used for personality analysis, numerous psychologists and psychiatrists (such as, for example, John Exner, Bruno Klopfer and Samuel Beck) tried to improve the criteria used to interpret the test results, in order to make the personality analysis method as rigorous and reliable as possible.
of the patient and asks him to describe what he sees in the Rorschach stain on it. It is very important that the table is NOT placed on the desk; if this happens, the doctor must take it and return it to the subject's hands. Everything the patient says he sees in the tables shown to him is referred to, in medical jargon, by the term "production".
There is no time frame within which to give an answer, but the doctor is still required to take note of the time taken by the patient.
The operation must be repeated for all ten Rorschach spots.
Curiosity
In order to perform the Rorschach spot test, the patient should never have seen these figures in his life. In fact, the test is based on the instinctive response provided by the individual when he sees the spots for the first time; therefore, a previous visualization of them could compromise the validity of the same test. Not surprisingly, according to the directives of the American Psychological Association and of the National Order of Italian Psychologists, Rorschach's stains should not be disclosed, in such a way as to preserve the reliability of the test carried out with them, thus guaranteeing its clinical reliability.
The confidentiality of Rorschach's stains, however, was first broken several years ago - in 1983 - following the publication of the book "Big Secrets", written by William Poundstone.
Additional Evidence
After obtaining the answers for all ten Rorschach spots, the patient is subjected to additional tests, termed "picture gallery" and "seriation".
In the "art gallery" test, the ten images are shown again (one at a time) to the patient, who is asked to give a title to each of them, as if they were paintings exhibited in a picture gallery.
In the "seriation" test, on the other hand, the patient is asked to draw up a ranking of the images, starting from the one he liked the most, up to the one he liked least.
Investigation
During this phase, the examining physician will ask the patient for specific information about what he saw in the Rorschach spots. For example, the patient may be asked to indicate which part or detail of the stain gave rise to the production, as well as further details of what was seen (for example, if an animal was seen, which type of animal) and why it was seen.
For the entire duration of the test, the examiner is required to note ALL the actions performed and ALL the answers provided by the patient - even if they may seem trivial - as well as note the reaction had after seeing each spot (eg surprise. , anger, joy, fear, etc.) and the tendency to rotate the table to try to better understand what is represented on it.
Marking
The coding basically consists in the categorization of the answers given by the patient following the rules provided by standard protocols in line with the interpretative method chosen by the "examiner. In this regard, we remind you that over the years various methods have been developed that can be followed. to interpret the test results, with the aim of making it as reliable and objective as possible.
Among the different methods currently used, we remember:
- The Passi-Tognazzo method, also known as the Swiss-Italian method.
- The Exner method - also known as Rorschach Comprehensive System (RCS) - represents the standard method for interpreting the Rorschach test and is particularly popular in America.
- The Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS), a sort of "update" of the aforementioned Exner method, based on empirical data and - according to its supporters - easier to use.
- The Klopfer method, first presented in 1942, this method was very successful and spread rapidly.
These are complex methods that require great preparation on the part of the psychologist or psychiatrist who implements them.
General Computation of Data
In this phase, the examiner must create a summary scheme in which the test results must be reported in the form of ratios and indices.
Interpretation
The last phase of the test is given by the interpretation of the data, ratios and indices obtained from the previous phases, thanks to which it is possible to draw up a first profile of the personality of the patient subjected to the test with Rorschach's spots.
