Rorschach correlates of response to suggestion.

"The purpose of the present study was to discover Rorschach measures associated with change of autokinetic judgments under the influence of planted judgment given by a confederate, and to generalize about personality correlates of response to suggestion." Change of judgment was found to relate highly to the eleven Rorschach measures chosen. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rorschach water percepts: A study in conflicting results.

The hypothesis that the Rorschach protocols of alcoholics are "frequently overladen with percepts of water" is considered. Early research support of the hypothesis by the author was questioned by later research. Further research data are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis. "As the situation now rests, alcoholics perceive more water in Kentucky; in Massachusetts and in Washington they do not." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2JK07G. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of the Rorschach test as a diagnostic criterion.

In his American Psychologist article, Joseph Lerner (see record 1964-01189-001) kindly ascribed to me words which properly belong to Samuel J. Beck. Beck does refer to my Perceptanalysis (Piotrowski & Lewis, 1957), but not on the same page. His words express my past belief. At present my attitude is more complex. It changed after I checked some "blind" Rorschach diagnoses and clinical psychiatric diagnoses on the same patients (Piotrowski, 1950, p. 363), and read published reviews of the reliability and validity of clinical psychiatric diagnoses. These revealed that a considerable percentage of first admission patients, discharged as psychoneurotics, are rediagnosed as schizophrenics after a re-examination several years later. In fact, some schizophrenic conditions escape detection through clinical observations for as long as 10 years, despite intermittent clinical examinations. The Rorschach test definitely is highly sensitive to schizophrenia even though at times some remitted or much improved schizophrenics produce test records failing to give any indication of the psychosis, let alone of the past acute psychotic episodes Lerner stated that "the Rorschach alone is of little assistance unless it is an integral part of the total evaluation." Well, if the Rorschach is never used as an independent diagnostic criterion, we shall never know how good or bad a diagnostic criterion it is. Using it as a part source of information, is to contaminate it (that is why "blind" diagnoses are important). The second point is: It seems advisable to follow the rule that if clinical observations or the Rorschach test--or both--suggest schizophrenia, this diagnosis is likely to be valid. This rule is compatible with Lerner's conclusion that an evaluation based on all available sources of information is better than one which utilizes only one diagnostic criterion, be it test, anamnesis, or clinical examination. To be certain that the Rorschach test is a dependable diagnostic criterion in neuropsychiatry we must have first highly reliable diagnostic test procedures. A digital computer program of Rorschach interpretation, including numerous diagnostic formulae, has been written to achieve objective and perfectly reliable application of the diagnostic test rules to individual cases. The computer program will be submitted to a stringent test of validity. We shall then be in possession of a test which will yield independent and uncontaminated diagnoses. These, in turn, will be available for use independently or as part of a "total evaluation." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The generality of cognitive complexity in the perception of people and inkblots.

2 experimental hypotheses were tested: (1) Significant positive relationships exist between the complexity of S's perceptions of people and the complexity of their perceptions of inkblots relative to the determinants used; and (2) Significant positive relationships exist between the complexity of S's perceptions of people and their perceptions of inkblots relative to the context elicited. A measure of cognitive complexity was derived from a concept-formation sorting task originally devised by Kelly. A modified Rorschach technique was used to measure cognitive complexity in the non-personal stimulus realm. Ss consisted of 40 college males. Significant relationships in the predicted direction were found for both hypotheses. Of the various Rorschach determinant categories, only M correlated significantly with the measure of complexity of perceptions of others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frequency of the Rorschach human-movement response in Negro and White emotionally disturbed children.

The study was concerned with testing the following hypotheses: (a) Emotionally disturbed, young Negro children produce more human-movement (M) responses on the Rorschach than do comparable white children; (b) emotionally disturbed Negro children show a decrease in M production as they approach adolescence, whereas comparable white children increase M production as they approach adolescence. The Ss, 197 Negro and 196 white emotionally disturbed children 5-17 yr. were administered a standard test battery which included the Rorschach. Results corroborated the hypotheses for Negro males. In addition, a significant increase in M production among emotionally disturbed Negro males 7-9 yr. was found. Implications of the findings and specific suggestions for further research were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal phenomena in the Rorschachs of extremely feminine boys.

The Rorschachs of 14 feminine boys were intensively studied. Relative to the records of normal subjects, feminine boys displayed an inordinate investment in quasi-human at the expense of fully human responses. When percepts had individuals in interaction, the preponderance of these interactions were malevolent. Boundary disturbances, as indicated by lapses of thought organization, were commonplace. Females were frequently represented in idealized, stereotypical, or caricatured ways. Lastly, overt gender confusion was seen in single percepts of humans. It is proposed that these results provide evidence of severely disturbed internalized object representations. As such, boyhood femininity is inextricably linked to psychopathology and not a secondary consequence of peer rejection, as has been argued by others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A clinical-experimental approach to the study of subliminal stimulation: The effects of a drive-related stimulus upon Rorschach responses.

This was an investigation of the effects of a drive-related subliminal stimulus on subsequent Rorschach images. 60 male Ss were seen for an experimental and control session in a balanced design. Ss were divided into 5 groups on the basis of their recogniton thresholds for the drive-related stimulus and a neutral stimulus. For each group, different predictions were made as to how the subliminally presented drive stimulus would affect subsequent Rorschach performance. The results indicated: for the total group, there was a clearcut subliminal effect; the nature of this effect varied considerably among Ss with regard to the relative influence of drive-expressive and defensive reactions; the different ways Ss responded to the subliminal activation were systematically related to their threshold behavior. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Postdiction of the outcome of somatic therapy from the Rorschach records of schizophrenic patients.

The Rorschach protocols of 60 schizophrenic patients previously hospitalized were presented to 3 psychologists with the instructions to differentiate the 30 patients who had improved from the 30 who had not. The 4 factors of Conflict, Control, Flexibility, and Strength of Drive were selected and defined by the investigators together with the psychologists. Each patient was rated on a 5-point scale with the content analysis approach used primarily. The accuracy of all 3 psychologists in differentiating between the 2 groups of patients on all 4 of the factors was found to be significant beyond the .01% level of confidence according to the chisquare values obtained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of test order upon Rorschach human content.

A projective battery was administered to 22 graduate theological students. One group received the Rorschach first followed by the TAT and the DAP. The other group was administered 9 TAT cards and 2 DAP drawings first after which they took the Rorschach. Both groups were matched on the variables of sex, age, IQ, R, and examiner. The group receiving the Rorschach last produced significantly more human content than the group receiving the Rorschach 1st. These findings, if independently confirmed, would indicate that, although previously overlooked, test order may be an important factor in modifying certain projective test scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)