Rorschach Inkblot Test
February 18, 2013
Michelle McGuire, Psy. D.

University of Phoenix

Rorschach Inkblot Test Tin flexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment (Hannig, 2006)." The actual diagnosis of a personality disorders is complicated because the affected individual rarely seeks help. This would have to involve the person suffering from a disorder to be in serious trouble or until their families, or in some cases; the law mandates treatment. People with personality disorders do not believe they have a disorder or have not come to terms with the disorder they believe others are at fault. Diagnosis of a personality disorder depends in part on the individuals’ age. Although personality disorders originate during the childhood years, they may not be diagnosed until adulthood. Some patients, in fact, are not diagnosed until later in life because their symptoms had been modified. Personality tests attempt to measure ones basic personality style and are most used in research or forensic settings to help with clinical diagnoses, two of the most well-known personality tests are the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Rorschach “inkblot test” (Richmond, 2008). Researchers were motivated to uncover unconscious aspects of the psyche, so they devised what is known as projective tests.
According to Britannica Online Encyclopedia (2012), a projective test is defined as an examination that commonly employs ambiguous stimuli, notably inkblots and enigmatic pictures to evoke responses that may reveal facets of the subject's personality by projection of internal attitudes, traits, and behavior patterns upon the external stimuli. Projective tests ask individuals to respond to stimulus such as a word, an incomplete sentence, an unclear picture or an inkblot. These tests are based on the assumption that if a stimulus is vague enough to hold different interpretations, then people will use it to project their needs, wishes or fears. The most popular of these tests is the Rorschach Inkblot Test, which consists of 10 inkblots.
The Rorschach test commonly referred to as the inkblot test is a projective personality assessment based on the test taker's reactions to a series of 10 inkblot pictures (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, 2007). The Rorschach test originally created in 1921, by Hermann Rorschach, was modified and improved after his death. This technique is the second most commonly used projective test after the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The Rorschach is used to help assess personality structure and identify emotional problems and mental disorders. This test is most commonly used with adolescents and adults but can be used with children as young as three years old. The Rorschach technique is used to elicit information about the structure and dynamics of an individual's personality functioning; it provides information about a person's thought processes, perceptions, motivations, and attitude toward his or her illogical or psychotic thought patterns (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, 2007).
The Rorschach technique is administered using 10 cards, each containing a complicated inkblot pattern, five in black and gray, two in black and red, and three in various pastel colors (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, 2007). After all cards have been viewed the examiner goes over the responses. There are no correct responses to a card, but there are common responses to some of the cards. There is some disagreement concerning the reliability, validity, and clinical utility of the test and its scoring systems especially for subjects who are resilient. In response to the criticisms in validity scoring methods have been devised which aim at providing greater objectivity by clearly specifying certain personality variables and relating them to clinical diagnoses (Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2007). Diagnosis for clinical disorders should not be based solely on the Rorschach test. Interpretation of responses is highly dependent on an examiner's individual judgment: two different testers may interpret the same responses quite differently (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, 2007).
It is important to keep in mind, however, that many patients who meet criteria for one personality disorder also meet criteria for one or more additional personality disorders. Therefore, clinicians may need to develop their own creative combinations of treatments for a patient with aspects of more than one personality disorder. There are no tests that can provide a definitive diagnosis of personality disorder. Personality disorders typically involve distortions of the person's mind and the way they view themselves or others.