The Rorschach Technique - Essay Example

The Rorschach Inkblot Test Abstract The Rorschach inkblot test also known as the Rorschach technique is a psychological test whereby the perception of the inkblots are recorded and examined using the interpretation of the psychology and algorithm. It’s mostly used by psychologist to test the individual personal traits and emotional operation. It’s also used to test the availability of mental problems and disorders. The technique has been criticized over the years due to its limited validity, reliability, normality, and depedendability. Despite the critics about their credibility, the Rorschach has proved its reliability and credibility when the users are well trained and the correct procedure for testing is followed. It has shown its validity mostly in areas of personality and motivation buts it’s yet to prove its credibility on the recognition of psychiatric disorders. The Rorschach Inkblot test Introduction According to Sherman (2010) there are varieties personality assessment procedures and techniques available and the selection of the most valid technique depends on the techniques structures and contents. There are certain psychological tests which are highly structured with well designed and defined questions which expect specific response while others are less structured and informal and are open for free flowing response(Sherman, 2010). These entire tests are aimed at uncovering and understanding the complexity of personality for better internalization of an individual. Davis (2010) observed that, despite the increasing critics of the Rorschach inkblot test, the technique has continuously been used by professional in the modern complementary world. Most psychologists who have continuously used the technique have confirmed that, the Rorschach inkblot test is among the most preferred techniques with the most accurate results (Davis, 2010). The research below focuses on the validity, reliability, norms of the Rorschach inkblot in testing for the individual personality, emotions and mental disorders According to Benjamin (2005), the Rorschach inkblot testing was invented in 1921 by a psychologist known as Herman Rorschach. The Rorschach idea was motivated by a German doctor by the name Justine Kerner in 1857 who published a poem book which was motivated by an accidental inkblot. In 1921, Herman Rorschach wrote a book which was the guideline to the Rorschach inkblot testing process. He wrote the book after conducting the Rorschach inkblot experiment with several mental patients (Benjamin, 2005). In the same year, he (Rorschach) fully established the Rorschach inkblot method of testing. The Rorschach inkblot is used for several purposes in the psychology sector as it’s used in testing and assessing the individual personality, collect the individual information on thought process, assessing the individual perception and collecting individual information about interpersonal functioning. The individuals under test have the time to express their self unconscious feelings and the unexpressed personality (Benjamin, 2005). Bornstein (2007) stated that, in 1950s and early 1960s, the technology was condemned because it lacked well defined and standardized procedures and well detailed norms. Some of the psychologist in this time adopted the technology for scoring the assessment while those who were criticizing the procedure emerged with their own new technologies (Bornstein, 2007). The introduction of variety methods of testing for the personality traits among psychologist led to the emergence of rules and regulations for controlling the delivery of the test. There was also provision of norms which regulated the test for both men and women (Benjamin, 2005). Rosen (1951) observed that in the testing process, the examiner and the subject (the tested) sit next to each other in a table in which the examiner is expected to stay slightly behind the examined to facilitate comfort and regulated the atmosphere. The Rorschach contains ten inkblots each printed on a specific white card. Five among them constitutes black ink, the other two have blank and red ink and the last three have multiple colors with a white background. After the respondent have seen and reacted to all the available inkblots, the examiner bring them back to the respondent once again this time one at a time. The respondent is then asked to confirm whether what is in the inkblot is what he/she has previously seen and explain why it’s like that (Rosen, 1951). The examined is requested to hold the card and rotate. The factors which surround the rotating of the card entail assessing whether the examined will borrow permission to rotate the card an element which is very important in examining the personality traits of the examined. The psychologist is expected to be writing down all the revelation information as the respondent examines those inkblots (Bornstein, 2007). These include writing in details all what the examined is saying and doing including the most nonsense utterance. The analysis of the respondent is recorded by the examiner using the scoring sheet and tabulation and if necessary the use of location chart is also important. The main purpose of the test is to avail data of the personality and cognition variables which includes; the response manner, how the cognition is functioning and the general perception (Bornstein, 2007). The Rorschach norms According to Wood and Howard (2006) the Rorschach examiners always have normative information to the people they serve as well as having well research prevalence record of the mental problem outcome in their areas of jurisdiction. The prior and well detailed knowledge on the community behavior and norms makes the Rorschach testing method one of the most normative processes. The values and beliefs which are held dear by the society are always respected in testing for personality traits. On the other hand, the professionals in the area have some norm which regulates their operation (Meyer and Fin, 2008). Most of them (norms) were introduced by the Rorschach test founder. There are some etiquette which is very fundamental in the testing process and the manner of handling the clients. The norms in the Rorschach inkblot keep it (the Rorschach inkblot testing) at an advantage over the other modern methods. However, some psychologists have criticized the norm upheld by the Rorschach examiners as outdated. They claims that some of these norms were created long time ago and they are not in line with the modern technology (Meyer and Fin, 2008). The critics also condemn the Rorschach test for relying on only small portion of the population as compared to other norms of well established instruments and technologies. The norms applicable in the Rorschach inkblot test were collected from a small portion of the total population therefore they do not represent the entire society’s norms. According to Lilienfeld (1999), this is quite different to other forms of testing technology that have a well representing sample. The method is also condemned for making the children and adult appear to be maladjusted (Lilienfeld, 1999). The critics stated that, the norms upheld by the Rorschach method of testing have errors in both adults and children examination. Testing using this method portray children and adults as having problem in maladjustment. When the same person are tested using other modern techniques of testing the result are in most cases different. On the other hand, the critic states that the norm held by the Rorschach in the clinical setting are harmful to the client a thing which is against the ethical standards of the psychologist and against the modern professional standards for patient who undergoes testing (Wood and Howard, 2006). The Rorschach Reliability The tests which are open ended require subjective scoring (Hines, 2009). The subjectivity reduces the consistency among different raters in the test commonly known as inter-raters reliability. The Rorschach inter-rater reliability is always complicated by various scoring categories (Hines, 2009). There is always a problem in inter-raters reliability for untrained and half backed examiners. There is also need for test-retest reliability in the Rorschach inkblot testing. The test retest reliability is the ability to test a trait that is expected to be stable over time (Hines, 2009). The reliability of the Rorschach is also thought to be influenced by the testing details such as setting arrangement, the introductory remarks, verbal and non verbal remarks as well as the manner in which the examiner is asking. The general environment in the testing process can affect the outcome of the test. To enhance quality results, there is need for continuous retesting (Wagner, 2011). Validity Guarnaccia, Sabatino and Southwick (2001) stated that Rorschach is a common form of personality testing for among psychologist. The popularity of this form of testing has been enhanced by its unstructured nature of questioning and its ambiguity which help in production of data which cannot be produced by self report techniques. Most of the self report measures are structured such that they restrict the answers to the specific question. The open ended question as well as informal form of intervention gives room for collection of huge number of data which is required in examining the personality characteristic of a person. The Rorschach was also studied by many scholars between 1974 and 1994 to test its validity (Frank, 2009). The frequent studies conducted on this testing area helped in making frequent adjustment to the Rorschach inkblot testing process which is equivalent to enhancing the process validity. The Meta analytic studies have confirmed that, the validity coefficient for the Rorschach testing is almost the same with the set coefficient rate for personality disorders the Rorschach has a mean effect size of 0.26 which is almost similar to the set mean of 0.37 (Frank, 2009). It is therefore clear that, much of the critics were available before intensive study had been conducted on the field. Despite its effectiveness and popularity, the Rorschach is not the best method of testing psychiatric disorder (Davis, 2010). Although they detect some rare mental disorders such as bipolar disorders and schizophrenia disorder, they do not detect other common mental disorders such as anxiety disorders, depression and psychopathic personality. The testing process inability to detect the common mental disorders reduces its validity level. On the other hand, the norms which are used to differentiate mental good health and mental problem are not properly expounded by the Rorschach inkblot testing process. It is also evident that, the Rorschach inkblot tests do not detect the mental disorders and other personality’s disorders among children (Davis, 2010). Administration, Scoring, and Interpretation The Rorschach inkblot test have very simple and up to standard administration procedure (Coleman, 2008). The procedure applies the same for both the children and the adult. On the other hand, children and adult have the same scoring rules. Additionally, the administration procedure and scoring rules have no difference between the female and male gender. The data produced by the Rorschach inkblot about the cognitive and emotional variables are easily analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively (Coleman, 2008). The analysis of the data both qualitative and quantitatively help in bringing out the physical and psychological picture of the patient. The data are easily analyzed, explained and interpreted from variety theoretical perspective. The ability to analyze and explain the data collected serves as a facilitating factor toward getting the real cause of the available psychological problem as well as coming up with concrete and comprehensive mitigation measures (Coleman, 2008). Furthermore, the test can be used together with other psychological test as the Rorschach inkblot test uses the same language used by other psychological testing methods. Contrary to the above, the data collected are very difficult to be explained and analyzed by common person and therefore advance training is required to enhance interpretation of the collected data (Benjamin, 2005). Most personnel in this field are not fully trained as per the requirement of the testing process which is tantamount to poor analyses and interpretation of the collected data. Nevertheless, it’s evident that, interpretation is not adequately taught in the entire Rorschach training program. The examiners also need to be well grounded with the Rorschach research procedure. (Coleman, 2008). Problem of Rorschach The Rorschach inkblot test is always faced with various limitations which required thorough rectification. The testing process problem ranges from the most simple and common problem to the most immense and severe problem (Benjamin, 2005). The Rorschach process have always been curtsied by many scholar in the field of psychology and psychiatry for being outdated and with old school ideologies which are not relevant in the modern dynamic society. There are not researches which are done in the modern days on this field to enhance it competent and instead the psychologist and psychiatrist are coming up with modern inventions. Additionally, the technology is faced with the problem of incompetency among the workers. Most of the psychologists who use this method are not well acquitted with the analysis of data. Lack of the required knowledge threatens the presence of wrong diagnosis which leads to inaccurate treatment (Davis, 2010). The Rorschach is also threatened by other modern means and methods of diagnosis for mental disorder. The Rorschach started long time ago hence it holds some of the native methods which are not relevant in the modern times. The modern methods of testing for mental disorder are technologically and clinically oriented with the very high accuracy as compared to the Rorschach inkblot test (Davis, 2010). Theoretical Perspectives Psychologists have come up with well distinctive differences between the Rorschach inkblot test which is a method of collecting data and the theories of personality which are used to analyze, define and explain the data collected (Frank, 2009). According to them (the psychologist), the Rorschach inkblot is a method of coming up with data which are used for analyzing and describing personality functionality. The data collected can be explained using several theoretical perspectives but the theories cannot explain the usefulness of the Rorschach inkblot testing methods (Frank, 2009). They further observe that, the Rorschach is not dependant on any theory and it’s valid on its own. Nevertheless, in a psychological approach, theories and methods are always intertwined and there is always a relationship between a method and a theoretical perspective. Psychoanalytic theorist and examiners argues that, without the theoretical perspective, the Rorschach inkblot will be useless and clinically irrelevant (Quirk, Edberg, Crosier and Steinfeld, 2007). The Relationship between the Psychoanalytic Theory and the Rorschach Inkblot Test The psychoanalytic theory is not a fully integrated theory of personality but it has several complementary sub models with well defined concept for understanding the different personality dimension and personality growth and development (Quirk, Edberg, Crosier and Steinfeld, 2007). Therefore, the theory should be approached with regard of the theory purpose to the Rorschach test. Some of the common sub model in this theory entails; structural theory, drive theory, objects relation theory as well as self psychology theory. The function of psychoanalytic theory to the Rorschach testing includes organization of data that are complicated and do not follow well understood consistency. The organization of data is important to facilitate analysis. The psychoanalytic theory also helps in arranging the required materials in Rorschach inkblot testing. The theory is relevant in integrating the separated and less related data to enhance analysis. The clarification purposes of the theory to the Rorschach inkblot test entails filling gap in the data in a more consistence manner. Finally, the theory ensures there is proper prediction of the patient behavior which is the main method of data analysis in Rorschach inkblot. Conclusion The Rorschach inkblot is a psychological testing. It has a long history in the psychological field and it forms the reference for the modern high tech method of psychological analysis. The testing technique (Rorschach) requires credit for enriching the psychology and psychiatry fields. Although it is faced with several weaknesses on its validity and reliability, it has a recognizable level of validity and reliability. The weak areas need improvement to be in line with the modern technologies. To enhance the technology validity and reliability, the incorporation of the modern information technology is inevitable. There is also need for rectification on the training curriculum to bridge the knowledge gap between the modern technology and the Rorschach inkblot test. The inclusion of the clinical skills is also important in the testing process. The core aim of inclusion of the clinical skills is to increase the capacity of the technologies in unlocking and recognizing the clinically related psychological problems. Therefore, some of the critics of the Rorschach inkblot test are valid while others are wanting. References Benjamin, L. (2005). A history of Clinical Psychology as a profession in America (and a glimpse at its future). Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 1-30. Bornstein, R., (2007). Construct validity of the Rorschach oral dependency scale: 1995-2995. Psychological assessment, 8,200-205. Coleman, M. (2008). Thought disorder, perceptional aberration and schizotypy. Journals of Abnormal Psychology. Davis, H. (2010). Judgments of intellectual levels from various features of the Rorschach including vocabulary. Journals of Projective Techniques, 25, 155-157. Frank, G. (2009). Research on the clinical usefulness of the Rorschach: I. the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 71, 573-578. Guarnaccia, V., Dill, C. A., Sabatino, S and Southwick, S. (2001). Scoring accuracy using the comprehensive system for the Rorschach. Journal of Personality Assessment, 77:3, 464- 474. Database: EBSCO host Academic Search Complete. Sherman, M. (2010). A computation of formal and content factors in the diagnostic of schizophrenia. Genetic psychology monographs, 46, 183-340 Wagner, E. (2011). A Rorschach index for screening thought disorder. Journals of clinical psychology, 54,719-762 Wood, J. (2010). Three factors of the comprehensive system for the Rorschach and their relationship to Wechsler IQ scores in an adolescent sample. Assessment, 10, 259-265 Wood, J and Howard, N. (2006). Problem with norm of comprehensive system for the Rorschach: Methodological and conceptual consideration. Clinical psychology: science and practice, 8,397-402. Hines, T. (2009) A clear, sharp view of the fuzzy inkblot test The Skeptical Inquirer, Sep/Oct 2009, 27:5, 53-56. Database: Pro Quest Central Lilienfeld, S. O. (1999). Projective measures of personality and psychopathology: How well do they work? The Skeptical Inquirer, Sep/Oct 1999, 23:5, 32-39. Database: Pro Quest Meyer, G and Finn, S. (2008). Benefits and cost of psychological assessment in healthcare delivery. Report of the board of professional affairs psychological assessment work group, part 1 Rosen, E. (1951). Symbolic meanings in the Rorschach cards: a statistical study. Quirk, M. P., Edberg, P., Crosier, M., & Steinfeld, B. (2007). Personality assessment in today's health care environment: therapeutic alliance and patient satisfaction. Journal of Personality Assessment, 89:2, 95-104. EBSCOhost: Academic Search Complete. Read More