A couple years back I learned how to score and interpret the Rorschach inkblot test. The end result is a document about 5-10 pages long with detailed psychometric information about intelligence, a wide scope of information about the personality, propensity for various psychopathological thought patterns and experiences, interpersonal dynamics, and even suicide risk! Rorschach started out as a psychoanalytical practice that wasn’t all that empirical, but evolved into the Exner system of scoring, which is very data-driven, objective, and empirically oriented. I use both the Exner system and the Basic system (original system by Hermann Rorschach) because I find the Basic system to be a quaint and interesting way of ascertaining non-psychopathological (i.e. “healthy”) characteristics like intelligence, artistic aptitude, mood at the time of taking the test, et cetera, whereas the Exner system is very clinical, objective, and more likely to consider thoughts, experiences, and personality traits as “psychopathologies.” So for the most reliable and comprehensive interpretation, I use both systems. I was recently re-doing my own after doing it for myself right after I was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2014, so here is my incomplete one so you can see what the results may look like:
I have calculated the results for probably about 40-50 different people throughout my life. There was a point where I asked everyone I knew to score their Rorschach, and I would do this every time I met a new person. I just find it interesting. A good amount of people are shocked at how accurate the results are, and most become really interested. I learned how to do it by finding and reading a bunch of scientific information about the systems, and then I talked to my therapist about it who gave me a bunch of advice on how to do it, while warning me not to diagnose people or offer medical advice, which I do think is very important when taking this test which should just be for fun if it’s not from a clinician. Contrary to popular perception, the method of interpretation is very objective and is so specific that it leaves little room for practitioner bias, and it is less about what you see and more about how you say it. It’s all about ratios and percentages of different types of responses.
Keep in mind that I am not in any way a mental health professional, so this is JUST FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL ENJOYMENT. Do not take anything to be a diagnosis or having any impact on your treatment! This is just for fun! I really enjoy doing this, even though it takes like 2-3 hours to complete just one. So expect responses to be slow and to come in over the next couple of days. But I have nothing to do in my life until I start school in the spring, and I’m a bit hypomanic and stimulated because of a new med, so I don’t mind the work!
I really believe in the empirical and psychometric value of the updated Rorschach system. I really dislike the MMPI-2 because of the bias of the questions and just the silliness of its presumptions about human nature, despite the fact that the MMPI-2 is regarded as the most “empirical” psychometric test. I have talked at length with psychologists about psychometric testing, and I have never seen a projective test that came close to as empirically valid or as functional and interesting as the Rorschach, and the other psychometric tests are usually multiple choice questionnaires which I see major problems with in terms of the limits of their application and validity. I also really dislike IQ tests because they are not good predictors for anything really, they fluctuate drastically, and are very limited in their ability to test intelligence, especially considering intelligence should probably be defined first in psychology before attempting to measure it. But the really awesome thing about the Rorschach is that it is proven to reliably measure intelligence roughly corresponding to IQ, but it is able to measure creative and emotional intelligence because of the abstract nature of the test. Another cool thing about the Basic system created by Dr. Rorschach is that it determines whether at the moment of taking the test a schizophrenic is suffering more from positive symptoms (specifically hallucinations, delusions, or paranoia), cognitive symptoms (or in severe cases disorganization), catatonic symptoms like psychomotor retardation or agitation, or whether they are mostly stable and just experiencing negative symptoms. The negative symptoms cluster is also used to test for prodromal schizophrenia. It tests also whether someone is experiencing unipolar depression, normal high mood, bipolar depression, or mania. The Basic system is my favorite part of doing the test, but it’s definitely not as scientifically reliable as the revised Exner system, although like I mentioned it gives some interesting information. I will probably post later some data on the reliability and validity of the revised, modern Rorschach inkblot test, but for now, I’ll try to get started on some of your responses.
Okay, so I will post the images in a separate post below. There are 10 inkblots. Since I am giving the test over the computer, I cannot record your speech, so it is important that you type out whatever comes to your mind, without editing it. You can give multiple answers for one inkblot. Please put all your answers in one post, as opposed to replying an answer for each image.
I will try to get this all done as soon as possible, and I will try to get to everybody, but depending on how many people are interested it may take a while. I will PM you a document with your comprehensive results so that no one else can see. And I would appreciate it if you told me how accurate it was.
Have fun!
