at this time, professionals saw projective techniques as having potential for understanding how thoughts and feelings formed a cognitive network. It was assumed that projective techniques would give a window into the thought processes of those with mental disorders and how they differ from the thought processes of healthy individuals.
Two of the most well-known projective techniques are the Rorschach inkblot and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). Both of these tests have a long history of use, although various researchers have been critical of the Rorschach and other projective techniques and suggest clinical situations in which these types of techniques are not useful (Garb, Wood, Lilienfeld, & Nezworski, 2005).
Rorschach Inkblots
During the early part of the 1900s, Herman Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist, experimented with using inkblots. The Rorschach inkblots were made by simply dripping ink on a piece of paper and then folding it in half to create a symmetrical design. Some of the inkblots were in black and white (see Figure 4.2), and others were in color (see Figure 4.3). He initially gave his inkblots to a large number of schoolchildren (Ellenberger, 1970). Rorschach was interested in the sensory processing of these images, which he connected with Carl Jung’s idea of introversion and extraversion.
Rorschach Inkblots: a projective test using inkblots; an individual’s interpretation of the ambiguous ink patterns is evaluated to identify patterns in underlying thoughts and feelings
Rorschach saw introversion as focusing on the inner world of kinesthetic images and creative activity. Extraversion, on the other hand, was a focus on color, emotion, and adjustment to reality. For Rorschach, the content of what was seen in the inkblot was less the focus of the interpretation than the elements used, such as whether the person saw whole images or focused on small details of the blot. Viewing the image as containing movement and the use of the colors was also seen as important. A limited number of 10 plates were selected, and Rorschach published a book on the subject in German, Psychodiagnostics, in 1921. He died some months later at age 37. His book was translated into English in 1942.
Figure 4.2 When You Look at This, What Do You See?
Following Rorschach’s death, various clinicians used the inkblot test in their clinical practice. For a number of years, there was little scientific data concerning the reliability and validity of the measure. Since the late twentieth century, there has been a movement to standardize the presentation of the test and the manner in which it is scored. Exner (1986, 2003) offered one such system. Various studies have examined the reliability and validity of the measure with specific diagnostic groups and theoretical constructs (Hunsley & Mash, 2007; Meyer, 2001; Meyer & Archer, 2001). In 2001, a special issue of the journal Psychological Assessment was devoted to clarifying the utility of the Rorschach along with its problems from an evidence-based position. In order to address questions of reliability and validity, a series of norms using the Exner system based on more than 5,800 people from 17 countries has been published (Meyer, Erdberg, & Shaffer, 2007). The Meyer et al. review showed consistency across samples for adult Rorschach responses but problems with data from children. Overall, the Rorschach and its scoring is a complicated process that continues to be the focus of scientific debate.
Figure 4.3 When You Look at This, What Do You See?
In order to respond to the problems of the Exner scoring system, professionals interested in the Rorschach created a simpler scoring system referred to as the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) (http://www.r-pas.org/Docs/Manual_Chapter_1.pdf). The basic idea was to create a scoring system with strong psychometric properties such as reliability and validity. The developers of the R-PAS state their goals as follows:
1 Selecting and highlighting those variables with the strongest empirical, clinical, and response process/behavioral representational support while eliminating those with insufficient support.
2 Comparing test takers’ scores to a large international reference sample, using a graphic array of percentiles and standard score equivalents.
3 Providing a simplified, uniform, and logical system of terminology, symbols, calculations, and data presentation in order to reduce redundancy and increase parsimony.
4 Describing the empirical basis and psychological rationale for each score that is to be interpreted.
5 Providing a statistical procedure to adjust for the overall complexity of the record and a graphical illustration of its impact on each variable.
6 Optimizing the number of responses given to the task in order to ensure an interpretable and meaningful protocol, while drastically reducing both the number of times the task needs to be readministered because of too few responses and the likelihood of inordinately long and taxing administrations because of too many responses.
7 Developing new and revised indices by applying contemporary statistical and computational approaches.
8 Offering access to a scoring program on a secure, encrypted web platform from any device that can interface with the Internet (e.g., PC, laptop, smartphone, tablet).
The R-PAS system was developed around 2006 and continues to be tested worldwide. An initial review and meta-analysis article was published in Psychological Bulletin, which described Rorschach variables with research support and those with little or no support (Mihura, Meyer, Dumitrascu, & Bombel, 2013).
Figure 4.4 What Is Happening in This Picture?
Source: Explorations in personality: A clinical and experimental study of fifty men of college age by Murray et al. (1938), “TAT drawing” p. 622. By permission of Oxford University Press, USA.
Other researchers have begun to use neuroscience techniques such as brain imaging and electrophysiology to understand physiological processes underlying Rorschach responses. For example, Giromini and his colleagues (Giromini, Porcelli, Viglione, Parolin, & Pineda, 2010) examined movement responses on the Rorschach and how these were reflected in the EEG.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is composed of 30 black-and-white drawings of various scenes and people (see Figure 4.4 for an example). The instrument was developed by Christiana Morgan and Henry Murray in the 1930s. Typically, an individual is shown 20 of the cards, one at a time, and asked to create a story about what is being depicted on the card. The basic idea is that by noting the content and emotionality of the individual’s responses, it is possible to gain insight into his or her thoughts, emotions, and motivations including areas of conflict. For example, if an individual described many of the cards in terms of someone leaving another person, the clinician might ask if abandonment was an important issue for the person. Although the TAT technique may be useful to gain additional information concerning a person such as suicidal thoughts, it lacks scientific evidence to make it useful in obtaining a formal diagnosis. Similar problems of reliability and validity exist with the TAT as with the Rorschach.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): a projective testing instrument composed of black-and-white drawings of various scenes and people; by evaluating
