Pmpete mbrtue

projective techniques is thaf while responding to an unstrucilured situatirn, an individul proycts

11 his own feelings, needs, emotions, motives, et., which are menily latent ard u i
without being aware of doing so. Since the individual is not awäre dd these revelations, he doeset
resort to any defensive reactions. Thusina projective test the indivichual has ample opportunityo
PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES project his own personality aftributes that are motly latent and uneonsciaus n he inderpretafion
of an unstructured situation. Such latent and concealed experiences are generally inr apahle of
exposure by the questionnaire type of test.
aHAPTER PREVIEW Projective tests differ from the self-report inmventories and ohervational method of anueing
Meaning and 7ypes of Projecthve Techniques personality. Selt-report iventories provide a direct and snucred sitiation in nsening the tris
for
Csfication of Projctve Techniqucs of personality whereas the projective tests provide an indirect and unsinuctured situation
assessing these traits. In self-repon inventories atlention s focuserd upron he
meawurenent o
Pitonal Techniques the measurement of
traits, that is, upon individually, whereas projective tesis are
traits
personality
by the global approach to the assessment of personaity, that is, n the projectve
The Rorschach Tes characterized
measurement of personality, as a whole. Projective teas
ae
nepreation of the Ronschach Praocol tests altention is focused upon the
observational methods, which are primarily dependent upon the fat
tha
also different from the
.The Holaman Inkblot tes observed in detail and he must repot the observation
the observer must know the person being
and the individual, n a geater extert.
Thematk Apperceptian Tes, orTAT without any bias. Projective tests require no such observer
Derivatives of TAT an objective report of his observation
of an unstructured situation.
gives
Verbal Tecmiques
Wod-Associatton Tes CLASSIFICATION OF PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES
and difleren psychologsts have
Sentence-Completion Tes There are different types of projective techniques,
The earliest classification of projective techniques was
classified them into diferent categories.
Exgpresive Techniques His clasification is
af
mainly based upon the nature response evwoked by
Fgure-Deawing Tosts
done by Frank (1939).
the materials of projective lechniques. below
Toy Tess into five categores as gren
On this basis, he classified projective techniques
Aststc Productions
Constitutive
Graphology those test situations in which the examinee constindes
a rames

duation of Projective This category includes all and drawng coampletien

Techniques structures upon materias,
which are yet unstructured. Finger-painting
Rorschach tes alo alk
Fakabilitry to Zubin, Eron and Schumer (1965) the
are its best examples.
According strucaure upen unsanuctured
extty sense that here the
examinee imposes his own
in this category in the
arduztion inkblot situations.

Constructive mcludes al
wsldey
Stuational Varable The constnuctive category, though apparently
similar to the constitutive aegory
to construct a speciied
ask He s equiredto
situations where the
examinee is fequired by the e u m n e s The
Genera Applicability those test
situation in the direction specihed
degree of structure upon the this would be included
in
impose a or female and
be asked to draw a figure of a human male to the
examinee may
intheconstitutive categury wheredrawng accordingallow
EANING AND TVPES OF PaOECTIVE theconstructive category rather than category test
a
situabors

Prodive chnigues which oniginated in a TECHINIQUES

the constihutive
own wish or
desire is done. Thus, in category test
situations
examinee's whereas in the constructive

examiners inclination
personalny The history oad projective assessmend dinical setting are the indirect measures o iree expression of the
goes beck to the 14005 when Leonardo da do nol give such permission.
sid to have seleced puplls on the
basis of heir atlempt to find Vino
boS lomn Piouowski, 1972). Galhon constructed shapes and patems Interpretative s equired adu i
a word-association test in where the examinee

ngalo used samilar tests for clinical 1879. Cn This category includes
all those test siluations lest ior TAD and the
Word
evolved nlo projective tests. In taca, purposes. These inlomal projective techniques graouly situation. The
Thematic Apperception
frank (1939, 1948) had comprehensive meaning to the
method tor describinga category introduced the term projecn Test are included
under ths calegory.
propecive lests the ndivedual s gventestsanlor siudying personality widh unstructured stimul
Association

unstruclured situation we mean a siluation unstrucured situation to which he responds. By which the examinee s gven as
Refractive through
indivadual to individual. Such siuatbons have whose neaning and interpretation vary Under this category are included all those techniques
oi painting, drawing
handwriting et

evakung tantasy materal irom the testees no right a wiong answers and are his personality
in the torm
of tha calegor
Capui
(Lindzey, 1961). The most important assumption o
oppotunity to express
has been cited by
Frank as the bei eumple
Graphology lor handwriting)
 Methods in Bebanoural Scknces Pme tte Tecbnues 201
200 Tesk AMeasurements and Researcb

Expressive Techniques
Cathartic through includes those situations where the examinee
This category includes those situations whereby the examinee is given an opportunityare cited as its
This technique expresses his personality through
tasks for the release of his conflict, wish, etc. Play techniques some manipulative tasks, which usually involve some interaction with given materials. Play,
some manipulative
best example. drawing, role-playing. painting. finger painting, etc., are the common expressive techniques.
it can be said that his classification solves less and One impotant feature of expressive techniques is that the examiner pays much attention to the
In fair evaluation of Frank's classification,
creates more problems. One of the biggest limitations is that his classification overlaps so much way or process by which the examinee manipulates the given materials. For examples, he may
under more than one or two categories. For example, a
ask the examinee to play with a given set of dolls; he may pay attention to the process by which
so that the same test can be included
either the constitutive or constructive or refractive dolls are selected and handled during the play. Thus in the expressive techniques attention is
figure-drawing test may be included in classification of the given to the process and not to Ihe end product of the process. Expressive techniques, in this way.
category. Frank's classification, therefore, is not a widely-accepted
projective test.
are different from construction techniques because here much emphasis is given to the process or
The more convincing classification of projective techniques
has been recently provided by way of handling the test materials rather than upon the end product of the process (such as the
he has divided projective techniques content or theme of the stories, etc.). The lamous Toy-World Test is an example of expressive
Lindzey (1959). Based upon the responses of the examinees,
into the following five categories: technique.

Association Techniques Choice Techniques

This category includes all those situations where the examinee is required to respond with the Choice techniques (also known as Ordering techniques) are not projective techniques in the true
associations which are evoked in his mind after seeing or listening to stimulus materials. The sense of the term; rather they may be regarded as a step towards objectifying the projective
Rorschach test. the Holzman Inkblot test and the Word-Association test are its best examples techniques (Kerlinger, 1973). Usually, the examinee is presented with some sets of pictures or
The Rorschach tesi requires the examinee to respond to an unstructured situation of inkblots in items (which convey the different degrees ofhea trait)bewith the instruction to choose the most
the fom of verbal associations with objects, events, persons, etc. No attempt is made to mould relevant and appropriate picture. Somelimes, may asked to order rank those pictures in or
tems of his preferences and hence, the name ordering techniques. The choice of the subject.
those associations either by the examinee or by the examiner. Similarly, in the word-association
test the examinee is presented with a variety of words one after another with the instruction to becomes the basis for the inference regarding his personality. The Szondi test is an example of
the examinees of pictures
respond with the very first word that comes to his mind after listening to the stimulus word.
Subsequenty, the responses and the reaction time (the time elapsing between the presentation of
ordering technique because
like-dislike dimension.
are required to rank sets along a

the stimulus word and the response word) are analyzed for studying the personality.
still another important classification of the projective techniques has been done by Best

Construction Techniques (1978). He has proposed a four-way classification of projective techniques as stated below:
This category indludes all those situations where the examinee is required to construct a story Association
after seeing the stimulus materials (usually a picture) within a certain specified time. No record is is presented with
Under this category are included all those techniques where the examinee
generally kept of time but the examinee's themes andthemode of responding are considered stimulus materials like picture, inkblots, words, and is asked to tell what he sees,
cartoons, etc.,
relevarnt.The Thematic Apperception Test (orthe TAT), Children's Apperception Test (or the
CAT). the Blacky Pictures, the Object Relations Technique and the Pickford Projective Picture thinks and feels. The Rorschach test, the Holtzman Inkblot test, and the Word-Association test
(PPPare some of the best examples of construction techniques. In all these tests the examinee is belong to this category.

required to constnuct produce simple statements or complex statements in the form of story. A
or
discussion of all these tests is beyond the scope of this book. However, some of them appear in
a
Completion
detail in later sections of this chapter This category incorporates the situation where some incomplete sentences are presented to the
examinee who completes them in the way he likes. The sentence-completion test belongs to this
Completion Techniques category. Such tests have been found to be most useful in interpreting
traits like anxieties,
etc. Items
These techniques inchude those situations where the examinee is
presented with some guil-feelings, hostility, aggression, attitudes loward sexuality, paranoid tendencies,
incomplete sentences with the instruction to complete them in any way he desires. A few illustrating paranoid tendencies may be framed like this:
examples which illustrate the techniques are given below: Somebody is always trying.
Ifeel tense. *************" I worry about.
My ambition in life is.. *******

Ithink that my body...

Ioften get nervous ..
Responses given by the examinee are interpreted and analyzed to find some clue
regarding his Role-playing
personaliny. These techniques, however, lack a uniform and standard mode of analysis. Stories
This technique requires the examinee to act oul a specific role in a group of two or more
have also been used as completion
(Mills, 1953) and Rotter's Sentence
techniques. The Madeleine Thomas
Completion Stories test individuals afor certain period of time. It has been commonly observed that an is
when examinee
Completion Test are examples. The Rosenzweig8 asked to play a certain role, he says surprising things, which he may never have said otherwIse.
Picture-frustration Study (Rosenzweig.
1949) is another example of completion
technique. His sayings reveal the underlying motives, wishes, traits
needs,likeattitudes, etc.
The role-playing
lechnique has been found to be the most suitable for hostility, sympathy, frustration,
dominance and authoritarianism.
 202 Tests Measurements and Reswarmb Metbods in Bebar ioural Sctences

Projectue Techniques 203

Creative or Constructive
This technique includes all those test situations where
the examinee is required to do some ass Projective tests usually
employ a
global approach for
assessing the person's entire
like playing with dolls or toys. paint or finger paint and draw a ligure, etc. Best
also says that personality. In other words,
psychologist puts together a comprehensive description of
the testee or the examinee's
sometimes the examinee may be asked to write
imaginative stories about some psychological functioning rather than only identifying a
situations. Hence, TAT is also included under this head. Cenerally, on the basis of the assigned particular trait.
colours, words, forms, order of the sentences, elc., an inlerence
choice of (vi) In clinical situation, the projective tests
regarding the traits of the are used in an
idiographic manner, that is,
personality of the examinee is drawm. projective tests in such situation are used to develop a model of personality functioning
A of an individual.
comparative study of Lindzey's classification and Best's classification makes it clear that
he former is more appropriate than the latter. The
role-playing and the constructive techniques of (vi) Supporters of the projective tests state that these techniques are only effective means for
Best are covered under one category, that is, the
expressive techniques of Lindzey. Besides this, evaluating unconscious elements of personality. Here the basic assumption is that we get
Lindzey's clas cation is very broad and such information through projective tests that cannot be
fact-covering. Almost all the projective techniques are
covered under any one of the categories without much
gathered otherwise.
overlapping. (vii) The interpretation of responses of projective tests has been
strongly influenced by
One way to reduce the confusion and
overlapping in classification ofí projective techniques psychoanalytic thinking. The concept of psychic determinism and the importance
is to classiDy them into three broad
categories: lhe pictorial techniques, the verbal techniques and placed upon the various unconscious processes paved the way for projective testing.
the expressve techniqves. Thus despite its varied types, the projective tests have some degree of commonality.
Pictorial PICTORIAL TECHNIQUES
The techniques include all those situations where the As mentioned earlier, pictorial techniques are those techniques where the unstructured situation
unstructured situation consists of
ambiguous pictures and the examinee is to respond towards those pictures. His vague and
be
consists of vague and ambiguous pictures to which the examinee has to give a response. The
response
in terms of a few words as it is done in the
Rorschach test and Holtzman Inkblot test or in may
a series of sentences as it is
done in the TAT, the the
terms of responsesmay be in terms of words or
a series of sentences. The Rorschach test, the Thematic
Apperception test and The Holtzman Inkblot test are the best examples, which are being
CAT, Rosenzweig-picture Frustration test, etc.
Verbal discussed in detail.
In this
technique the stimulus materials are presented in verbal form such as in terms of words or THE RORSCHACH TEST
incomplete sentences. The examinee may &e
required to respond to those words with the first The most popular projective technique is the
word that comes to his mind and in
case of incomplete sentences, he is Inkblot test developed by Hermann
them n a way he likes. Thus the
verbal techniques are different from the required
to complete Rorschach
the sense that here the stimulus
materials are verbal and not pictorial techniques in Rorschach,aSwiss
psychiatrist in
1921, to makea
and the
sentence-completion test are its best examples. pictorial. The word-association test diagnostic investigation of personality as a whole. At
the outset, it must be borne in mind that the the
Expressive Rorschach test is a measure of both the intellectual and
This technique incorporates all those situations whereby the examinee is non-intellectual traits of personality. He investigated
epres his personality mostly given an opportunity lo with a large number of inkblots out of which only 10
through some
paintng, drawing, playing with dolls and manipulation
and objective tasks. inkblots that differentiated most between various
Graphology.
techniques. The way or the manner in which role-playing are some of the common expressive psychiatric syndromes were selected to constitutea
the examinee does his task in the above sai test. Thus the Rorschach test consisted of ten cards,
stuations becomes the bas1s for
appraisal of his personality traits. each of which contained
Thus, we see that there are diflerent a bilaterally symmetrical
have the following characteristics in types of projective tests. These varied projective tests printed inkblot. Five inkblot cards (Cards l, IV, V, VI,
common: and VI) are made in shades of black and gray; two
) Alt projective tests share one common
assumption called projective hypothesis, which
cards (Cards lI and Il) contain bright patches of red in
sates that a person will
project something important about him or herself on to a addition to the shades of black and gray and the
or
ambiguous stimulus vague
usually called unstructured stimuli remaining three cards (Cards VIl, 1X and X) contain Flg. 11.1 Rorschuch Inkbkx type test
G The
procedures used in the projective tests are usually several pastel shades. An inkblot like that used in the
words. the testees do not know the disguised to some degree. In other Rorschach test is illustrated in Figure 11.1.
way their responses will be
uo Projecdive tests are analyzed and interpreted.
relatively unstructured and therefore, the task The entire procedure of the Rorschach test may be presented under the following three
inexdhaustitble variety of possible
responses.
incorporated generale headings: administration, scoring and interpretalion.
( n
projective tests instructions given to the testee or examinee are
vague themselves. Instructions like Tell me what general and are often Administration
answer, or "what might this be?' are you see' or There is no right or wrong The administration of the Rorschach test is conveniently divided into three stages-first stage
common.
wnich is known as the perfomance proper, the second stage which is known as the inquiry and
uhe third stage known as the testing-of-the-limits. In the first stage the examinee is asked to take his
 Proyecue Technuques 205
Bebavioural Sciences
in
Measurments and Reseanch Methods
204 Tiests.
card. In such a situation, the examiner should interrupt. The tolal number of responses or R on a
minutes to establish rapport. Handing over tha card for most adults varies from 15 to 30. A deviation from this range may
with him for a few Rorschach not
seat and then the examiner talks Rorschach's basic instruction "What might thic
the side up, the necessarily indicate psychopathological traits but it should be considered very carefuilly. When
first card to the examinee with top
extended the basic instruction of the examinee gives a vague and uncertain response, the examiner should noteiland it shouid be
1942:32) modified and
be?" is gien. Klopfer &Kelley now tell me what you see

Rorschach as under: "People see allsorts of things in these inkblots;

the clarified in the second stage of administration, which immediately follows the first stage, that i,
makes think of." The examiner carefully notes down the "performance proper".
what it might be for you, what it you
following events:
which elapses between the
Inquiry is the second stage of administration of the Rorschach test. It usully tollows when
the ten cards have been obtained during the stage of the "performance proper".
reaction time, that is, the time responses to aH
1. He notes down the
of the card and the examinee's first scorable score. The reaction time is symbolized Rapaport, Gill& Schafer (1946) are, however, of the opinion that inquiry should be conducted
presentation However, they are of
(Semeonoff, 1976). Exclamations
and comments are not counted as scores.
immediately after responses to a card have been obtained and with the card placed out sight
as
lakes the plea thal the examinee is apt to forget many associations
noted down by the examiner. from the examinees. Rapaport
of the card when the response is being given. be interrupted by presentation of subsequent cards. It is, therefore, essential
2. He systematically notes down the position is A when the is turned downward, the or his thinking may
be conducted immediately after the presentation of a card. Most
top
When the card is kept upright, the symbol used for this used iswhen the top is kept
that inquiry should
continue to conduct an
symbol becomes V; when thebecomes top is kept at the left side, the symbol Rorschachers, however, do not approve of Rapaport's viewpoint and
> and when the examinee rotates the card without stopping, to all the ten cards have been obtained. The basic purpose of the
at the right side, the symbol inquiry after the responses
use no symbol at all when the top
is kept upright.
(0). Some experts all the information necessary for scoring the responses accurately.
the symbol used is inguiry is to provide
are two basic purposes for recording the the examinee questions about each of his responses in
3. The responses are recorded verbatim. There Therefore, the inquiry consists of asking
the basis of his
it enables the examiner to read it clearly during the time of scoring and so that it may be known what part of the blot is
responses in this way. First, that the presence of the locatioh sheet the
it facilitates others to read the record so
the particular part gives rise to the response. The purpose of keeping
thus, it increases the precision of scoring. Second, response and why
they may know exactly what the examinee had said. chart before the examinee rs to make a permanent record of the area of the blot used by
location
records the total time for which the subject keeps each card. This is of the inquiry is twofold. First, it allows the examiner to
4. The examiner him in responding. Thus the purpose
Since the examinee is free to see as manythings as he can, the examinee's responses and second, it also helps the
symbolized by T (Semeonoff, 1976). obtain further information regarding
the total time elapsed during the free had already been
this period is known as the free association period and examinee to his
clarify responses by adding and expressing more about what
association period of each card is noted. the stage of inquiry are formulated, are left
said. Ordinarily, the extent to which questions during should keep
for all the 10
the next card and so on success of the inquiry, the examiner
When the examinee returns the first card, he is given skill of thee examiner. However, for
all the entirely to the appropriate questions when
cards. Thus, all the 10 cards are presented in consecutive order. The examiner should keep some basic principles in view. First, the examiner must frame
than
cards out of the reach of the subject and he must hand over each card to the examinee rather are very clear-cut and need no questions by
the examiner. Questions put
In needed. Some responses
place before him. It is common during testing for the examinee to raise some questions.
it add nothing Therefore, questions should be asked
unnecessarily during the inquiry would
new.

this silence by the examiner is considered as very important by most or meaning. Second, the inquiry
administering test,
when the examiner is in doubt regarding its location
Rorschachers. However, this can be interrupted when the examinee raises the questions.
In only non-direct questions have been
should be framed in a non-direct way. (Examples of
answering these questions, the examiner must adopt a non-direct approach. A few examples questions ones. They should be precise
and
should not be long
illustrate the point: given earlier). Third, the inquiry questions
Examinee: "How long should I keep the card?" brief and must be formulated to evoke answers helpful scoring.
which are in
However, this
Examiner:"As long as you like". is the third and final stage in the Rorschach administration.
Testing-of-the-limit
Examinee: "Should I tun the card?" In instances it is seen that examinees give responses
stage is not needed for all examinees. some
For example,
Examiner "l depends upon you." or "As you like." which are ordinarily
u n c o m m o n and not
found in most of the Rorschach protocols.
Examinee: "Should I report more than one thing?" whole responses are better than part responses
the examinee might somehow be convinced that In such situation, a
Examiner, "Most people usually report more than one thing." to all the ten cards.
and therefore give only whole responses
in by the examiner in order to see
Thus the questions raised by the examinee are answered in a non-direct way which, tum, lesting-of-the-limits is done through adequate encouragement
in order to evoke the responses
found
provides encouragement to him. Sometimes, it is found that the examinee rejects the cards whether the examinee is capable of changing the response
altogetherwithoutgiving any response. If such rejection occurs on the first or the second card, the to test the limits of
in most of the protocols. The stage is so called because the procedure intends
examiner should rethink his procedure or his choice of the Rorschach test as the appropriate test.
Howeve, if such rejection occurs on the eighth or the ninth card, the examiner should 8iving ordered responses on the Rorschach test.
encourage
the examinee by saying, "There is no hurry; try and see something in it." The examiner
that sufficient time intervenes before the examinee rejects the card. Beck (1944) and Hertz (1969)
should see Scoring into ditferent categories so
the classification of responses
in the Rorschach test 'scoring' relers
to
suggest a minimum of 2 minules time only after which rejection can be justified. Rorschachers Rorschach
as a whole. Regrettably,
the personality of the examinee
differ with regard to the maximum time a card should be kept by the examinee. Beck (1945) d he product may reveal his scoring system. Thereiore, it was left to his
suggests that the examinee can keep a card as long as 10 minutes whereas Piotrowski (1969) ced before he could have conceptualizedof Rorschach scorng. Five Americ an psychologists,
Suggests five minutes as a reasonable maximum time for keeping a card. Sometimes, examinees Ollowers to complete the systematization
(in case of exdremely compulsive examinees) have been found to
go on responding endlesslytoa
 Sciences

terhrds in
Bebat ioural
Measunments and Rewvach Proyecte Techniques 207
206 Test
Iried their best and pro
and D Rapaport sponse'
opular respo of the content
B Klopfer, Z
Piotrowski
nuances
ofscoring vary category (to be
discussed later on), because the latter is
namely.
one
S Beck, M Hertz.
scoring method to another to the test.
therefore,
approach
I was lound
that
Exner and his colleagues have develoDed Exner
ferent
differe from the former. Rapaport, Gill & Schafer (1946) have
defined the D response as
Overlapping bul independent 1993
e belonging to the.area "which is conspicuous
by its size, its location and the frequency of the
their earlier approaches (Exner, onse it draws." Thus the "normal" or "usual" details
synthesizing of the blot are the areas, which
System (CSI by
Scoring ot scoring there are four main and out by virtue of their position and contour, A low percentage of D clearly
the point of view
Comprehensve
from
CsS agrees that response is usually
&Winer, 1995). The dicative of maladjustment. Klopter et al. (1954) have divided the usual or common
of details into
categories of
classification responses.
ads depending upon the size-capital D for large usual area and small d for small
two usual
are
These three categories area.

1. Location The Dd response (unusual details; The unusual detail (also called small detail
2. Deteminants nes by Rorschach) are based upon "usually the smallest responses
details of the picture almost always
3. Content oked by normal subjects" (Rorschach, 1942). In the words of Exner (1974:56) a Dd
and Original Responses onse is "one given to a blot area which is not used frequently." Thus when that part of the blot
4. Popular Responses below.
four categories is presented hich is rarely used by most examinees instigates a response, it is scored as Dd. Logically, a
Adetailed discussion of the
onse Can be scored as Dd when it is neither W nor D. Klopfer (1942) has divided the Dd
Location Location refers to the pat of onse into four subcategories and the symbols for each are different. When tiny areas evoke a
in Rorschach interpretation.
Location is the first and easiest system onse, it is scored as da; when an edge or conlour instigates a response, it is scored as de
Whether the whole blot is producing a response res
the blot, which produces a particular
response.
scoring when inside areas evoke a response, it is scored as di;, and when an unusual detail response does
whole blot is producing the response is indicated by this category of
or only a part of
the not fall into any of these categories, it is scored for rare detail as dr. A dr response is highly
whole response and the scoring is
direct and simple but in the latter cae
n the former case, it is a idiosyncratic and rare and sometimes the examiner fails to see in the way the examinee perceives.
is further dependent upon the fact whether the used part is a commonly used one or
the scoring location of the responses along Exner (1974) has, however, objectedtoKlopíer's division of the unusual details on three grounds.
discussion of the scoring based upon
rarely used one. A detailed Fist, the examiners tendtodisagree with speciic ypes of Dd. For example, a response can both
with its symbols is presented below.
be tiny and rare and therefore, can be scored as dd as well as dr. Likewise, some inside detail
When the whole blot instigates the response, it is scored
The Wresponse (whole responsest responses are not uncommon whereas others are extremely rare and uncommon. The fomer may
as W. Thus the criterion for the scoring of W is a sort of either-or phenomenon in which the be scored as di and the later may be scored as dr or both types of response may simply be scored
examinee either uses the whole blot or does not. In general, a W response is considered a good as di. Thus, there is room tor the scorer to vary and this unnecessarily lowers the reliability of the
response because it
indicates an overall view of the entire situation. There are two
subtypes of w fourcategories of Klopter's division. Second, there are no other evidences for such a fine division
responses: the cut-off
whole symbolized as Wand the confabulatory whole symbolized as DWor
ofthe Dd response. The limited research base does not make such a differentiation regarding the
Ddw. The cut-off whole response which was suggested by Klopíer Kelley (1942), one in
& is
type of Dd. Third, the frequency of any of these categories of Dd response is very low and
which the examinee gives the response on the basis of the whole blot excluding minor details. For
Contributes very little to the scoring summary. Keeping in view what has been said above, Exner
or side projection.
example, Card I may be perceived as "Bat" excluding lower projection
its
(1974) recommends that all types of Dd responses should simply be scored as Dd. This would
Cards 1, I and Ill evoke frequently the cut-off whole response. Card II may be perceived as
decrease the confusion regarding the differentiations among scorers and therefore, would tend to
Buffalo" excluding the red colour whereas Card l may be perceived as "Two women"
increase the scorer reliability.
excuding the red colour. Beck (1944) has, however, to the
objected whole
cut-off
response and is The S response (white space details: When the white space area is used as the basis of
d view that a response is either Wor it is not. He argued that since there are no evidences of
scorer reliability of the cut-off whole response and also because the literature does not make response, it is scored as S. The Sresponse is never scored alone. According to Exner (1974:57) it is
mertion df any such response, it is dificuit to accept it. The confabulatory whole or DWor Ddw always used in conjunction with one of the three primary location scores such as
response is one where "the examinee attends only to a detailed area of the blot, but then Ws,Ds or Dds" Rorschach himself regarded S as one form of unusual detail, that is, Dd. Beck
generalizes from thal detail to the entire blot". (Exner, 1974:57). When the examinee attends to has also expressed a similar view and said that S responses are a subclass of D or Dd so that his
the usual detail, Dw is used and when the examinee attends to the unusual detail, Ddw is used. symbols become DS or Dds. The chief rationale for using S in conjunction with other location
Such responses obviously indicate that the examinee has not distinguished the various areas of scores is to maintain consistency in the evaluation of the three main location scores-W, D and
the blot to have a clear perception but instead, he has generalized from a single minor detail to the Dd. Some Rorschachers have, however, attempted to modify Rorschach's original idea. They
whole blot. The DW or Ddw response, therelore, indicates perceptual cognitive impairment havesuggested that the space response may be scored separately as Sif the basis of response is
the white area. But when space area is used in combination with other parts of the
Howeves, such responses on the Rorschach test are very unusual. only space
The D response (common detailst The D response stands for a response based upon the blot,it must be scored as Ws, DSor Dds depending upon the nature of the response. When the
"usual or "normal" (sometimes called "large usual") detail or part of the blot. The fundamental white space area is scored separately, it is included in W, D or Dd. Hertz (1970) is one such
principle for a particular response to be rated as Dis that a detail should be easily and frequently Rorschacher who recommends separate scoring for white responses. Accordingly, she has
seen by most examinees as separate from the remainder of the blot. It should not be
confused with distinguished between two types of white space responses -the common and frequently used
 Sciences
Bebatoural

Resanch
Methos in Pmjectue Tecbnkur 209
Mensuremenss
and
20 Tets
and infrequently space detail scored
used white space dets:
after
capital
Sand the rare and immediately seeing the printed carcs, Rorschach thought of the possibility of this ne-w
white spacedetail
scored as
symhoi
dimension (Ellenberger, 1974). Accordingly, he addeda sixih symbol for ashading 'chiaroscuro
detail response
as small s detaikst The
confabulated

to Exner (1974:: 6 eda

60), a
ponse, which was posthumously published in his last research paper in 1923. The symbol was
The DdD response
(confabulated
DWand Ddw. According
pe DdbD narenthesized (C. Many Rorschach systematizers who worked after the death of Rorschach have
detail of the blot and then
as
scored in
much the
same way
an unusual onducted a series of comprehensive researches and fomulated their scoring syrmt-ols for
own

DdD is in which the subject interprets

The basic principle
for a response
to bes Ored onse delerminants depending upon the several characteristics of blots. Ail these
one area."
response is detail haracteristics descriptively fall into three categories: (a) features relating to form; (b) features
secondarily and the
common primanu
interpretation
toa interpreted
area is
fromthat c o m m o n or
usual detail DWand Ddw, the DdD
responePnsi
response ocCurs ating to Colour, and (c) features relating to shading. Despite this similarity among the diferent
as OdDis
that a
area. As
compared to rschach 5ystematizers like Mons, Beck, Rapapor, Klopíer, Exner, Hertz, etc. confusion persists
unusual detail
is based upon
an
in a normal
Rorschach protocol. ably because the symbols used show litle agreement among them. Not only this, where the
Out of these, the first three l n e . e synbols have been used by two or more Rorschachers, the criteria for use of the symbols
much less frequently the Rorschach test.
basic location
scores on
(1970:30). an o n result is confusion among the scorers. Exner (1974:70) has divided
These are the
Ddare the primary
ones: According to Nunnally differ to a great extent. Ihe net
scores, namely,
W, D and he determinant categories
into
nine separate parts, for which altogether 24 symbos have been
20D and 4Dd
responses. duced. It should be bome in mind that the success of the determinants category depends
criteria of the Rorschach
adut gives 6W eir descriptions and the
showing the symbols,
their
oon proper inquiry. However, spontaneity should be the guideline for giving all determinants
A summary
in Table 11.1. mbols.If there is reasontheto believe that the response has been given only after the question put
location scores is given
Rorschach location scores it should not be scored as such. A detailed
inquiry., of description
Talble 11.1 Symbols, Descriptionsand Criteria of the examiner during
ot delerminants is given below:
Criterion these nine categories
Description Fom Deteminant (F)
Symbol

Whole response
When all portions of the blot are used in giving a deteminant
the response which has
symbolized by the capital letter F is meantF forreserved
W The fom for the response
response because of the torm or shape of the blot. Thus is
urred purely have
other than shape or lom has contributed to the percept. Often, Rorschachers
DWDdw Confabulated whole When secondary emphasis is given to the where nothing of in many protocols is high. F is relatively easy to score when the
interpretation of the blot as a whole and the primary found that percentagereveals
the F
that it is only the shape, which has evoked the response. For
response
emphasis is on a detail portion either usual or unusual inguiry (done carefully) revealed that this is
I be wholly perceived as "Bat" and on inquiry if it is
of the blot example, Card may as the two wings and the middle part looks
like the
the two side projections appear
because
fail,
without score it as F Some Rorschach systematizers
should
the basis of frequently the scorer,
Usual or common When response is given on or
centre of the body, two F When the fom is clear and good, it is scored as
D
commonly identified area of the blot have divided Finto categoriesF+and -
detail response the form is it is scored as F
vague,
F+ and when
Unusual or uncommon When response is given on the basis of infrequently
Dd area of the blot
Deteminarts (M, FM and m)
or uncommonly identified Movement
detail response in the Rorschach test-human
responses are usually reported
Three types of
movement

When response is given the basis of white space

on animal movement and inanimate movement. Originally, Rorschach had
S White space response movement, for human movement, because in
area of the blot (usually scored
in combination with
recommended scoring tor only
one
type of movement, that is,
inanimate movements are in no way different from human
WDand Dd) animal movement and
his opinion M for such movements and no
sense. He, therefore, provided symbol
When secondary emphasis is given upon a usual movement in the basic and Piotrowski (1957)
DdD Confabulated detail provided. But later, Klopfer et al. (1954), Hertz (1970)
response detail area and primary emphasis is given upon an othersymbols Rorschach and provided separate symbols for scoring of animal movement and
were

with
uncommon or unusual detail area disagreed Rorschach characterized M responses
as being marked by 'flexion'
or

inanimate movement. blot area in the response. Thus, a

the use of the centre axis of the
Determin
extension depending upon axis is the flexor, and a movement which
Deteminants are the second most important phase of scoring in the Rorschach test. This scoring movement which indicates 'pulling inside' the centre Beck et al. (1961)
axis of the blot area is the 'extensor.
from the centre
Determinants refer to the features of the blot which have
indicates 'pulling away because in their opinion Rorschach's
system is the most complex of all phases. have, however, addeda
third type of movement response
five symbols for the of movement, is the movement,
produced thee paricular response. Originally, Rorschach (1921) suggested three for colour flexion-extension does not explain
all movements. This type
and
scoring of determinants: F for form, M for human development, which is 'static'.
responsesFC (for form-colour), CF (for colour-form), and C (for pure colour response). It is human Although
movement. Beck, Klopfer and Hertz
The symbol M is, thus, reserved tor
obvious that Rorschach's original system for scoring the determinants was very simple. His derivation irom Rorschach in toto, Rapaport,
Gill & Schafer (1946) have
chiaroscuro responses because accept this original his colleagues, M should
original sysem did not contain any symbol for scoring shading or modifications. According to Rapaport and
Rorschach's original cards upon which his basic researches were based contained no variations accepted the same with some which contain human figures either complete or
in hue or colour. However, the shading teatures among the cards were created by a printing error be restricted to only those responses
 Swws
Proectite Techniques 211
inBebar
wouul
Mttd
Reevanh
and
A M e a s u r m e n s

human movemer
T M lor wi
210
the symbol hedivides human Deteminants: Chromatic (C, C, FC and Cn)
accepted of Rorschach, Colour
has akso division to 5 cards
Exner
(1974:74) f l e x i o n - e x t e n s i o n

walking,
jumping and cr dre al oinally, Rorschach divided the colour responses having chromatic features givenbased
incomplete. lines of the a into which are
three categories: (i) those responses uponwholly
variations.
On the and pasive.
Running,
and thinking a r o
examples of Cads l, 1, VI, IX andX)
some lalking, smiling, scored as C; (i) those responses where colour dominates but also the form or
into hwo
parts-act/ve
and sleeping, theaddition of assuperscript a r and are
as C; and (ii) those responses where form dominates but colour
movement movement recommends

ofacthe
human
Foractive
movement
he
that the com
omplete symbol becomes M ape is involved and are scored FC. Thus colour responses based upon
examples
human
movement.
movement
so and en determinant. Such responses are scored as
a
passive and p for
passive
in scoring
for M.
atic features are C, CF and FC and probably these are the only scoring symbol in a
movement

assuma
disagreement, among the Rorschachers. Rorschacher
precautions c h r o m a t i c

for actve
There are
some
scored
because M aulomatically assumes fom o orschach testwhere there exists the least
when M is
naming, which was later modified by Piotrowski
Mrespectively. as
lor
should not be used added a fourth symbol, CC, colour
First F of these colour scoring determinants is as follows:
believe
to beli
that a response of human movement isnot A detailed description
shape. obvious fthe examiner,
reason
1should not bescored. (This is Cn. colour response, that is, ior responses where other factors except colour
there is the Cis scored for pure
Second when
provokedby
the inquiry of few examples ot pure colour response are blood, ice cream, paint,
etc. Pure
rather than For example,e, when
w theexaminee responds to Card irrelevant. A
rare in the Rorschach protocols. C or colour response
is
because the response
symbols) are
spontaneous

for all
determinant

would not be scored as M appears l r responses are, however, very

held o be true women", this when the examiner indicate lack of control over emotional responsiveness.
looks like two
form (F. But during inquiry "Are preted to
VI with basis of colour fealures of the blot are primary and form features
to have
been given only on the
by the
examinee as "Yes, the two wom are CEis scored for the response where where colour is dominant and form or shape is vague and
something?" and it this is answered be scored as M because the response not cecondary. Thus the responses CF A few
they doing should never
usually scored as examples of CF responses would be fire, lake,
thern such response liferentiated are
some of
talking of CF is often a difficult task for the scorer because
undilfe

spontaneous.
also lor the response
where content animal but the water, scenes, sky, Scoring too. For
etc.
when the examinee emphasizes that he
M is scored animals. For exampla
meat,
be Scored as C, example,
Third, sometimes humans and never among shese responses may it like a piece of meat, then obviously it would be
scored as FC
involved is found only among and "Two pigs playing footbali ercejves "meat" because looks
with each other" to Card l
and colour is Thus, through a non-direct
1orm is primary satistied that secondary.
movement
here
Two buterflies
like talking Father than CF becausemust get the has primary reference to
esponse M. fully percept
tiry the examiner relerence himselt
as
would be scored simply
toCard Vill Klopfer in 1936
FM, which was originally suggested by
and to tom in order to score it as CE
is scored as
Animal movement Rorschach himself did not attach
much signilficancato colour and secondary form dominates and the examinee also makes a secondary
Piotrowski and Hertz. a response where
Hertz and Klopfer have used th scored for
frequently used by Rorschachers except Piotrowski,
FCis
the
classification. A few examples of an FC
of elaboration or
such responses.
No other
movement such as "Two
bears going somewhere" reference to colour for purpose
the
a red dog, a red shirt, a brinjal, etc. In all these examples the form
involving animal scored as FM. Like ecnonse would be lungs, heart, of the blot may look like
scoring for FMAll responses is "The buffalo is going" are simply with a secondary emphasis on the colour.A
part
"The rat jumping",
Two cas fighting', ithe percept dominates colour. However, a skilled
examiner
animal movement may be
active or passive. Accordingly, the superscript a for it is first similar in shape and then, it has red
human movement,
for passive movement should
be added to FM. Precaution should be aheart because
the ingquiry. Even after that if thee examiner is in doubt regarding
during
active movement and p
those of animalmovement which are spontaneous and not should get this cleared
dominates over colour, testing-of-the-limit may
be carried out. As compared
FMfor only responses
taken scoring
in whether or not form use of colour. FC indicates control
over emotional impulses

provoked by the
examiner's inquiry or questioning. very controlled
a
are scored as moriginally to GF FCrepresents litle control over it.
insensate objects producing a movement indicates comparatively
Inanimateor inorganic or and Hertz separately in this system. whereas CF names a particular colour
and declines to
and incorporated by Klopfer found that the examinee simply
sugpested by Piotrowski in 1936 the for m. For all types of inanimate movements
Sometimes it is
in which only the colour had been' named,
were

No other Rorschachers have used scoring comment further

on it. Such responses
as CC. However, he did
of m. Klopíer and Hertz, however, disagreed with scored by Rorschach
Piotrowski recommended the scoring responses and were

Fwith m. When form or shape dominates recognized as colour-naming a Piotrowski, for the first time 1936,
in introduced
Piotrowski and suggested a combination the symbol
of much significance to CCesponse.
should be scored as Fm and when movement not attach has been frequently used by many Rorschachers. A
in the perception of an inanimate movement, it of CC and this symbol
and where there is pure movement, it should be thesymbol Cn in place are "Here it is pink",
"This is a red colour", "Greenish",
dominates over form, the symbol should be mf colour-naming responses
mF and m-did not prove to be few examples of "What nice variety of colous!" are
not scored as
simply scored as m. But these three scoring calegories-Fm,
a
at the colours!" or
has Exclamations like "Look
with FM or M categories. Here Piotrowski's suggestion etc.
popular because they overlapped
to which all types of inanimate movements should simply be scored Cn.
been very popular, according
be active and some may be passive. Examples of active Achromatic (C,C'F andFC )
as m Some inanimate movements may
and "Car going speedily" and for
Colour Determinants: achromatic colours. Although these colours are not
movement are "Aeroplane flying speedily, "Top spinning fast" regarded as
Black, white and grey
are
becomes t . or even by psychologist, they
are important they because are
such movements the superscripl a should be added so that the complete symbol a

movements are 'Ship moving slowly', "Train crossing the bridge at

a slow regarded as colours by a physicist
life. Rorschach himselí never suggested separate scoring
a
for these
Examples of passive
and "Moon crossing a cloud slowly and for such movements the superscript Pshould be
frequently used day-to-day this was introduced for the first time by Klopfer in 1938 who based
in
speed" achromatic colours. However, researches done subsequent to Rorschach
added to obtain the complete symbol, m achromatic colours separately on
the decision to score Binder in 1932. Rapaport included the same scoring
as well as upon
the viewpoints expressed by
 Sciences
Beharwoural

Reeanh
Methoads tn Profecttpe Tochnigques 213
and
fied the
the scoring
M e a u r e m e n t s

212 Tss, modified scorine

ior such responses is FK. Ihe general demerit of the Klopfer system is that it fails to provide a clear
symbols
Piotrowski

whereas Hertz and

criteria in his system of Klopier. distinction between Fk responses and those involving a more diffused use of shading (scored as
symbols and
and the
criterion
were
those
fall into three
calegor and and K. The fourth category which was added by Klopfer in' 1937, includes X-ray or
but the p u r p o s e the.paltern of
chromalicC responses,colk raphical map
on a c h r o m a t i c colour response
the pure
scoreca s responses and depending upon the dorninance of form
they are scored as K,
Achromatic responses,
symbols: (i) (ii) the form-achro r e X-ray or topographical map KF for X-ray form
1o Pnses. Likewise, Hertz also usedresponses, response, FK for
different and form X-ray
are symbolized
by three scored as C",
colour three categories of shading determinants in
Ci) the
achromatic
colour-form
response
arate SCcoring for the achromalic colours. Rapaport, however, used only wo categories of additionto
FC. and has no reference of form
m or
response
scored as colour response shape SEg determinants in addition to separate
scoring for the achromatic colours. Thus, shading
is a pure achromatic lew examples of pure
achron
The C'response is very rare and uncommon.these A are scored as C terminants represent the widest diferences among the Rorschach authorities. Despite these
at
response
all.Such a "coal "mud", "soil",
"snow, etc.,
and rences, Exner (1974) has
been able to
prepare a very comprehensive and widely-accepted
refers to a response in ring for the shading delerminants, which utilizes the three basic symbols of Beck-T, Vand Y
response
are
colour-form response
is
scored as C"t and n
he form has a vague and undifferer
and thei
which t h e three categories or shading responses. Exner's comprehensive system has, however,
The achromatic determinant ted
the primary "White water", "Grav s
modified thein critera iortwo0 thethree categories of shading responses (that isis, foresented
are
achromatic
colours
examples of C'F response are
"Black cloud", cloud ieec.A the lBeck system. A detailed discussion of T, Vand
Vand from
few most probably because the below.
reference. A
be perceived "Black cloud" A skilled examiner, however,, must confim
as those
used
Ycategories
of the blot may Texture Deteminants (T TF and FTh Klopfer was the first person to include a separate
part a
cloud.
first, and then because its shape resembles he scores it as C'F.
inquiry before
lfor texture responses. His symbol was (). Hertz later included Klopfer's symbol in her
examinee through
this from the in which the primary emphasis is haased wem. Piotrowski (1957) does not
provide separate scoring for texture responses. Rapaport et
a

FCrepresents the fom-achromatic colour response puTne xture responses only when
(1946) scored textur
they given combination
in
colour has only secondary reference for the
a
a
were with achromatic
rOon ses. It was Beck (1944) who modified the symbol of Klopfer as Tto represent texture
and the achromalic easier tha
upon the fom decision to score a response
as F'C is relatively
The
elaboration or
classification.
A few examples of the F'C response oonses and since then, texture responses are usually in the form of T by most
reported
because of the primary emphasis
upon the form features.
etc. Obyiously, a part of the blot may be perceived
Rorschachers.

"Gray cow",
"Black dog, White horse", form) and then because it is blar Texture is scored when shading (light-dark) features of the blot are used to represent tactual
blot looks like a dog first (emphasis upon
black dog because the the examiner should confirm this from the inquiry
li. The common features of tactual stimuli are cold, hot, rough, hard, soft, smooth, sticky,
to colour). However, stimuli.

a secondary reference c.furry, silky, etc. When these words are used by the examinee, it is highly probable that
Shading Deteminants
ading is involved and texture should be scored. Texture is scored in one of the three ways
and the most controversial category in the Rorschach
determinant depending upon the extent
or
torm involvement. T is scored for a response in which shading
Perhaps the least researched ures are represented as tactual or textual without the involvement of form or shape. In other
is that of shading or chiaroscuro responses. shading response is one is which
A
protocol T is scored for pure response. Responses like "Silk", "lce", "Hair", "Flesh" and
light-dark features of the blot are used. As earlierinmentioned,
Rorschach originally recommended wOrds, texture
only five symbols for determinant categories which no mention of shading responses was Mod"may be scored as Tif shading (light-dark) features of the blot
are involved and perceived
(Q as a sixth symbol for shading responses as form
texture with no pure texture response is, however, very
involvement. A uncommon
made. But later, he also included a parenthesized texture responses.
Since then some of the Rorschachers have worked over the determinant category of shading among
the three

responses and the nel product has been the emergence of a dilferent set of symbols with
TF
is the second category texture scoring. A response in which shading is
of
eture and fom is involved only secondarily, is scored as TE. In other words, TF is scored for a
perceived
as

diferent criteria.
Beck has divided shading determinants into three categories. The first category includes of shading as texture is primary and form features are used
esponse in which interpretation
of elaboration or classification of the percept. Responses like
those determinants in which shading producestheimpression oftexture and depending upon the secondarily for the express purpose
daminance of fom, this category is scored as T, TF or FT for pure texture or reflections, of ice", "A hard metal", "A rough skin",. "A rough piece of sandpaper" are likely to
A Soft piece
texdure-fom and form-texture responses respectively, The second category includes those features of the blot are involved.
be scored as TF provided shading
deteminants in which shading creates the impression of depth or distance, and again depending FTis scored for the form-texture response, that is, for a response in which form is primary
upon the dominance of form, they are scored as V, VE or FV for pure vista response, vista-form in FT
response and form-vista response respectively. The third category includes determinants in which and the shading features of the blot perceived as texture are secondarily involved. Thus,
determinant is form (that is, form is distinct and clear) and the secondary
responses are based upon shading features (light-dark features) in which achromatic colours are response the primary
or classification is the shading features perceived as
also involved. Depending upon form involvement, such determinants are scored Y, YF or FYfor determinant for the purpose ol elaboration
like "Fur coat", "Aglass made of hard metal", and "Smooth chair"
pure shading response, shading-form response and fom-shading response respectively. texture. For example, responses
are likely to be
scored as FT provided shading (light-dark) feature of the blot are involved. In all
Likewise, in 1936, Klopfer divided the shading determinants into four categories. The first
these examples the form is clear and distinct and hence, it is the primary determinant
category which includes shading responses that tend to produce the impression of texture, are
FT
scored
as Ccfor fclor pure texture response, texture-fom response and form-texture response Researches have revealed that of the three texture responses,
Cards except IV and
three-fourth responses
VI (Exner, 1974).
are

espectively. The second category includes those determinants in which shadingasisdiffuse

perceived as and occur with great frequency in all Rorschach's
general-difuse The symbos
for the diffuse fom
used are
shading response.
Kfor
The
shading
third
responses perceived purely
involves those
category
and K
in which responses
Shading-dimensionality or Vista Determinants (V, VF and FV: When shading or the

is used for vista light-dark features of the blot are perceived as representing depth and/or dimensionality, they
shading ldepth or distance), landscapes, reflections, elc. The determinant symbol
 Rorschach made onlv a Pmfectitw Tonhniegtses ti5
or
vvsta
d e t e r m i n a n t s .

However. it was
assing e
shading-form response is
sored
eter the shading
to
dimensionality
which
imvolved dinmensionality.
for these responses
lopfer s are the YF as YF. A
primary determinant and the form s a response is a response in which
unfotunateh this symbol
shadingcoauld not be popular
respones
f was nol(FA)
as symbo clearly differentiated from ee useBu
of shadirng
nly ec ondarily purprse r elahoraticon or secondary deterrninant, that is, torrn is
reference to such scoing for the
separae
responses, which
who for the
first wereprovidd
time
a
atso introduced by Klopter tor responses involving
these vista
the responses
more dii à
the
nmore
d one has vague and non-spec i e torm but theclass1fic ation. Uwally, the content a ued
ffuse resp n of the content. Respponses like "Some light dark featyres are
YF
mpnrtant ton the
formationo

used for sort of

lead. Beck
for the
first time
is alsos
as YF if shading features have been used X-ray and "Dark elouds", tan he red
Klopfer' vista response in one
shading Following
W and. Like fexTure response, Beck included reflectin. form-shading response is one in
which form
distinguiching symbols-V,
or
he
involvement. is
the extent
of tom
dark features are used primary to the formafion of the
upon and scored them as FV and secondarily for the response
ofthree w a v s depending under
reflections
vISsta responses er has
are scored FY. purpose
Responses like "Dark pen".
as of elaboration or
classification.
upon the FK has been provided in his system. Exner
"Dirty shin", "Dark ship" may be Swch
respo
responses
based
for which the
symbol k as FYif the examinee gives emphasis upon form.
such responses,
response and has provided a
scored
also included retlections
under the visla Separate
(1974) has n o included the oviding
by provid a very distinguishing status to them. The autho Form-dimensional Response (FD)
such
dimensional
responses
for
scoring category
Exner 's vrew
to be a more appropriale one response scored as FD
different from the is

hogh form fom-vista response scored

ality is dimensionality
theretore, accepts shading featuroe
in which 1s

the light-dark lor involved

A pure vista response is
one as
, both the in

for pure vista response.

movement. A few examni
responses. In FV
response the basis of an
Vis scored without any torm shading) feature of the blot
perceived as representing depth
or dimensionality

Deepness,
and "Height", provided
the shading features are
dimeionality is the form interpreted by the size of the blot response whereas in FD the basis
of the pure
vista response
are

rare.
o ed by Exner (1974). According to him, FD is
areas. FD is a new
scoring category
usually very scored for
involved. Pure
vista responses
are

determinant for shading responses having depth

or
dimensionali
introve of dimensionality based exclusively on form, "responses which include
i s the second scoring pe - (Exner, 1974:99). Responses interpreted size or in
like "A bird on the by relation to othe
VE t the primary delerminant is the shading
feature perceived as denis top of a tree". "A woman
A response s scored
as
the top of a hill", "Across on the top of a lying down.
determinant is torm or shape. In other words when
a response utilizes shadin church", may be scored as FD
and the secondary
blot to represent depth and also includes
secondary emphasis on fom for the
a Reflection Responses (rt and Fr) and Pair Response (2)
features of the
clarification, it is scored VF. Responses like "Mountain peak", "Depth
as
r(1974) provided separate a
purpose of elaboration
l o . Beck and Klopter havecategory
or lor the retlection
An aerial view of the city" may be scored as
VF provided shading features have
both
responses based upon the symmetry
of a lake", and
o suggested the inclusion of reflection
been used. ista response. Hertz has scored retlections two
responses one as

FVis the third scoring determinant for the vista response. A response in which the primary
hading responses and retleclions based form
ways-reilections based upon shading
on
is

form as
Exners scoring ior
determ1nanm is form and the examinee provides shading leatures ol the blot as depth only as a responses is the most compressible as well as easily responses.
he form involvement, classified retlection responses into woadaptabie as Depending upon
one.
secondary interpretation, is scored as FV. Thus in FV responses, fom is dominant and primary he
and the shading features perceived as depth or dimensionality are vague and secondary. categories mentioned below:
The reflection-form
response is one category which is scored as rF. An rf
Responses like *A deep well". "A tall tree" and "A woman behinda curtain may scored as Fv be A h svmmetry features of the blot are response is one in
form is distinct and clear
primary to the formation of the response and the torm is
provided shading features of the blot are involved. In all these examples,
and is the base of the response. If the inquiry fails to satisfy the examiner regarding the dominance
decondarily ior the purpose of further clarification.
Usually, in an rf response the fomis
vague and non-specilic. Kesponses like
"Sky retlected
of torm or depth and/or dimensionality. testing-of-the-limits is recommended. Of the three vista
in a
something pond" and "A reflection oi

responses FV Occurs in greater frequency. Following Beck, reflections or responses based upon
in a lake" may be scored as rk. Ihe lrequency oi rf responses is very rare.
The íorm-reslection response is the second category of the reflection
reflections such as "Two women in a mimor", "A human face in the water of the well" would be response and is scored
f t The Fr response is one in which lorm leatures of the blot are
scored as FV. primary to the formaton oi
response and the content
perceived is
retlected due to symmetry of the blot
as
Thus in an Fr
General-Difiuse Shading Deteminants (Y FY, and YF) The general-ditfuse shading
response the form is distinct and clear, which distinguishes it trom an rF
response inciudes within itsell all those shading responses which are neither texture nor vista. As response. Responses like
A girl in a mirror" and "Own tace retlected in water" may be scored as Fr because oi
the
a matter of tact it is this shading response to which Rorschach used the symbol parenthesized (O.
dominance of the torm, which Is relatively clear and distinct For Beck, ali the above
Such shading responses are used in a more general and non-specific sense than those of the
reflection responses would simply be scored as FV, which is a kind of vista npes of
exture or vesta responses. Like the texture or vista response, the general-diffuse response. Similarty.
shading response Klopfer would score them as FK which also a kind ot vista response.
is
can also be scared in any ol three ways depending upon the degree of the form involvement.
Like reilection responses, pair responses are also based
upon the
symmetry of the blot and
Apure shading (general-difiuse)
exclusively based
response scored Yand is defined
is as asa response, which are scored as parenthesized
(2. A pair response excludes the torm
speciticity
s
upon shading
seatures whose content has form. no These shading features, Thus when the symmetry ot the blot evokes the perception of woness or
or torm
quality.
howeves, mus not be percenved ether as texture or as vista. Responses like "Darkness", "Ink",
used by Exner (1974). Responses like "A pair ot tlags", "A
the symboB is pair, 2
"Smoke" "og" are scored as Yprovided shading features of "A pair shoes", pair oi crabs". wo
of the blot have been used. bears", and "Two little girls, one vn vach sicde" may be scored as
(2). However, the examner
 Alerbexds in Beharioural SCiences
Uwwwww amd Resnend
A
used when a the twno
pair o r the two
oukicareslhy ncae thar the symbol
(2) should
n e v e r be
objects are Profectiee Techniques 217
Content
peneived as neecad have been divides
Exner (1974)
determinants
int al task in scoring responses on the
following texture in
ally, Rorschach test is to
Thus s obvious that colour (chromatic),
colour (achromatic),
din
this final task is very
importantto for interpretation of theselect the appropriate
content.
d as f o m
movement,
dimensionality (form) and ropriately selecting symbols the responses and that is done by
agorKS general-diffuse (shading), lietion cymbols to represent the content represent
is not a verv diff. the Onient.
content. The
The selection
selection of
of appropriate
(shading).
m e n s a n a l t y or
vista for them. For convenience, a appropriate
symbols used the
altogether 24 scoring categories is presented in T Originally, Rorschach in
n d paies There
.nan, Hd (human detail), 1921 used only six symbols for the scoring of content. They were H
are
n a m e s and
appropriate response A
symbos along with sometimes two
or more than
two determinante12
(hun lanimal), Ad lanimal detail). Ls (landscape)
After Rorschach, several and Obj (inanimate
it
because
carefully blend responses which"ay be scientists found that these six
Reaciers should note Such
are known as
be oDate distinction amon8 the content categories. As such, categories did not provide an
combined in one response.
responses
response, or 2, while disce adeunon Rorschach's original symbols to represent the they developed their own symbolsS
Beck's Organizational the
detail along with
discussed in list consisting of 35 content categories was provided bycontent categories in detail.
nepretation of
Rorschach response.
determinants longno of 23 content categories was provided by Beck (1944), and the shortestThe
list
and description ofthe Rorschach
ts
Co Klopfer & Davidson (1962). Exner
Table 11.2 Symbols, category his mprehensive system included only 26 content categories out of which 22 the
has (1974 in
Description categories and four are the parenthesized supplementary content basic are

Symbols Category coneh sVstematizers not only give different lengths to the list of content categories. Various
but categories
category. For example, Klopfer has used symbol At for also
Form response
Fom use
different symbols tor
the sanme the
Human movement response
content whereas Beck has
used the symbol An for the same category. Since the lists of
tcategories proposed by most Rorschachers
vary widely. it is difficult
Animal movement response cone e to the
all. However, most common
to prepare a list
Movement Inanimate or inorganic movement response
acceptable
are reproduced below.
categories of content, which are acceptable to
FM
most Rorschachers,
Pure colour response Responses H, (H), Hd, (Hd)
Human

Colour (chromatic)
Colour-form response His used for wholeor nearlywholehuman figures. Responses like "Man "Woman", or "Man
Form-colour response n O hair on the head" would be scored as H. (H is used for mythological (or fictional)
Colour-naming response onlike whole human tigures. Ihus responses like "Giant", "Fainy", "Ghosts". "Dwarf and or
FC
Cn
ils" etc., would be scored as ( rather than H. The symbol Hdis used for parts of the human
Pure achromatic colour response hody or the incomplete numanom.Limbs, head, feet, hands, fingers, person without head, etc.
C" Achromatic colour-form response would be scored as Hd. Parts of the human body considered from the mythological or fictional
Colour (achromatic)
CF Form-achromatic colour response wtof view are scored as (Hd). Thus "Eyes of the devil", "Finger of a ghost", "Leg of a monster
point of (Hd) rather than Hd.
FC would be scored
Pure texture response
(A), Ad, (Ad)
Texture-form response Animal Responses A,
Texture (shading) Form-texture response
Tha svmbol A is used for whole or nearly whole animal figures. Responses like "Buffalo", "Cow,

or Cow having no
hom" would tictional
be scored as A.ofVWhen the response of a whole animal figure is
Pure vista response given from the mythologica or point view, the symbol A) is used. Responses like
Dimensionality EMagic horse" and "Flying fish", are scored as A). Adis reserved for parts of the animal body and
Vista-form response
Depth or Vista (shading) A is used for parts of the animal body considered from the mythological or fictional angle. Thus
VF Form-vista response
of frog", and "Ear of an ass* would be scored Ad
FV Head of the buffalo", "Tail of dog", "Head
a a as

Pure shading response and Wing of magic horse and "Face

of lion
of Goddess Durga" would be scored
a as (Ad)
viewpoints expressed therein.
General-diffuse (shading) Shading-form response because of the mythological
Form-shading response Anatomy (An)
of animals. Thus responses like "Lungs".
An is used for anatomy (internal organs) humans or

form) Form-based dimensional response human being or animal) would be scored as

Dimensionality (based "Skull". "Kidney", and "Intestine" (of either
on
FD Heart",
of An for anatomy content.
Klopfer has used At place
in
Reflection-form response An.
Fom-reflection response Nature (Na)
Reflection and pairs
Fr of the natural objects are rainbow,
Pair response are scored as Na. A few examples
(2 Natural objects o r things these responses would be scored as
mist, and so on. All
waterfall, storm, night, thunderstorm, tog,
 Methuds tn utbautnural Sciences
Z18 lets Measunments and Revvan h Pectuxe Techntques 219
because of ils importance.
this conteni category
Na. Clouds, are, however, excluded from and a nses
popular response on the basis of their
clinical experiences using the one-in-three criterion.
Clis provided (fxner, 1974). apaport et al. (1946)
separate symbol delined the P
response as that which occurs at least once in every
ve protocols. PiorowsKI (1957)
has recommended the 1our o
Botany (BU
lower, fruit, tree, bush,
and so on are scored as B ast once every 1our protocols. Hertz (1970) defined thescoring
in of P
P response
responses occurring d
that occurs
as

Obiects representing plan life

such as
least once in every protocols, thus using the broadest criterion. as a response
Six

Blood (Bi) Setting aside some minor variations, among Rorschach authorities like Hertz,
The symbol Blis used for the blood
of either human beings or animals. Mrowski, Rapaporn, Klopfer, Exner and Beck, the Mons,
enlisted shown below:
as popular responses evoked by the ten cards
may be
AM
and the seal, and the seal ol authority
are written as Art in content Card: Bat or butterfly (W), human figure (D)
Paintings, family, crest. 5coring.
scori

CardIl: Human figures (W), butterfly (D), animal forms,

Clothing (CR (Wor D) usually the heads of dogs or bears
materials associated with human beings such as Irousers, hat, blouse, sari and hook. are Two human
Clothing with mythological characters such a ghos.
Card Il: figures or single human figures, and dolls
Cg. Clothing materials associaled (W), butterfly (D), fish
as
scored 's (D)
as
trousers or a witch hal are scored as parenthesized (Cg) Card IV Animal skin or a human figure covered in animal
skin (W), shoe or boot (D)
Card V Moth, vulture, eagle, bat and butterfly (W), rabbit
Food (Fd (D), leg (d)
Card V: Animal skin (
All responses representing food substance or edible objects are scored as Fd. Responses li
scored as Fd. Card Vil: Head or face of a woman or a child (Wor D)
apple, fried chicken, eggs, fried fish or meat, elc., are

Card VIll: Animal figures commonly perceived as wolf, fox, coyote, dog and bear (D),
Fire (Fi bush (D) tree,
Responses like burning. electric bulb, burning candle, actual lire, Ilame coming out from a stove
Card IX A head or face of a male (D), camel's head (D),
or torch, etc., will be scored as Fi, In the determinant category these responses are scored as m tree (D)
because they denote inanimate movement. Responses like atomic explosion or blasl are, Card X: Many-legged creatures such crab, lobster, spider and rabbit's head (D),
as
however. given a separate content symbol, thal is, Ex, which denotes explosion. The determinan dogs (D)
Rorschach (1942) had also suggested scoring for the original response. He defined the
category will continue to be m. original or O response as à response that OCCurs no more than once in hundred protocols.
Household (Hth) Therefore, original responses are rare and creative responses. On the basisoneof the
Interior household items such as table, plate, chai, bedsheets, pillow, etc., are scorel as Hh Oresponse is divided into two categories. An original response having a clear andform quality, the
distinct form is
ceored as O', whereas O is Scored for vague and indistinct original
Landscape (Ls) Drschachers except Beckhave included the scoring of the original response response. Almost all
in their system but
Precepts involving landscapes or seascapes are scored as Ls. Thus responses like beautiful each of them has provided a word ol caution. Piotrowski (1957) has said that the
garden, an aerial view of the city, underwater scenes are scored as Ls. original response is highly subjective and should be accomplished only by scoring of the
trained
Dschachers. Likewise, Rapaport et al. (1946) have suggested that the decisionsome to score the
Sex tSx) orjginal score is a very ditficult task and only the trained Rorschacher should attempt it. Likewise
Responses representing sex organs or sexual functions are scored as Sx. Responses like penis, Kloofer &Kelley (1942) consider the scoring of the original response as "a hopeless
because the number of such responses is unlimited. enterprise"
vagina, sexual intercourse, breast, testicles, menstruation, and so on are scored as Sx.
Xray (Xy) INTERPRETATION OF THE RORSCHACH PROTOCOL
Responses invoving percepts of X-ray are scored as Xy. Thus X-ray of the bones, X-ray of the interpretation of Rorschach data is
The a
complex task and requires considerable training, skill
heart, X-ray of the intestines, etc., are scored as Xy. and experience. Perhaps, this is the reason why there is no complete consensus regarding the
interpretation of the data even among the prominent Rorschach authorities. However, in this
Popular and Original Responses
book an attempt has been made to present the interpretative significance of Rorschach data in
The popular or P responses are those responses which occur frequently in the Rorschach
the simplest possible form, which beginners may find profitable. Throughout the
protocols. Orig1nally, Rorschach (1942) made no mention of the popular responses in his work.
However, he recognized the importance of such responses in his posthumously published paper interpretation of Rorschach responses, the method of content analysis (also known
document analysis) has been assumecd to be the correct method of analysis.
as

in
1923. He called these popular responses vulgar responses. According Presponse to him, a
the total
ndicates the ability for conventional perception. Rorschach set up an objective criterion in According Rorschach,
to
number of responses or R varies between 15 to 30 for
normal examinee. Klopfer, however, estimated R to vary between 20 and 45 and Exner (1974)
a
defining the Presponse. According to him any response to be recognized as a Presponse, should
R vary
occur al least once in every three protocols. This one-in-three criterion of Rorschach has been estimated to between 17 and 27 under his comprehensive system. Thusdoes
Ror the maximum total R varies. A minor deviation from the above
the minimum total
adapted by most Rorschachers. Klopfer & Davidson (1962) for example, have developed a list of not range necessarily
 sciences

Reseanb
Methexds n Bebai tOural Profectine Tecbniques 221
Measuwmens
and
Z20 Tiexts.
with caution. A
very Ve
it should be explained
traits. However,
examinee, that is,
he has rejected o oonses because iney represent the easiest perceptual cognitive mode to act when laced win
indicate psychopathological indicates rejection by the
such as 10 or
below make a careful note because o
of it, respo
icuity. A review of the iterature reveals that Card X produces the largest number of D
total R examiner should
cards of test and
the skilled
depression and organicity. However, Dony annses because of its unbroken features. Usually, in a protocol the number of D response
more

indicate defensiveness,
intellectual limitations,
the basis of the total R. Other
on
facto resp hecause Dresponses are easier to give than other location responses. Persons having stress
accepted or rejected solely o only
give only ffew D
or and anxiety give
aa
these traits can be wholly a very high
total R such as 90 responses. Even maladjusted persons yield a low proportion of
should also be taken into account. Likewise, 100
appear later
D r e s p o n s e s .

1957).
tendencies (Piotrowski,
indicates schizophrenic
the reaction time of the scorable responso in
The Dd response is
nlerpreted as a form of respite from the vagueness of the common or
Rorschacher has emphasized of the blo. For a
Almost every
elapsed during
the total time
the free associalion. Piotrowski (1957
largcos low.
normal adult the proportion of Dd as compared to Wand
each card as well as
and he never recorded the reaci
is very
responses is very It occurs at the rate of 5% in the
however, remarked that Rorschach never used a stopwatch action of 20 is Dd for a normal adult. When the protocol of a normal adult, that is, one
The general purpose of notina amount of
time with any precision, though
he noted down a longer pause.
reaclion ime to the chroma
respo of schizophrenics or obsessive compulsive neurosis, themental disturbance is high as i
of the average the 9 percentage of Dd may exceed
down reaction time was to make comparison Mere presence ot the
a

evenaluse when it is present Dd

response should not be
with that of the achromatic colour cards (Cards 1, IV, V vi interpreted as being an unhealthy
colour cards (Cards I1, 1, VI, IX, and X) the colour-shock in appropriate ratio along with
or absence of what is called sign
and VI). Such may reveal the presence
comparison apacity and the capacity to withdraw. The research W and D, it indicates both
which is indicated when the average reaction time
to chromatic cards is higher than the average initia as Dositively related with internal findings revealed that the Dd
reaction time to achromatic cards. justment.
adjustment and was negatively related with external
A detailed discussion of the interpretative significance
of the different symbols used in the ad The response, according to
four categories of scoring, that is, location, determinants, content as well as popular and original
features. Klo
(1942), Beck
ism or
oppositional
Rorschach (1945) and
Rapaport et al. (1946)
responses is presented below. indicae he the indicative of 'constructive .(1954) has, however,
interpreted the S
self-assertiveness'
Location Scores respoeroportionately in the protocol. A review of provided such responses do not
indicate how the Ocsions with lew contraaictions. Bandura (1954) the literature
a supports the above
All location scores, in general, examinee approaches his environment,
particularly the ambiguities or vagueness pertaining to it without answering why. In other words,
conc elated with 'oppositional' or negativistic tendencies.reported that the S responses are
the location scores indicate only the manner in which the examinee approaches the ambiguities found
sIch relationship between ese
no these two variabla
variables.
Murray (1974) has, however,
the hioh
showedthe
highest frequency of Sresponses. Rapaport et al. (1946) reported that
of his world without answering why he prefers this manner or that manner. A content analysis of paranoid patients
the various location scores is presented below astly, the three contabulalory types
1
also important interpretative ofelements.
L answers, that is, the DW, the
are DdW and the DdDD
Of the various location scores, the W score is probably the most frequently and widely
investigated location score. W responses are given in greater frequency for Cards I, IV, V, and VI very rare. According to Rorschach, such These are a highly unique form of response
because these cards are more solid and represent the form of unbroken blots. Rorschach (1942)
coníabulatory types of location responses
cate intellectual constriction and distorted perception. All
had revealed that W has a direct relationship with intellectual abilityand capacity to this view of Rorschach and have considered
the
Rorschachers except Beck have
organize accey Dathological ones. Beck (1945) has shown that these confabulatory responses to be
thingsor objects in a meaningful and coherent whole. A review of the literature reveals that this
revelation of Rorschach has aroused some controversy because some researchers have
failed to ven by a normal adult confabulatory
specially when his intellectual capacity types of responses
is superior.
cognition (Exner, 1974). Following Beck,
show a consistent relationship between Wresponses and mental ability. For example, Amitage et Such abulatory respons indicate only logical
a
al. (1955) reported a very low correlation between
Wresponses and IQs. Likewise, Lotstaff (1953) Determinant Scores
reported that W responses are related to verbal fluency only but not to the overall
Wittenborn (1950) found no relationship between W responses and measures of intelligence. torminant scores indicate psychological action, which
intelligence. forms the basis of a
Because responses are related to intelligence only for some specific cards, there is low
words, they indicale what psychological action underlies a response. In other
correlation (about .40) between the number of
Wresponses and IQ scores (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, analysis of the various delerminant scores is presented below. particular response. A content
2001). The proportion of Wis also an
D (WDratio) for a normal adult
important clue. Exner (1974) reported that the ratio of
Wto The F response (or the pure torm response) is the most
should be 1:2.
concluded that the examinee selects the easier If the Dside
of the ratio is elevated, it is
ordinarily Rorschach test. According to Rorschach (1942), a pure form common determinant scoring in the
perceptual-cognitive mode to act when faced with thinking or reasonin8 and indiCales the atention-concentration response is related to the examinee's
ambiguity. On the other hand, when the W side of the ratio is elevated, it indicates features of human
examinee reports to excess in a bid to that the other words, it indicates adequate alfective delay or control thinking. In
reserence to the human movement
organize an agmbiguous situation. Wis also
interpreted with fom response. Beck (1945) and Klopter et al. (1954) have necessary for the occurrence of the
to M, that is, W:M
determinant, that is, M. The
average normal adult ratio of W additional caution. They Caution that the locus of the agreed with Rorschach but with
an
(both indicative of intellect) is 2:1 to 3:1. If pure íorm response is
that the examinee has a Wexceeds the 3:1 ratio, it indicates constriction or delense and emotional contlict may be present indicative of
high aspiration level, which normally exceeds his there. but
other hand, if Wfalls below 2:1 it indicates
that his aspirations are below ability level. On the thought operations, the contlict is somehow controlled. through deliberate
The D response, the level of his
ability. Dure form responses indicate a process of formal According to Rapaport et al. (1946), the
according
and distinct characteristics of the
to Rorschach,
indicates the ability perceive and react to clear
to his reasoning
direct attention and thinking to the elements of control and hisand the ability of the
examinee to
world. Generally D
responses are easier to give than w judgement. Such examinees also show regard for the standards of ability to make discriminating
the
Rorschachers have compared the pure torm responses with the environment. Most of the
non-pure form responses, for
222 Tests, AMeasurmens and Reseanh Meths in Behauiourai Sctences

extracting adequate meaning from the pure form responses. One such comparison is don. Pmfectite Technugues 223
ne nd not easily modiliable
through caculating F*% =
100
. Recently, Beck (1945) has argued for another method 9anaport holds that M tendency to maintain uniform
R of responses indicate type of delay
a
attitude in dealing with one.
itive functions in bid a
to give a of
a
occurring due to somE
comparing pure form responses with non-pure form responses. His method provides for the of a resistance to a natural or
deliberate response. response
more
Thus, M responses are indicative
Lambda index. One advantage of the Lambda index over F%,
accordin8 to Beck, Is that it avoird ernalization or spontaneous response, the result responses
the problems involved in interpreting the percentages (in F%) specially when R varies. Th late M externalization. Recently, some
researches have been conducted in bid
CoLeh Mresponses
to different
Lambda index is calculated by dividing the sum of pure form deteminants by non-pure form overt and a
deteminants. Hence rm responses were examined in covert behaviours. Dana (1968) conducted to
estimation, intellect, creativeness, and relation to six
important one stUay
EF enses may be related to any all of theinterpersonal relati lations. constructs-fantasy, time,
above six behaviours. His observation was that M
or
Lambda index =
.Sum of non-F determinants respitive correlation between Several
intelligence and M responses (Abrams, studies have coniirmed
tner 1958). Cocking, Dana & Dana
The range for an (1969) 1955; Sommer
rage nomal adult lies fro 50 to 1. When the Lambda index exceeds
1, it indicates excessive affective constraint and when it flls below 0.50, it indicates afecti
cfantasies, and time estimation. M have
reported that
responses have also beenMresponses are related with
&
nses Oon the test, especially the
interpreted
instability. Several research findings have revealed, in general, that when the examinee is in
state of detensiveness, the number of
reted Sum C. A detailed discusSion
We
colour-responses, is, in terms of
of
that in terms
of other
this ratio appears later in this the ratio of sum M to the
pure form responses is increased, thus supporting Beck and ErlebnistyDus (EB) the or
'experience of the five chapter the context of
Klopfer's position. A low frequency of pure form response occurs when the examinees are balance-one in
Rorschach in the interpretation of protocol.
instructed to respond very quickly because this deprives them of the variables introduced
by
delay necessary for the EMresponse (or animal
formation of the pure form answer (Hafner, 1958). It has also been reported that
intoxication tends nhasized by Klopter, movement response) is another
to increase the
enciveness' of a person,Hertz and important determinant much
that is, thePiotrowski.
frequency pure
of fom but the quality of such
trait of a According
responses responses is reduced to them, FM
(Rabin, Papania, McMichael, 1954). Likewise, it has also been demonstrated that person in which he is responses indicate
tend to give fewer pure form psychopaths ediate gain or gratifica
ication than for more
guided by need for
responses than alcoholics. m among children and aged long-term goals. The trait of
The pure fom response has also been
interpreted in terms of its quality, that is, in terms com
Klopfer & Davidson (1962) that the
persons than
among adults. Accordingly, impulsiveness
it has been
is more
good form (F)or poor fom (F" According to Beck (1945), the F response indicates that of ed that in childfrequency FMas compared to Mis
of reported
Ames (1960) reported
the
Cme independent studies have beenprotocols the high foraged persons
examinee has respect for reality whereas the F" response indicates that he has no
respect for thee frequency of FM exceeds the
frequency of
reality of the environment. Some researchers have demonstrated a relationship between F* nses and the correlates of conducted to examine the relationship between
responses and the intellect. Klopfer & Kelley (1942) reported a significant pósitive onsibility, defensiveness, etc. In herimpulsiveness such as the FM
aggressiveness, distractability,
between a lower percentage of F responses and mental retardation. In one of their correlation lated with the different measures of study, Hannsuch (1964) demonstrated that FM
early studies defensiveness as substitution where overtresponses are
Beck&Molish (1967) reported a high correlation between
the lower percentage of F responses of imnulse is found, and with
and limited intellectual endowment. F oc not get overt
rationalization, regression and expression
intermalization where
responses also indicate the ability to deal with stress an behavioural expression. Sommer the impulse
effectively (Goldberger, 1974). Some Rorschachers have argued for the calculation of an F*% respons significantly correlated with aggressiveness&and
are Sommer (1958) have found that
FM
which is equal toFx100 For normal adult (who is neither disturbed demonstrated irresponsibility, a88ressiveness and
that assaultiveness. Thompson (1938)
EF)+CF
a
nor of low correlated with the
preponderance
ot distractability
FM measured MMPI as
by highly
responses. Berryman (1961) in this
intelligence) F% should be above 80%. F*% exceeding 80% is taken as indicative of the fact that artists found that FM responses were posilively related to their level of study of creative
the person has fim control over his intellect and behaviour. The responses (or the inanimate movement
m productivity.
Movement determinants (M, FM and m) are the second important are response) indicate impulses or thoughts which
'threatening' to the stability of the personality and
the Rorschach test. Out of the above three movement interpretive elements in (Klopfer et al., 1954). Hertz (1942) and Piotrowski (1957) usually beyond the control of persons
are
determinants, M is the most widely
investigated one. According to Rorschach, M responses indicate the different ways. While they did not consider such interpreted the responses in slightly m

phenomena of
internalization', that is, they indicate the ability of the examinees to handle the more representing impulses thoughts which are not properly
or responses as threatening, they took them as
and sophisticated inner deliberate
experience (marked by organization and reasoning) in a way that they No other Rorschachers the except integrated into the cognitive functions.
above three, have included the
can be controlled
emotionally. Thus M responses indicate ideational type of thinking, which The most common interpretation of m responses among the three scoring for m in their systems.
grows with cognitive maturation. Klopíer et al. (1954) and Hertz (1974) have responses are associated with frustration occurring due to Rorschachers is that such
argued that M
responses indicate a íunctional relationship between the inner world and the external world few researches regarding m responses have revealed imperfect interpersonal behaviour. A
reality. Beck (1945) suggests that M responses indicate awareness towards the external world and of
above. Majumdar & Roy (1962) have something more than what has been said
reported that m responses occur in
reflect some conflicts or emotions which do not among juvenile delinquents. Neel (1960) in her greater
Thus the three prominent Rorschachers,
get obvious expression in the world of reality.
increase with an increase in inhibitions, tension and
study has demonstrated that m frequency
responses
namely, Klopfer, Beck and Hertz, have agreed with conflicts,
Rorschach's view that Mresponses indicate the
phenomenon of internationalization because all integrate needs with behaviour. The active-passive dimension commonly created by the failure to
of the three movement
of them regard M FM and m is also of some
responses as bridging the inner world with the reality of the external world.
Piotrowski (1960) and Rapapor et al. (1946) while
interpretive significance. Passive movements of the threescores, M,in
agreeing with Rorschach, have maintained a general, are related io depression and active movements are taken to be indicative of
types,
slightly different position. Piotrowski argues that M responses indicate a sort of disturbances. character
deeply embedded
 Niencx
Bebarwural

AMabNds n
Rivvant
AMNuments
and
A
2
of next important
and Cn) are nt
(C CE FC
colour
determinants
these
chromatic colour
responsoPre
relive
nses indicate eupho
ic
character espectaly when white
pfer, Rapapon and light gray features of the
or

uchhaand
response. Klopfe
chromatic (1942),
The Rorschach in which colourroe
significance.
According
to
C Cn and
CF responses
FC responceses grey features and Piotrowski also agree that when
blot become the
bas1s
affectivity or
emotional
excitability.
which has no capability
tor adaptiveness.

with the
nwh
hich
are blainales
iom dohilityover C" black-grey-white
responses (scored
features, they tend to the basis of C" responses
indicate affectivity indicate
dominant,
indicateaffectivity
is dominant,
hypothesis. As interprete
y fo is less intense and
as
FC), it indicates that the depression. When
the fom
rather than the colour colour-aitect

FC: CF +O ve, th Cdominales (scored as C"F), it well-controlled,

indicates but when form impact of affect on
Rorschach's
that the plays a
aftect on secondary role and
is known as + C (that is,
adaptiveness. This FC to CF h, disruptive and uncontrolled. impact of
that when the proportion for adaptiveness) during the cognitive stability is
hypothesis holds ve
the degree of
control (capability
indicates that the
examinees do n o t The shading responses. are
nificance. As
the next
important determinants
e x a m i n e e s possess
the
but when
is true, it
reverse
n calculating the above he possess interpreea (V VE, FV) discussed earlier, shading and hence
next of
emotional state
affective or emotional state. There are two con, he
and
general-ditfuse responses of three important
are
degree of control during the within the Cdeleminant.
versia the most popular
are
(Y, YF and
FY. Oí thesetypes-texture lT, TF
The first issue relates to the
included ones. three.
frequency of Cn
determinants is
colour-aliect hypothesis.
According Hertz, texture
establishing affectively rewarding to the texture
pt of definedas responses indicate
issues relating to Rorschach's
was
introduced by
Rorschach
himsell and was
thtarie Klopfer
relationships with the external environment.
argued that the texture responses
et al. (1954) have argu
This concept recognized o n
colour-shock.
The existence
of colour-shock was
oasis of indicate painful affective represent affective need. Beck (1945)
that texture responses i
or surprise reaction to
colour blots.
time to chromatic
colour Cards (, I1 VIII, IX and x) inabiy SUggesisd Darticularly the erotic needs of the experience, which is usually related to
some indices like longer
reaction indicates anxiety D o infantile
fscored as FT), it indicates that the period. When fom
to the colour
exclamation,
cards,
etc.
Colour-shock

notional disequilibriu
eurosis and person is able to control his dominates the
produced by the them to his own
advantage
emot
(Beck.
Klopfer et al. (1954) agree affective
respond which is
can use
1945). needs
to respond, whaueto d
and Car Suggested that FT
seriously impaired ability issue ol colour-affect
hypothesis is related to reponses indicate "the awareness with Beck and
colour. The second the 'afferctipfer have tureion and and differentiation of a
affect produced by 8-9-10% and Beck
(1961) has called
Kl ratio' need tor d dependency." Where lexture dominates so that form or persons's
&Kelley (1942) have called
ratio is equal to 2R{VIl+IX : ERI VI).
+ X) to
has secondaryrole lrored as FT), it indicates that the painful affective shape plays onlya
Afn. The affective of the alfective ratio for a nor ing with proper interpersonal behaviour (Klopfer et al., 1954; experience is
(abbreviated as
ol percentage.
view in terms
The range ormal aduh interfer
Beck. disruptive and
expressed the same ratio 0.55 indicates withdrawal
below or The vista responses (symbolized as , VF and FVby Beck) are the 1945).
falls between 0.55 and
0.75. The alfective
the alfective ralio above
0.75 indicates that the Derso passivity dimensionality. Such shadingresponses based
towards affective stimulation and
thic aàn esponses are very rare and their absence from the
affective slimulation. In other words,
upon

uncontrolled tendency to be caught

up by al, is regarded healthy sign (Exner, 1974). Beck (1944)
as a h protocol, in
the last three cardsVII, IX, X, which painful feeling tone in which suggests that vista responses
related
number of responses to
the proportional fully indicate a
depression of aftect and inferionty
feelings are also
to
have agreed that when the percen 54) interpret shading
Klopler et al. (1954
Bolh Klopler and Beck o involved.
responses based upon dimensionality (or vista
chromatically coloured. cards is high, the examinees are conci as representing the ppersons's
ability to deal
R to the last three with anxieties and conflicts
proportion of responses
or
it indicates that the examia respo limited number of studies on behavioural correlates of vista objectively.
But when the converse true,
is
to affective stimulation. Theae responses and few of
responsive This simple revelation has, however, not revealed a
some important facts. Mellzer (1944)
are withdrawn from affective stimulation. been them has demonstrated that stutterers give
Perinan (1951), Dubrovner, Von Lackum responses than non-stuttere Likewise, vista
more vista
an
researchers like Meyer (1951), Jost answers occur in
supported by studies of chromatic colour-responcee. mong alcoholics than among Psychopaths (Exner, 1974). greater frequency
(1950). Some researchers
have made correlational
Gardner (1951) has oblained
revelations.
a significant posi diffuse-shading responses (scored as Y, YF and FY by Beck)
interesting and important are the third
category of
coloured responses and impulsiveness. Kobler &Steil (19s 3) shadin responses
and are more common and frequent than the texture or vista responses
correlation between chromatically in a
that chromatic colour-responses not related to all kinds of
are affects For rotocol.The diffuse-shading responses, in general, indicate anxiety and withdrawal írom the
have demonstrated
in depression such responses tend almost to disappear. P ment or passivity. When difluse-shading responses are wholly related to
example,
is
response lor Cn) very
rare among chromatically coloured responcoe e
commd
nly referred to as shading-anxiety hypolhesis, and when diffuse-shading amxiety, itareis
The colour-naming
Weigl (1941) has demonstrated that Cn indicates brain damage. Piotrowski has reported that wholly related to the tendency 1or withdrawal, it is referred to shading-passivityresponses
as
hypothesis.
indicates some kind of organic involvemenl
and thus has supported Weigl. It has also been found loofer et al. (1954) argue that such responses indicate a free-floating anxiety against which the
that Cn responses were given by persons
with diencephelic lesions. individual remains unable lo build any detences. He, thus, supports the shading-anxiety
achromatic colour responses (C, FC, and C'A based upon the white-grey-black Lothesis. Rapaport et al. (1946) have supported Klopfer's interpretation. Beck (1945) suggests
The that the diffuse-shading responses indicate a general withdrawal tendency írom the environment
The C" response indicates the affective
features of the blot are of next interpretive significance.
state in which the affect is apparently
released but the person is hesilant to express it directly to the and thus, support the shading-passivity hypothesis. He further sugests that Y and YF
responses
external world, that is, the affect is not exposed directly to the world (Klopfer & Kelley, 1942) indicate the experience o an extreme iom of withdrawal from the environment leading

Since the affect is not exposed directly, its behavioural consequences are nol so obvious as when
complete inability to respond, whereas FY responses indicate that the experience is a mild form of
withdrawal or passivity leading to a simple delay in responding. There are a number of studies
the affect is nol suppressed (usually reflected through chromatically coloured cards). The most
common experiences associated with C"responses are tension, constraint and/or pain, all or any supporting the shading-anxiely hypothesis and the shading-passivity hypothesis, the latter being
SuDDOrted more consistently than the lormer. Eichler (1951) has found that when the subjects are
of which may lead to disequilibrium to cognitive stability. Rapaport et al. (1946) considered the C
esponses to be indicative of conscious and deliberate control or defense against affective pud under an experimentallyinduced stres situation, the number of difuse-shading responses
harply increases.Levitt & Grosz (1960) have demonstrated that hypnotically induced
anxiety
expresson to the external world. Piotrowski (1957) has agreed with Rapaport and Klopfer in the
interpreation o C' responses. However, he has added that such responses may also indicate
 Behautoural
Sctemces
Methods i n
Reseanh
Measurmens
and
226 Test
responses,
Other researchers ha faila
of the difiuse-shadingIscoe & Calvin (1954) have edadve Pruectur lechniupus 227
tends to
increase the frequency
shading-anxiety
hypothesis.
Holtzman,

between the diffuse-shading

responses and the t e fantasy.
o
In interpretation
interpretation of
of ani
animal and human
contents the two ratios are
support the Goodstein & Goldh.
and compared:

there is no
relationship
(1954) and frequently computed
sudy that scale. Goodstein
scale. (195
one
Anxiety o0has to the
extendeaive relationship dibetween
shadin First ratio
the Taylor
reported
Manifest

similar
which
finding.
favours
Elstein (1965)
Beck's
has extended support

view. He found
a positive ng-passivithety Second ratio =
(These ratios alsoinclude (H, (Hd), A)
=H+Hd:A+ Ad
H+ A:Hd+ Ad
hypothesis, towards withdrawal. and (Ad)
and the tendency sonlv, the first ratio tends to fall in responses).
diffuse-shading responses a scoring category introducei Commonly, the range of 1:2.
response (FD) relatively new
is
dimensional self.3.Ekne, oto indicate impairment ot Any reversal or imbalance of the
The fom
(1974). FD responses
tend to indicate internalization
such responses are prone
involving self-inspection or
sensitive and self-critical.
to be
self-awareness. atio
en

second
ratio, suggested bby Klopíer, gives
cognitive
normally fallsin the range of 3:1 to 4:1, which
development
to
and effective
emphasis the occurrence of thesocial realtions. The
whole vs detail. It
Persons giving
were separately
scored and analyzed indicates ability to
Reflection (rf and Fh
and pair (2) responses
egoconntri Exner arspective. Reversal in this ratio perceive the things or
indicate excessive concern for objects
tends in
has revealed that reflection and pair responses indicate their with some kinds of pathological traits. toThe details often
(1974). His analysis estimates the egocentricity of a person:
only when (H), (Hd), (A) and (Ad) do notabove meaning of the two ratios stands
or
self-centredness. He has given
a formula, which n: ect only whe
correct
valid and dominate or occur at
ized responses occur more than the great frequency.
Egocentricity Index 3, + (2):R If
=

non-parenthesized
suchpaeaningless and parenthesized responses should be treated responses, the ratios
total number of responses on all the ten
where rincludes both rf
and Fr and R
means the cards appropriate meaning. separately to
convey their
range of the above ratio for a normal adulh atomy responses also occur irequently in the Rorschach protocol. In
Hence, egocentricity index =rf +Fr)+The falls ndicate excess preoccupaton with bodily concerns without general, anatomy
between 0.30 and 0.40.
If the ratio falls below 0.30, it indicates
a poor self-evaluation d
l
responses

Theperson releases or any physiological illness.

releases his affect motions towards the stress through these
others and values of the world. If the ratio
is above 0.40, it ind preoccupations. It has
excessive concem about ted that psychosomatics usually give more anatomy
even at the cost of others and values
or the world. In one stud been e close associate the anatomy response is the X-ray responses than neurotics (Shatin,
excessive values to the self of
and it also tends to
homosexuals, character disordereds and depressives,
he demonstrated that homosexuals
a e the same form of preoccupation. But the difference is that theresponse
reflection responses than depressives did. Like preoccupation revealed by
character disordereds gave
more
to other groups, where
ray response more intense
is and
paintul because the reactions of the persons towards the
homosexuals gav a larger number compared
of pair responses as
reas stress are not released rather kept concealed or suppressed.
to other groups.
depressives gave a fewer number of pair responses compared
as
hor content scores have been meagrely explained. Sex and blood responses tend to
Content Scores t e sexual or
aggressive acts. Nature, cloud and
botany contents indicate emotional
Content scores also provide very impotant interpretive clues regarding the person's needs inoeion. Responses
depriva
likefire, landscape, houseold, art, clothing, etc., tend to indicate various
Of the different content scorino' kndsof preoccupations causing interference in affective adjustment.
interests, interactions and about his various preoccupations.
probably the three content scorings, that is, animal, human and anatomy have been widely Responses
studied and the evidences regarding them are more precise than evidences on other conten Popular and Original
n g to Rorschach, Popular or Presponses indicate the capability for conventional
categories. Several studies have demonstrated that the animal contents, that is, A and Ad ACCO thinking.
Hetz have demonstrated that the high frequency of P responses indicates intellectual
k
represent the single major class of response (Wedemeyer, 1954; Nelf & Glaser, 1954). Animal
contents also tend to be influenced by age-children giving the largest number of animal
Dririty, whereas the low trequency ot P responses indicates intellectual retardation. The
range of Presponsesfor a normaladuilt lies between 5 to 8. A frequency of Presponses exceeding
conntents and aduls giving comparatively a low number of animal contents. In general, an rangr imit (that is, more than 8) indicates obsession-compulsion and/or
excess of animal contents or higher A% (that is, (A + Ad)x% indicates intellectual constriction h r hand, the frequency ot P responses talling below the lower limit (that depression. On the
is, less than 5)
and/or emotional disturbances. Normally, A% should range from 35% to 45% of the responses. A indicates inability to perceive the mosl common things (which are usually perceived by others
low A% tends to indicate the idiographic character of the person who perceives the objects of the aloof from the general world, and inability of conformity in thinking. Original or O responses
environment in his own peculiar way. Human
contents, is, Hand Hd are the second largest
that rmav also indicate creativeneness or inventiveness of the subject (Exner, 1974).
single class of response. Human contents also tend to be influenced by age-children giving
fewer human content responses and adolescents as well as adults giving a larger number of Blend Responses and Organizational Activity
human contents. A high frequency of H responses indicates better cognitive development and his A blend response is one where two or more than two determinants have been used in the
potential for good relations.A low frequency of H responses, on the other hand, is usually formulation of a response. In scoring a blend response, all the determinants constituting the blend
associated with delinquency (Ray, 1963). Klopfer et al. (1954) argue that the high are entered and separated by a dot ), such as FM T, which means that the response contains both
answers is usually associated with compulsive behaviour and indicates that the
frequency of Hd
subject's the animal movement and the pure texture. Likewise, the blend may include three determinants
preoccupations hinder his interpersonal relationship with others. Some Rorschachers have such as M-C-V, which means that the response contains human movement, pure colour and
argued for interpretation in terms of an H:Hdratio. For a normal adult this ratio falls in the range of vista. The majority of the blend responses, however, consist of two determinants. It was Beck who
2:1 to 3:1. Reversal of this ratio (that is, when Hd exceeds H) indicates
depression,
constructie desences and intellectual limitations. Content scores like (A), tAd), (H and anxiety,
for the first time in 1937 introduced the scoring of the blend responses with the help of a dot ).
(Hd) tend Readers should note that the scoring symbols for determinants in the blend answer are the same
to indicate excessive
passivity or withdrawal from the general world of reality into a world of as would be given if any of the determinants were scored separately. Each deteminant in the
 in Bebar oural Sciences Profectite Technuque 229
and Researh iethods
28 Tists Measunments
use one's inner life for the
satisfaction
proneness

which are included are not in blends of M:EC is greater, it indics

dicates of basic
needs. On the other
blends is noted in its original symbol,
and determinants
cOunted. The tification of one's ownextroversiveness or proneness to hand, if the
the single determinant are being means social interactions as a
counted again when the frequencies
for each of
in psychological activities at the ds the world than an important needs. Such a personuselikes
blend response is usually interpreted
to indicate complexities
indicate a higher level of
affect introversive
hen Moutweighs that ratio, person. Some more to
express his
time of responding. According to
Exner (1974), such
blend responses
'undue constriction
roversiveness is introversiveness is Rorschachers have
indicated, and when EC prefixed certain
a
of blend responses is very low, indicates
weigh the ECindicated.
it
ratio, For
example, Klopfer et al. (1954)
intelligence. When the frequency is compared
A blend response the total number of with by 2:1 there an is have
outweighs that
said "when M
of the psychological processes'. exceeds one-fifth of R, the frequency oi is an extroversive balance." introversive balance; whereas
responses. that is, R in the protocol.
If the blend response by the ratio are equal, that is, Rorschach described a rare when EC
number of blend responses is below one-fifth, the
possibility outweighs
such a response is taken to be high and the sides
orsons share the experiences M becomes equal to EC. He caled
if in which both
of
introversiveness such
frequency is taken to be low.
on the Rorschach test, thouph
important response
Sucheseribed as showing failure to establish a certain extroversiveness, andambiequal.
as well as persons
response tendency for the therefore,
Organizational activity is another
Beck became the of basic needs.
himself did not provide a scoring for such response. In 1933,
formal
gratification
Rorschach
first person to introduce a fomal scoring for organizational activity
under the symbol Z. Thez ExDerience Actual (EA) is the second
determinant is the extension of the concept of whole (M.
It indicates creative ability, that is ance, The EA was for the first time introduced important variable of the
ability to perceive and create new wholes. He divided organizational activity into three SIg n in the EB and is equal to the sum of all by Beck (1960). The EA is obtained interpretative
subcategories, depending upon the type of organization
and the complexity of the stimuli, each as under: components appearing in EB. It may befrom the
all types of onganizational activity writen
subtype being weighted differently. The symbol for was.
EA = M+EC
however, the same Z. The three types of organizational activity are as under
1. An organizational activity which meaningfully integrates two or more adjacent
ac Dointed out that EA indicates that the affective
or controlled. experiences of persons are
detail areas. organized
2. An organizational activity which meaningfully integrates two or more non-adjacent TheExperience Base (eb)
for (1954). The eb, also knownrepresents ratio which is based
a
as the upon similar ratio a
detail areas.
a n movement determinants withconfirmatony ratio, is nothing but suggested by
3. An organizational activity in which white space is meaningfully integrated with details of all
achromatic determinants. Thus eb* may be writtencategories of pure comparison of ail a

the blot. as shading determinants

indicated below: and
One important step to be taken in scoring a response as Z is that form must
always be eb
mvolved
either
in a or
way. This automatically reveals that pure
primary secondary colour ZFM+m):(T+ V+Y+ C')
response both chromatic and achromatic), pure texture response, pure vista response and pure Arcording to Klopíer, the
eb indicates a kind of response
difuse-shad1ng response would never be scored as Z. In 1940 Hertz also introduced scoring for extroversive), which has not been
fully accepted by the tendency (either introversive or
organzatuonal activity in her system but the different types of organizational activity, unlike Beck, tendency is reflected by (FM + m) and extroversive persons at a given time. The
introversive
were
weighted equally. Organizational activities are interpreted as indicating intellectual Roth of these response tendencies are such that tendency is reflected
by (T V Y +C'). + +
Hertz, however, interpreted activity. actions. It is obvious from the above facts that thethey are not easily controlled by
organizational activities as the composite representative of intellect, higher
geativeness, drive and efficiency. A very low frequency of Z scores indicates depression and
similar to some extent. Ordinarily, eb should interpretive signifiçance of EB and that cognitive of eb are
anxiety in persons who are of
superior intelligence. indicates the above two types ot
follow the same direction as EB because it also
response tendencies. If this
For making a full and coherent
the five main variables introduced interpretation
of a Rorschach protocol, it is also
essential that
said to have been strengthened and
confirmed. happens, implications of eb are
the
by Rorschachers be clearly understood. The five variables are: The Experience Potential
the Erlebnistypus (EB), the (ep) is another
Experience upon derivation of data important variable of interpretative
Actual (EA), the This ratio is based
Base (eb) Experience Potential (ep), the Experience
and the Blend response. The last
variable has already beer explained and interpreted.
Thesesore, in the foliowing paragraphs only the first four are non-human movement determinants incorporated in eb and is equal to thesignificance.
achromatic colour determinants. Thus plus all varieties of pure shading determinants of all
sum
The discussed.
Erlebnistypus or
Erlebnistyp (EB)
one of the is ep may be written as under: and
(1921). t is also relerred important ratios suggested by Rorschach
to
movemen-colour sum ratio or M:ZC. TheExperience
as the
Type or the Experience Balance or ep EFM+m)+ 2IT+ V+ Y+C)
Thus the ep
movement deteminant (M to the
EB respresents a
comparison of the sum of human as the EA
(Experience Potential) is related to the eb
FC, C and Cn). The sum weighted sum of each chromatic colour
determinant (that is, C, (Erlebnistypus)
is related to the EB (Experience Base) in the same iashion
colour detesminant, FC weighted C calculated is
by assigning the following values to each needs and affects which are not (Experience Balance). The tends
ep
=0.5;CF 0;Cor Cn= =

15. It may also be written As students

properly organized or controlled. to indicate such
as: may often get confused when
2C=C+2CF+3C Rorschach responses, the author has reading the discussion on the
interpreting scores (cf Table 11.3). provided synthesized general outline
a interpretation of the
Rorschach's contention which is
to
help them in
still
movement-colour sum ratio or the EB
supported by many studies, denotes that the
predisposed indicates
response tendencies. If the of M:2C isbasically
two types of
M
greater, it indicates constitutionally For Klopfer, Z(T+ V+
Y+ C) is
substituted by iFC
introversiveness or represents achoromalic colour
responses.
C .C) in which FC and Crepresent texture
responses and C
 Methds in Beharsoura Kieces
Test Meaauremeas and Researcb Pmfective Techniques 231

There is litle agreement regarding the Rorschach tests. The opnn.

scientific status of the

that the lacks a universally accepted

standard of administration, scorinos (H+A):Hd+Ad)=
claim test
results are unstable over time; it is unscidnd sc FC+ 2CF +3C
nterpretation; evaluation of data are subjective;
all traditional standards. (Exner,
1995; Nezworski & Wood, 1995
and is inadequate by Wood, Erlebnistypus, or EB = M:EC =
Nezworski & Stejski. 19961 debatable. Commenting u r Experience actual, or EA =M+C=
The reliabilities and the validities of the test have also been
"The vast amount of the Experience base, or eb ZFM+ m):E{T + V+Y+C') =
specific level of validtyof the test Buros (1970) has very clearly said,
and research has produced astonishingly little, if any, agreement among psychologists repa: Experience potential, or ep ={FM +m)+ (T+ V+Y +C') =

the specific validities of the Rorschach." Meta-analysis by Parker (1983) reported an

intermal reliability coeficient of.83 which is based upon 530 statistics from 39 papers publie
in between 1971 and 1980. However, meta-analysis by Parker was criticised on the groundc ed INKBLOT TEST
THE HOLTZMAN
resuts on validity were not analyzed separately from results on reliability (Garb, Florio &Cr
Grove, Modelled after the Rorschach test, Holtzman et al. (1961) developed an inkblot test which is
1998). inown as the Holtzman Inkblot Test (HIT). Holtzman developed this test in order to remove some
Lasty, taking the pros and cons, it can be safely concluded that a final word on the of the basictechnicaldifficulties of the Rorschach test like unlimited number of responses, poor
orer reliablity, etc. The test is available in parallel forms, each form (Form A and B) having 45
Rorschach test is yet to come. More researches are needed but unless the practitioners can agree Score

on a standard method of administration and scoring. the hands of the researchers would cards. Both coloured and achromatic cards are included and a few inkblots are markediyY
asymmetric. The subject is pemitted to give one response per card and thus, the total number of
emain tied
Table 11.3 AGeneral Outine for Rorschach Interpretation responses for any examinee
is a fixed one,
thereby automatically avoiding many of the difficulties
inscoring of the Rorschach test. Each response is followed by a two-fold simple question: whe
was the percept represented in the blot and what the percept suggest about the blot? All the
Total responses tR=
22 response variables, which include the Rorschach plus variables
Totaltime (7= responses are classified under
variables like hostility, anxiety, and pathological verbalization. The main advantages ot te
Average time per response (T/R= of examinees
Holtzman test over the Rorschach test are objective and easy intercomparability
Average reaction time for achromatic series: because of the limited
and fixed number of responses and availability of percentile norms for all
Cards 1, V, V, V and VI)
the22 variables for samples ranging from 5-year-olds to adults. Dueto the abovefactors. many than
Average reaction time for chromatic series:
researchers have, in general, agreed that the Holtzman test appears to be better standardized
Cards l, , VII, IX and X)
the Rorschach test. A group-test form of the Holtzman inkblot test to be
administered to more than
Affective ratio=Umber ol responses to cards VIl, IX and X one individual at a time has also been recently developed (Hollzman, 1963).
Number of responses to the remaining 7 cards The major HIT scoring variables can be discussed as under
ot the
1. Reaction time It includes time in seconds beginning from the presentation
Egocentricityindex = *,F%=100
R inkblot to the beginning of the main response.
F 2. Rejection: It is scored when the examinee or testee fails to report anything or returns the
Lambda Index
Sum of non -pure F inkblot to the examiner.
whole blot, 1 for
3. Location: lt is scored on a 3-point system: 0, 1 and 2. 0 is scored for
x100 = and 2 for smaller area.
F)+EF) largearea
white part is the
4. Space: t is scored when there is a true figure-ground reversal where
C:CFC figure.
A% 100 = 5. FormAppropriateness: It is scored on three points: 0, 1 and 2:0
for poor, 1 for fair and 2
R
for good. It is a sort of goodness of fit of the concept to the form of the blot.
H%H+ 100 6. Form Definiteness: It is scored on scale ranging from 0 to 4; 0 for tormless
5-point
concept and 4 for highly formed concept
Blends:R 7. Shading: It is scored 0 to 2. Shading such as texture. fuzzines are scored as
W:M
determinant
W:D 8. Colour I is a primary determinant and scored 0 to 3.
Numixr ofP 9. Movement It is scored 0 to 4 and is reserved for those responses which implies energy
Number ofO or dynamic movement quality
Frequency of Z lor 2,) incoherent
(H +
Hd):A Ad) 10.Pathognomic Verbalization is scored for absurd, queer and
verbalizations to cards
 Methods tn Behainunul Sc tences Profectte Techniques 233
232 Testd Measurements and Research

of
11. Integration t is scored 0 to 1. When two or more blot ements
elements are effectiveh
are
oresents a patterning of these two basic variables, that is, need and press. The second term
the response, it is scored 1 and otherwise it is scored 0. a clear perception involving definite recognition
refers to
or
integrated in
hetestapperception", latter may
like Human, Animal, Anatomy, Sex, Ahe different from perception in the sense that the
12. Contet scores It includes categories Sex, Abstracd and indentification. apperception
Thus, is fact that
is scored 0 to 2 based upon absence. partial or tull presence of the concept. The inclusion of the term makes justification for the
be or indistinct.
sometimes vague that is, the examinees not
13. Anxiety Each response is scored 0 to 2 for signs of anxiety only perceive but also recognize the implications
hema is apperceived, Rorschach test
of the card. In this sense, the TAT is different from the
14. Hostility: Each response is scored 0 to 3 for showing the signs of hostility of the stimulus situation only perceive the stimulus of the card without making any
hecause in the examinees
latter, implications.
15. Barrier t relers to any protecting covering thatmight be symbolically related to be
of its
image boundaries. If barrier is present, it is scored as 1 and if absent, it is scored as pod definite recognition in black and
consists of 19 cards containing vague or ambiguous pictures
The standard TAT
as 0.
one blank card) in
a
are thirty-one cards (30 pictured cards plus
16. Penetratio tis scored 1 if the concept is symbolic of the testee's feeling that hisor
body'sextenal parts can easily be penetrated. In otherwise case, it is scored 0. her white plus one blank card. There in various combinations depending upon sex and age. The
series and these cards
are used Murray 20. recommends
absence number of cards to be any one individual is
administred to
17. Balance tisscored1if the
Otherwise, it is scored as 0.
testee sees presence or
ofsymmetry in the desi maximum
has no utility tor
children below four years of age. Some cards are
used with all subjects
that TAT a particular age group.
Cards for a specific sex
refers and scored 1 if the used with one sex group or with males, B
18. Popular. to
commonness of the response response is and some are
distinguished by letter symbols: F for adult females, M for adult
group or age group are
common. Commonness is determined on the basis of 1 in 7 norrnative protocois under 14 as well as adult males,
GF
under 14, BM for both boys
14, and Gfor girls
Administration and Scoring of HIT
are well standardized. Its scorer
reliability appears to ba for boys underunder 14 as well as adult females, BG for both boys and girls under 14. Cards having
All the
highly satistactory. The various other reliabilities like split-hall, alternate-form and testretes forboth girls such as 1, 2, 4, 5, 14, 15, elc., are meant
for both sexes and all ages.
reliability investigations although show some differences, but their results are encouragine none of these symbolsadministered in two one-hour sessions, 10 cards in each session. The more
20 cards are usually
that is,
Validity data on HIT also have yielded satisíactory results. and bizarre type of cards are usually
selected for the second session,
unusual, dramatic less like everyday life siituations. Murray
(1971:5)
A recent variant of
the HIT called the HIT 25, a short version,
consisting of the first 25 cards
from Form A of HIT with two responses per card has been developed by Holtzman (1988).This pictures selected
for the second session are

of at least 24 hours between the two

sessions. Cards to be used
in the first
recommends an interval 7GF, 8BM, 8GF, 9BM, 9GF, and 10 whereas the
shorter version, thal is, HIT 25 has been found very useful for diagnosing the cases of 3FG, 4, 5, 6BM, 6GF, 7BM,
schizophrenia. A group fom of the HIT, using slides, has also yielded scores on most variables session are 1,2, 3BM,
in the second session are 11, 12M, 12F,
12BC, 13MF, 138, 13, 14,
15, 16
cards to be used 19 and 20. In clinical setting most clinician use only
that
are weli comparable to those obtained through individual administration (Holzman, 17GF, 188M, 18CF, a
(blank card), 17BM, to the purposes at hand. Murray
(1971) has provided for separate
Moseley, Rienchr & Abbott, 1963; Swartz& Holzman, 1963). 10 cards selected according approximately given
instructions are
and children under 14. These
instruction to normal adults
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST, OR TAT as follows:

The Thematic Apperception Test, also known as TAT, is another projective test commonly used in
cinical and non-clinical settings. The TAT was first published by Murray in 1935, under the head Instruction for Normal
Adults in the First Session
and your task will be
to
shall show you
some
I pictures, one at a time; is
This is a test of imagination. the shown in the picture, what
Amethod for investigating tantasies: the Thematic Apperception Test in Archives of Neurology must include what has led up to
event
describe a story. Your story and the outcome. Express
and Psychiatry. Later on, Muray Morgan (1938) working at the Harvard Psychological Clinic what the characters are feeling and thinking;
happening at the moment, about five minutes
You can devote
mind. Do you understand?
published book, Exploration Personality,
a in in which the details of analysis of TAT As appeared. your thoughts
as they come to your
to each story. Here is the first picture
compared to the Rorschach test. the TAT has less vague and ambiguous pictures to which the
Adults Or Psychotics in the
examineeresponds.
these two
As
the RT and the TAT provide complementary information, a combination Instruction for Children
under 14, Or Poorly-educaled
of has proved to be very effective, though the latter has been found to be much more First Session and for each picture
efecive the comprehensive
in study of personality and in the interpretation of neurosis,
disorders and psychosomatic diseases. According to Murray (1971:1) the
This is a story-telling test. I havewhich will be shown to you
some pictures,
has happened betfore
and what is
psychosis,behaviour Your story should include what
want you to tell a story. and how it will come out. You
purpose of the TAT is to reveal "some of the dominant drives, emotions, sentiments, complexes, are feeling and thinking
happening now. Also write
what the people You have five
understand? Here is the first picture.
and conflicts of personality. Special value resides in its power to expose the underlying inhibited
tendencies which the subject or the patient, is not willing to admit or cannot admit because he is
can write any kind of story you
want. Do you

See how well you can do it.

for writing a story.
minutes
unconscious of them." Session
Instruction for Normal Adults in the Second excellent and coherent but
In the TAT, two tems are worth mentioning, namely, thematic and apperception. The tem is the same as before. Your first ten stories were
The procedure today I would very much appreciate
thematic" has been derived from the tem "thema" which refers to a subject or topic on which a yourself confined to the facts of everyday life. Now
you mostly kept and let your imagination
person thinks, speaks or writes. Murray has defined thema in a much broader sense which, of when disregard the realities of everyday life
seeing what you can do you
Here is picture No 1.
course, inciudes the above meaning. According to him, thema is defined as an interaction of the in a myth, fairy story or allegory.
need and press variable. Muray has defined need as a hypothetical process within the organism,
have its expression, as

which stimulates him into either coven or oven action. Similarly, Murray (1971) has defined press
asa force in the environment, which may facilitate or interfere in the satisfaction of the need of the
organism. The concept of thema is, thus, based upon this "need-press" theory and simply
 e+uice

M t h x d s in ktrarzourul
and
Revanh Proecte Techtques 235
two assumption are
in the analyzed under the
Mezurments

Psychotics e These
Adults Or
e s M ,

under 14, r
Poorly-educated following categor
six
gories:
The H e r o
Children better and
Instruction lor
mOre

pictures
are
much intereing male or
female) ooff tthe
male ha.
Second Session pictures.
These
whether or not you can
The hero (either story is the central
show you
some
more
Now I
wan
to
see

last time if youc

be cognizes the hero of the
he interpreter recog character about whom the
the other day.
Today 1 shall
You told
m e some
fine stornes
more exciing way
Inan you did
can-like a loadership, belongingness, mental story by his entire events
principal traits like superiority.
Describe them
in a n e v e n inle
the story with
whom the examinee abnornality, criminality,
few more.

fairy tale.
Here is the
first picture.
a special
instruction like this: the hero
of t
The hero of thestory identifies
plays leading role in the
s himselí quarrelsomeness, etc. It is
and in whom he is
is preceded by the
dream or
blank card there and describe the
story.
st terested
most
Card No 16
which is a
this blank
card. Imagine
some picture
ciated eginning
from the beg of the events to the story
outcome of the
and is the main character who is
can see
on
and comments
by the miner are
exami
three or four heroes, story. A
See what you recorded verbalim of is hero of s the hero which Murray has called story may have one
The of the
responses
examinee are
card is completed.
The purpose
for the first m e n t i o n e d , whether the e x a m i n e e has taken a
to
von.Know
comments

someti are known

characteristics are
equally divided among
a
sequence of heroes.
equally significant characters.
allowed after the story has been
the story is very long o r shont
TheOng or Svchheroesare as
parualheroes. somelimes, the story is such
which another character is involved. where the hero only listens
not an
outcome
whether or
completion of
the story
and whether
less than 140 words
indicalesage
hero who hears the events)and a secondary hero who Such stories,
narrates the events.
therefore, contain a
short time in
words. A story having scoring)
Ahdck of primary
is 300 hence is not worth
TAT story and rs
length of a
involvement by the
examinee

to say nothing for the rest

ofths Motives, Trends and
Feelings of the Heroes
and rule it is better ur
co-operation
(1971:4)
recommends,
"...as a
the remaining stories ií he th
that
hoad Murray explains that the interpreter should
s
story, Murray
examiner is left
free to intervene in
without actually influencin Under and unusual types) o the hero (that is, what the carefully analyze overt behaviour
However, the of
the siory
exa8 he
(both usual hero thinks, feels and
would improve the specific content
absolutely necessary when the overt
haviours reflect
reflect the needs
behaviours does)
lor drives) and emotions of because
expressed subjectively in the form of athe hero fand, therefore, of the
intervention becomes
itself. The
intervention
in describing the story and/or if
ls he hese
ninee). A
nay
need may be
content of the story wish, intentuon or
time than necessary or
a very short lime
the examinee
describes.eS
the story. If
examinet may be expressed objectively the lorm of a trend of
in impulsehasof
takihg a longer as the
o u t c o m e of
concenirate e a l the herof 28 needs. overt behaviour.
Murray
important part
such
he should be encouraged
to list Some ol these are: aggression
n divided
88ression divided into four
physical and parts-emotional and
out a very ven a
story in a single picture, be cut off by the examiner (My
ial, physical
social, and asocial, and
stories rather than yerbal, physical and destruction; achievement,
one
stories. A loo long story may
n
than several the first session is over A abasement,
n n
nurturance, sex. n n
succorance, and n aggression,
passivity, n

one long story rather ten cards are given

successtully and thus, ndominance, nomy, n deference, cognizance, blame acquisition, n

1971:4). In this way all the which is allowed to be comoletoa

ffiliation, n autonom n

24 hours, he
second session starts,
is the abbreviation ion used for need.
avoidance,
n
n harm avoidance, etc.

a time gap of
one day, or life situations and an informati Murray further that
the same way. The
cards of this session
less resemble everyday
blank card is given to the examinee.an
The d c should be rated on a s-point scale ranging from 1,suggests the manifestation of
representing a mild fom of the
this session
to the examinee.
In the
all the 20 cards ha thesen reoresenting the intense iorm of the need. In
to this efiet is given moditied version of the
instruction. When need, to
recognizing the various needs, due
here the examiner gives
slightly
a
interview which may be held ei also given to the intensity, duration, frequencies of their occurrence different stories
recommends a process of
ention in

been given, Mumay

(1971)
interview is to know what sources o ae eneral
andth ger significance olnputed
the
story. After all the 20 stories are scored on a 5-point scale, a
a few days.
The purpose of the total score for each need is and compared with the standard score for the examinee of
immediately or after the whether the source of the ideas of the ies stor
associations the
examinee has used for stories given age and sex. Those needs whose total scoresare very high or very low are carefuly
or the experiences
of relatives and friends.
is his private experience, or novels or movies
give o relation to each other. Some of the interpretive hints are like this: A male examinee
of the TAT stories is the next important task to e anaynfriendly motives and actions to female characters in most of the TAT stories indicates
The scoring and interpretation separable from the interpretation in the TAT
examiner. The scoring is
not S ome troubled relations with women in his life. Likewise, if a hero of most of the stories
accomplished by the where it is. Not only this, in scoring
the Rorschach
from the Rorschach test
and thus, it is different
agree with regard
less to the symbols and the criteria used. dplays disappointment, embarrassment and failure, it shows that the person feels defeated and
responses, most
more or
Rorschachers
the TAT users. As a matter of fact, no formal eessed in his actual life. Special attention is also paid the unique materials, which
to

whereas in the TAT no such agreement exists among nificantly differ from the common and popular responses to each picture because these unique
Thema and Outcomes) of any fixed kind is used by the TAT
scoring lexcept Hero,
Need, Press,
In such a situation, Murray's
own proposals regarding the interpretation
rd unusual materials may have special significance and relevance in the examinee's life.
and u

users (Nunnally,
1970).
Rorschach test in one other basic Hero's Environment
The TAT differs from the Forces of the
of the TAT seem most appropriate. reveal the structure and organization of
of the Rorschach test is to aleder this head of the TAT stories emphasis is placed upon environmental variables or forces
sense, too. The purp0se contents of the personality such as
of the TAT is to reveal the lealled press), which can either facilitate or interíere with the gratification of needs of the hero.
personality, whereas the purpose
conflicts. The TAT is based upon the assurnption that when the Thece environmental variables include details of objects and persons noting their uniqueness,
drive, need, fantasies, complexes, he organizes the various
scenes by way of creating stories,
examinee interprets the ambiguous
oí his own personality. inensty and frequency. Special attention is also paid here to include objects and persons which
the different aspects
contents
which
of his personal experiences, reveal
basic assumptions:
aenotin piture
the invented
but by theexaminee. More 30dominance
than such (plural
press is also press)
In interpreting the TAT stories, Murray makes the following two
hve been listed by Murray. few
A examples are p
rejection, p ldivided into three
the focal figure by some TAT users) of the story nad-coercion, restraint, inducement or reduction), pphysical injury. plack or lost, paggression
1. The characteristics of the hero lalso called
broadly represent the tendencies of the
examinee's personality. divided into four parts-emotional and verbal, physical parts-associative
affiliation (divided into
and social., physical and asocial and
two and emolional),
2. The situation which surrounds the hero
of the story represents the various facets of the destruction of property), p p

examinees life situation containing his past, present

and future environment. nurturance, pphysical danger (divided into Iwo parts-active and in support), etc. (The letter p is
 &Amces
Rhnwual
tm
Tt Atzumments and
Resvnh Mt
236
(or press)
All these environmental forces are
cla Proctue Tochnuques 237
based on the analogy n and
refers io press).
the hero. The strength of press ino ie
o realized) upon ston
according to their effect (promised the minimum strength and
1 indicates
nd 55 ind indicales the (the first level). The middle layer consists of desires and tendencies, which can be expressed in
of whch
s rated on a 5-point scale also the criteria are intensity du thought in undisguised form (the second level) and can sometimes, also be expressed in action
criteria of need, here
maximum strength. Like the Arter rating all the 20 stories on the
5-noidon (the first level). The outer layer consists of those wishes, desires and tendencies, which are
frequency and general significance
in
the story. point scale,
vith the standard scor
it is compared with frequently expressed publicly (the second level) and openly expressed in behaviour (the firs
is computed and then, the
sf
the total score for each press which are very as comnar
high or low as compared with levelb. The skilfiul interpreter must find out to which of these layers the different importart
enaminee of a given sex and age. The total scaores
standard scores are
caretully examined
in relation to each other. variables such asneed, press, etc., belong. Generaly, the stories described response to the fiest
in
ten cards (given in the first session) tend to reveal the ouer layer of the personality and the siories
described in the second session regarding the remaining ten pictures tend to express thee inner and
Outcomes
be a happy ending or an unhapDv. end middle layer of personality.
Outcomes refer to how
the story concludes. Thereofmay
the torces from the her
emanating above should be
in ascessing outcomes
the comparatrve strength
the are compared and analvzohe The points dealt with in arriving at a final conclusion. Murray
carefully
warns that any conclusion arived at on the basis of TAT stories should be regarded only as
of the forces emanating irom environmenl
strength
and hardships shown by the hero as well as his success or f lurehei working hypothesis (to be verified by other techniques) rather than proved facts. As Murray
magnitude ot frustration
is also analyzed. (1971:15) has said:
handling those situations
The TAT draws forth no more than twenty small samples of the subjecY's thoughts. To
Themas suppose that these will invariably provide a skeleton of the total personality is unduly
of need (s) of the hero with environmental forces, that is
Themas refer to the interaction optimistic..there are sets of TAT stories.from which it is impossible to iníer the undertying
combined with the successful or
unsuccesstul outcome arrived at by the hero of the sto press
T determinants of character."
purpose of athema is to the ditferent types of lorces in their
study and to relationships determ
themost important problem of the examinee from the interaction of needs and factorsleading Derivatives of TAT
the gratificaton af those needs. Obviously, then, a thema is nothing but a synthesis of factos Like the Rorschach test, there are some derivatives of the TAT. Modelled ater the TAT. a few
The
analyzed into hero, need, press and outcome. Themas may be simple or complex. pictorial tests have been developed. The Children's Apperception Test (CAT) is one such test.
The test
CAT, developed by Bellak (1954), is meant for children between three and ten years.
Imterests and Sentiments consists of ten cards, which are slightly smaller than the standard TAT cards. The CAT pichures
Under this heading, choice of topics of the story and ways of handling them are analyzed. The substitute animals for human beings, the assumption being that animals tend to produce fantasies
to
undamental assumption here is that the hero's interests and sentiments as revealed by the choice more readily than human beings, among children and therefore, children can easily project
of the topics and the way in which they are handled are the examinee's own interests and animal pictures as compared to pictures of human beings. These animal pictures are, however.
presented in anthropomorphic fashion. All he CAT pictures intend to arouse fantasies relatingto
sentiments.
Other TAT interpreters like Tomkins, Wytt, Rapaport, Bellak, Arnold, elc., have suggested
sibling rivalry, toilet-training, aggression, etc. Recently, Belak &Hurvich (1966) have prepareda
beyond 10 years. Older
human modification of the CAT, whch is meant for use with children
difierent techniques for analyzing the stories. Among all the different techniques, Murray's modification of
children are more capable of projecting to human figures and as such, the human
technique with some modifications is popular and frequently used. The most widely used (P-F) Test is another
the CAT (krnown as CAT-H) was prepared. The Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration
categories for analyzing the TAT stories are hero, need, press, outcomes and themas test modelled after the TAT. The P-F test, developed by Rosenzweig in 1942. is slightly different
tn ariving at a conclusion on the basis of the analysis of TAT stories the following points tests whereas the P-F test is a test where
the
from the TAT and the CAT. The latter are picture-story
The
should be kept in view: examinee is required write a short bit of conversation in the caption box of each picture.
to

1. Normally, about six out of the twenty stories, that is, approximately 30% of the stories test has two forms-adult's form (for 14 years and older) and
children's form (for 4 to 13-year-old
children). In both the forms each picture consists of cartoon-like drawings having two principal
should fall under the impersonal category. This category consists of impersonal elements like the
situation common in life
elements given in the picture, elements invented at the moment, fragmernts read in novels or characters. One of the principal characters is engaged in a frustrating
which calls attention to that frustrating situation. The
witnessed in movies, etc., none of which represents the important determining tendency of the and the other character is saying something,
to write in the box of each
caption what the reply would be of the
picture
personality of the examinee. If more than 30% of the stories fall in this category, it indicates that examinee is requested
that comes to his mind. In
either the examinee is not involved in the task or the content is psychologically irrelevant or the frustrated character. He is also instructed to write the very first reply
identities himseli with the frustrated
test itself has not been skilliully administered. administering the P-F study it is assumed that the examinee
form of the reply of that character. The
2. Muray (1971) distinguishes between two levels of functioning: the first level which character and projects his own frustrated tendencies in the
which stipulates that irustration
includes the physical and ovent verbal behaviour, and the second level which includes plans, P-F test is based upon the frustration-aggression hypothesis,
íor inustration tolerance, the
ideas, dreams, fantasies, etc. TAT has been designed to reveal the second level and not the first always leads to aggression but since the individual has the capacity
outwards or even be derived. The
level of iundoning, although on the basis of the second level a guess regarding the first level can aggression produced by frustration may not be expressed oi two may
frustrating situations included in the P-F stucy are ypes ego-blocking and
be made. in which some obstruction, mostly personal
3. Muray (1971) has distinguished between three layers of normal personality-outer
superego-blocking. An ego-blocking situation is onecharacters directly, and a superego-blocking
in nature, disappoints one of the two principal
layes, middile layer and inner layer. The inner layer consists of repressed tendencies or wishes, characters is directly insulhed or incriminated by
situation is one where one of the two principal
which are never (ar rarely) expressed in thought (that is, the second level), but expressed in action the other characters.
 ence
ard Rrnarb
utd n Bhar varal Prectue Tmhnuquns 239
238 Tes Mnasn
and the direction of
The P-f shudy arns a studying the types of agzression aggpes further exploration of emotional complexes
of the indrvidual. Later on, Kent and Rosanof also
there are three typs f aggression and three types of direr instrument in psychiatric clinics. The test
is known
According to Rosenzweg,
direction are: extrapunitve or directed outwards or
developed their own test for use as a screening to the neutral
three types of tow Free Association Test, which consists of 100 words belonging
aggession. The directed inwards o r tOS as the Kent-Rosanoff
extra-aggression; itropunitive
or
ialso known as to each word of the exam1nees, the
and common category. On the basis of the responses
environment

intra-apgression: and the impunitive

or evading the frustratine sa
in situation
o r the
self (also krnown as
each word are prepared. An "Index of commonalty
three types aggression are obstacle-dominance o
frequency tables of the responses of
denying ts presence. The which median frequency value) is calculated on the basis of the frequency tables. Kent
and Rosanoff
emphasis is upon basic
everts which acted as an obstacle in producing the fn sr that they tend to give
found that mentally ili persons exhibit lower index of commonality. is,
experience of the f
a
in which the emphasis
is upon the protection of
ego-delence (or less common responses) more than the normal ones.
ndivduat: 2nd need-persistence in which the emphasis is upon solution or remedy uncommon or individual responses
problem which produced the frustration. In coring the responses of the P-f sudy the pescentathe Still another important word-associaton test was developed by Rapaport and his associates
d the responses íalling into each of these three calegories of direction and types of aggression in 1946. The test consists of 60 words
and aimed atexploring the areas of aggression and
are
compued, and then compared with some nomative percentages. anal phallic levels of psychosexual developmen
sexuality with special emphasis upon oral,
Other TAT derivatives include the Object Relation Technique, the Pick-ford Proier
Sentence-Completion Test
Pictures PPP, the Blacky pcures, ec. A detailed discussion of these varieties is beyond the of incomplete sentences and the
The senternce-completion test consists of a series partial or
cope oi the book
to complete then. The examinees are free to take a decision n
examinees are required
VERBAL TECHNIQUES the meaning and no tume limitation is imposed for his decision. Originaity.
completion of of
used by Ebbinghaus as a non-projective technique assessing
Verbal techniques are those techniques in which stimulus materials (and sentence completion was
are verbal not pictorial intellectual level. A serious attempt to use this tesi to assess personality
traits began in the 19305.
and
materials
the examinees
whereVerbal also requried give their responses verbally
are

techniques different from

are
to
piciorial techniqUes
the sense in
towards thosesimukr
that in the forme and one of the earliest tests of this type was developed by
Rohde & Hidreth in 1940.

both he siulus and the response are vertbal, whereas in the later the response is verbal and the several sentence-completion tests were developed. A iew examples of
Subsequently,
stimulus is pictorial. The word-assciation test and the sentence-completion items are as follows:
senternce-completion test are the bes
eaamples of vertal techniques.
Ifeel tens.
Word-Association Test I feel that sex...
My sex life..
The word-associatuon of the mos popular projective devices for
tes is one
This test requires the enaninee to tell the
studying personality Ifeel guilty about...
very first word that comes to his mind after Sex relations....
the stimuus word by the examiners. The examiner notes down listening to
the responses and the reaction The responses on the sentence-completion tests are analyzed in a more or less similar way to
time taken to respond towards each stimulus word. those of TAT stories, that is, in analyzing these responses, the motrves, expectations, moods. etc
The word asociation tes
was first described iew popular sentence completion
by Galton in 1879. Later on, the early are interpreed in order to arrive at a meaningful conculsion. A
eperimenal psychologjsts like Wundt and Catted introduced this
technique to study tests are the Roter incomplete Sentences Blank, OSS test, etc.
process The cinscal psychologists alo beame interested in the technique and startedthinking t
s a mears of
expioring ernotions, conflicts and anxieties. Kraepelin used this techniqueusing
in the
EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES
hs
to
epioraon d personality of mentally ill persons. Howeves, Expressive techniques are those where the examinee is given an opportunity express
Jung in 1910made a systematic efiorn role play, handwriting and tree
o insoduce the technique in his
psychoanalysis. He presented a standard list of 100 words (some personality in the torm of certain drawings, finger paintings, play,
individual manipulates works with
neutrel and one emotonally toned) and ways in which the
or
use of toys, etc. In such techniques the
analyzed the responses of the examinees from diffesent betause
the given materials are important (and not the end product of these manipulative
actsi
ngestopa varety ofi diagnostic cues. His main
analysis included the analysis of time taken in
sesponding teationime) and the contet of the is assumed that through these manipulations he expresses his needs, motives, emotions.contlicts
ndicatve d me conflics, axieties, repressed
responses.
A
longer time was taken to be etc.Some examples expressive techniques
of are the Machover Draw-a-Person (D-A-P) test,
experiences and a sign of enotional Buck's House-Tree-Person (H-T-P) test and the World test, etc. Some of the important expressive
erbarraumert. Dedays indicated that those words touched off
paintul experiences and techniques may be studied under the ioliowing headings.
threatened to
bring to light he anxiety-provoking or
presed eprencs The contert of the guit-laden materials or were close to the
is Figure-Drawing Tests
bladkwhae), being unusual chair-sea) responses analyzed from the angle of contrast
landhand. . A large number d unusual supraordinate (cow-animal), clang association
In figure-drawing tests the examinee is
given a of paper
sheetexaminer
and in such drawings he is assured by the
and penc1l to draw the tigures ofa
indicaive d mental ilnes. responses such as Pen-Bear, etc., are taken to be person that this
konger à test of his
drawing ability and thus, is encouraged in his efiorts. The two most common figute-drawing iess
is no

ung had also studied the retes behaviour in the

e a He dbtained te word-association
resporses towards his
emaional wordsi and then, the eaminee preseleted words (which included both neutral and
are
the Machover Draw-a-Person (D-A-P) test and Buck House-Tree-Person (H-1P)
D-AP test the examinee is instructed to draw a person. If the firs drawing is male, he s asked to
test.
In the
was again adrninistered
ecal the the test with the instruclion to draw a iemale and vice versa. The examner systematicallynotes down the sequence n which the
eponses gven previously Changes in
responses were taken as
important clues tor
 240 TiA MVzunmen:s and
Rewant Mrhrds im Beba1 toural Sc tences Prutectiue Techntques 241

different parts of the body are shown. He also notes down the olher comments and procedural emotional expression and other overt behaviours. All these iteins of intormation are considered
details. The drawings are sometimes followed by inquiry to elicit specific information regardi important for providing interpretative clues.
thedetais ol drawings. Iin an H-T-P test the examinee is required to draw the figure of a house,
Artistic Productions
tree and a person. According to Buck, the figure of the house is taken to be the indicative of the
associations concerning the examinee's home and those living therein, the figure of the tree, of Artistic productions like drawings, finger paintings, brush paintings, clay modelling and sculpture
the associations relating to his life role and his ability lo derive gratification from the general are some of the common projective devices through which unconscious dynamics of the
examinee may be judged. It is a common observation that mentally ill persons display distortions,
environment, and the figure of a person, of the interpersonal relationship of the examinee.
Jack of symmetry, disproportions, stereotype and similar features in their paintings or drawings.
All such figure-drawings (emerging from the D-A-P test and H-T-P test) are interpreted from
three angles: () analysis of the general overall impression of the drawings; (ii) analysis of the Depicting ambitious mapS. plans, projects and complex designs have been found to reveal
structural features of the drawings; and (ii) content analysis of the drawings. The analysis of the paranoid tendencies. Emphasis upon sexual themes in painting or drawing reveals disturbances
in psychosexual development. The colours chosen for painting also provide important clues to
general overall impression of the figure concerns itself with the posture of the figure (giving the
the personality.
impression of action or being static), the facial expression, and other similar features. The overall
general impression may reveal the impression of expansiveness, hostilty, aggressiveness, and Graphology
submissiveness. The structural analysis of the fligure is concerned with factors like the size of the Graphology (or handwriting) is also considered as an important form of the expressive projective
figures, the pressure of the lines, the sequence of the parns drawn, their position on the gien technique, which provides a clue to the personality. One of the first attempts to siudy personality
page and the like. The size of the figure is said to be directly related to the self-esteem of the on the basis of handwriting was made in 1622 by Camillo Baldo, an Italian physicain. However.
examinee The examinee who thinks about himself in a degrading fashion (poor self-esteem) is the scientific analysis of handwriting as a means oí studying personality in modern times started in
likely to draw a very small figure whereas the examinee who thinks about himself with an air of 1875 whenH Michon, a French scientist, published his book System of Graphology. This
superiority, often draws a big figure, sometimes so big that it requires two sheets of paper fora attermpt to study graphology became recognized in 1896 when L Klages established the
singlefigure. The content analysis of the figures is concerned with emphasis upon the different Graphological Society in Gemany. Klages made a systematic analysis of handwriting of hysteria
parts of the body given in drawings and depiction of clothing and accessories. It has been patients. Robert Sandek studied the handwriting of different persons very extensively and his
demonstrated that emphasis upon drawings of head at the expense of other parts of the body attempt reached a point of culmination with the publication of his book entitled The Psychology
reveals several important clues to personality. A disproportionately bigger head is indicative of af Handwriting in 1925. Since the publication oí this book, a vast interest has grown among
organic brain disorder. In some examinees, it may suggest an overvaluation of intellectual work. scientists for studying handwriting as a means of evaluating personality.
Drawings of nude human figures with emphasis upon genital organs and breasts are likely to The study of handwriting characteristics of thildren as well as adults has revealed several
undicate psychosexual conflicts; emphasis upon eyes and ears indicate paranoid tendencies interesting points. Children having strong self-confidence and emotional stability tend to write
emphasis upon lips in male drawings tends to indicate homosexual tendencies, and emphasis
longer letters with strong pressure whereas bewildered and preoccupied children usually write
upon hands tends to indicate sexual preoccupations, hostility, agsression and also the short letters with low pressure and hesitating expression at the beginning of letters. In severely
guit-laden-tendencies. Sometimes, the hands are omitted from the figure and this omission is
taken to be indicative of self-punishment as a consequence of an unconscious feeling of guil.
disturbed children several alternatives of the forms of the letters such as the exaggeration of the
size of letters, splitting of the letters and words, etc. were found to be most obvious. Likewise
Such omissions are mostly found in the drawings of sex offenders and juvenHe delinquents. The studies of adults' handwriting have revealed that persons having brain disorders show erratic and
clothing and accessories have also some meaning in drawings. The emphasis upon pockets on iregular flow in size of the letters because of the impairment of motor control essential for smooth
the shirt of male figures drawn by a male examinee is taken to be indicative of homosexuality. writing. The writing of such persons is careless, showing frequent blotting and omission of letters.
Holding of a knife by the figure drawn indicates aggression and hostility. Emphasis upon the belt
in the drawing of a person (male or female) tends to indicate strong tendencies to control sexual
Avery slow writing witha downward tendency in words or lines as well as shrinking of the initial
letters of the lines displays the depressive mood of the examinee.
impulses. Incapability to draw a figure of the opposite sex is taken to be indicative of latent
homosexuality on the part of the examinee. EVALUATION OF PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES
Toy Tests Readers, by now, should have a clear piclure regarding the different projective techniques. Some
of these techniques such as the Rorschach test and the Thematic Apperception Test are very
n toy tests, toys like dols (representing adults and children of both sexes), puppets and miniatures
popular, whereas others are little known-partly because they have emerged recentty and partly
are given to the examinees, mostly children, who are allowed to play with the given objects in the
because they do not permit objective measurement. To evaluate separately each oi the projective
way they desre. The examiner carefully notes down the items chosen by a child for playing. the
manner in which he handles them, his emotional verbalization and other overt behaviour (Bell techniques discussed so far is very difficult, in the sense that it would require a separate chapter in
tself. As such, an overall evaluation of projective techniques, in general, is presented below.
1948). A chids
play with these objeas is expected to display hissibling rivalries, conflicts, iears,

Bpression, etc. One

popuar example of a toy test is the World test developed by Lowenfeld in Fakability
1939 andlatersevised and resandardizedby Buhler, Lumry and Carollinlike 195 1, and Bolgar and In projective techniques answers given by the examinees do not hurt or pose any threat to their
1o 300 miniature pieces oftoobjects
Fischer in 1947. The test consis of150The trees, cars, lences self-image. As such, they never tend to conceal or distort their true answers. In selt-report
houses, bridges, animas, people, etc. aexaminee
from these malerials normally
is requested construct whatever he likes inventories, situations are more structured and direct. Before making his answers known to
placed on large table. The examinee notes down the objects others, the examinee thinks a lot and ultimately moulds the true responses most of the time in the
hosen, the sequence in which the objects are made, expressive reactions like verbalizations,
 Hebartonual Sctenc
242 Tex Mevasuwmns and Rewan h Methovds n

desirable or Thus, one of the im

undersirable.
ighi of what is ronsidered socially
advantages of projetive terhniques
over the self-repon of personality is that a
measures

of responses. Despite this, there is evidence to suDDo Y are

nol susceptible to the fakalbility
even on standard projective techniques like the RTla
that exaniner« e an fake their reponses
to modify or change their responses (Masling.(10dhe
TAT when they are sper ially instrr led 960).
Objectivity
are less objective than the self-report inventoriec
i s said that the projective techniques
inventories are objective. Both possese iy
neither the projective tests nor the self-report
tests are said to be subjective in scorino e n
of subjectivity but in different ways. Projective
intuition and the experiences of the exaiduse
a response is largely dependent upon iner. T
scoring
automalically means that the results of any two or more examiners cannot be totally ideni
Above all, the interpretation of scores in projective techniques is even more coloured withthe
element of the subjectivity so that quite often the interpretation reveals more about the perso
Sonali
of the examiner than the examinee. As a matter of fact, the interpretation for the exami
becomes as projective as the test stimuli for the examinees (Masling, 1960). The self.ro
inventories, on the other hand, no doubt possess the trait of objectivity in scoring, but the val
of the scores oblained on these tests is largely dependent upon the subjective processess of the
examinees. The examinees may not give the true answers which may invalidate the results
sults,
irrespective of the fact that the scoring was objective.

Standardization
Most projective lechniques are unstandardized, that is, they lack uniformity in scoring and
interpretation. The examiners have a free play in scoring and interpreting the responses obtained
on standard projective techniques like the RT, the TAT and the CAT. Not only that, it has also been
found that the sex of an examiner influences the types and number ofresponses that the examinee
gives on the RT (Masling, 1960). A male examiner tries to get a particular and larger number of
responses from a female examinee. Self-report inventories, on the other hand, are mostly
standardized and therefore, chances of free play by the examinees are the least.

Reliability
The reliability of most projective techniques is usually very low. There are probably two reasons
for this. First, there is no uniform standard way of scoring and interpreting the responses obtained
on projective techniques. As a consequence, scorer reliability is very poor. Second, these tests do
not yield consistent scores upon retesting of the same subjects. It is also not possible to calculate
the alpha coefficient (internal consistency of coefficient) of the most projective techniques
because the items are not usually comparable. The only logical estimate of reliability of such
techniques is through the parallel-form method. Moreover, most projective techniques (except
of
the Holtzman Inkblot test) do not have alternate forms. On the whole, the computation
whatever reliability coefficient has been
reliability of projective techniques is very difficult and
obtained, is in general, low.

Validity
Like reliability, the validity of most projective techniques is unsatisfactory. Most of the published
criterion-related of such
validity and most
validation studies on the projective techniques report
debatable. In reality most of the traits measured by the
validity coefficeints are inconclusive and
common and standard projective techniques
such as the RT, the TAT, the CAT and the Rosenzweig
has been obtained.
P-F study are such that they require construct validity which not
 Pmtine Techniquer 243

Sithuational Variables
certain types of
like
physic appearance al of the examiner, emphasis upon
tuational variables influence the responses on the
TNnss by the examiner and changed instrue tions are likely to
Some may have a
examiners physical appearance, which
yery formidable
oiective techniques. examinees' to defensiveness. The
capac ity to imagine, think and resort
proje

likely to affect the is that they affect the response productivity on projective
all impact of these factors
overa

and who tend to encourage

hnigues. Examiners who not possess a frightening appearance
do
techr
influence the of the examinees Not only this, it
favourably.
examinee
are likel to responses
the
shown that echanged
instructions influence the score on projective techniques toa
also
has been the Holtzamn Inkblot test
For eexample, in one
study it was demonstrated that when
extent.
great intelligence test (thus with a changed instruction), the responses of the
presented as an
was
examinees were und to be more changed than when they were obtained under the usual
fo
(Herron, 1964).
instruction ofthe test
General Applicability
types of projective tests, the pictorial and expressive techniques have wider
Of the three general
applicability than verbal techniques because they can be used with illiterates, small children as
In the self-report inventories which are
oll as with examinees having speech defects. general, when
srited only to literates, have poor applicability, particularly compared to the expressive and
pictorial techniques.
Fvsenck (1959) has summarized his viewpoint on the critical evaluation of projective
as mentioned
below:
techniques
1. No consistent, meaningful and testable theories underlie the projective techniques.
exists between the indicators of a projective test and the
2. No marked correlation
intellectual abilities as meausred or rated independently.

There is no evidence, which shows a relationship between global interpretation

of
3.
projective techniques by experts and psychiatric diagnosis.
4. There are no empirical evidences for most of the postulated relationships between
projective-test indicators and personality traits.
5. There is no evidence that the conflicts, motives, needs and fantasies diagnosed by the
projective techniques will yield congruent results when interpreted by psychiatrists
separately.
6. Ample evidences are available to show that the majority of studies of projective
techniques have flaws in their methodology, are ill-designed and are full of statistical
errors in analysis of data.
7. Projective techniques, in general, have poor ability to predict failure or success in
different fields of life.

Review Questions
1. What is meant by projective technique? Discuss the major classification schemes of
projective techniques.
2. Discuss projective technique as a tool of psychological research. Assess its effectiveness.
3. Assuming some data explain the importance of different types of scores in
Rorschach protocol.
4. Evaluate the Rorschach test and the Thenmatic Apperception test as tools of
psyctological researches.