Introduction
Psychological test in which subjects’ perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both.
Projective personality test:
Personality test designed to let a person respond to ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing hidden emotions and internal conflicts projected by the person into the test
- Rorschach inkblot test (M/C used)
- Thematic apperception test
- Sentence completion test
- Draw a person test
History
Using interpretation of “ambiguous designs” to assess an individual’s personality is an idea that goes back to Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli. Interpretation of inkblots was central to a game, ‘Gobolinks’, from the late 19th century. Rorschach’s, however, was the first systematic approach of this kind. The ink blots were hand drawn by Rorschach.
Hermann Rorschach (1884 – 1922) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. His education in art helped to spur the development of a set of inkblots that were used experimentally to measure various unconscious parts of the subject’s personality. His method has come to be referred to as the Rorschach test, iterations of which have continued to be used over the years to help identify personality, psychotic, and neurological disorders. Rorschach continued to refine the test until his premature death at age 37. Rorschach lived a short yet successful life while influencing the world of psychology.