Class 4 Flashcards
Administration Notes
Number consecutively through the test
Use location sheets
Record verbatim
Expect to be anxious - learn to manage it
Treat the TA like a client (take charge)
Be on time to meeting and be sure you have the materials
Start face to face but when you start the admin, sit side by side, slightly behind
Helpful Rorschach Listserve Advice Administration
“When recording responses during the CP, I often struggle to divide my attention between hearing/typing responses and looking at the examinee/card for location info. If I’m too focused on recording accurate responses, I often neglect to (visually) capture accurate location, or vice versa. If the former, I tend to follow up with extra questions about location which then lead to unnecessary responses.” Bob Erard
Bob Erard continued
“I don’t think there is any easy answer, but if you follow the principle of letting the respondent take the lead, you develop a mindset in which you expect the respondent to tell you if there are special location features that are important to the percept rather than chasing around for them. Most locations are Ws and Ds in conventional places, and even most Dd responses are those that experienced examiners have heard before. If the respondent hasn’t said something or gestured in some way to suggest otherwise, you can often safely assume that the location is what it appears to be.”
Bob Erard continued
“Particularly if you begin the CP a recommended, telling the respondent that you want to know where it is seen on the card and what makes it look that way, and reinforce that a couple of times, the respondent will usually give you enough information about location without too much additional clarification.”
Barry Ritzler
Don’y ask a person to run their finger around the response. It can result in more Dd 99 and fewer vague Developmental Quality scores.
Synthesis Thresholds
Positive threshold examples for coding Sy:
“leaning on” or “leaning against,” “touching,” “looking at each other,” “standing behind (when one object obscures another),” “a bird on a branch,” “a person casting a shadow,” “a person on a rug,” “a fetus with its umbilical cord attached,” “flying above this object,” “lying next to,” “lying beside one another,” or one object “coming from” another, “trees on a pond.”
Negative threshold examples that are not coded for Sy: “a garden scene with yellow flowers, kind of like roses, daffodils, tomato horn worms,” “an underwater scene…. there’s fish, rocks, plants,” “a landscape with rocks, trees, and a pond,” “a sculpture of a bear and a fish”
Pairs (2)
Two identical objects symmetrical on each side of the blot midline (not parts that come in pairs, like eyes, boots, hands of a whole person)
Must be identical in all respects
> If differentiated in any way, do not score pair
(Goes into summary calculations related to symmetry)
Often use “two” but sometimes use plural to convey this, or “a couple of”
Don’t score pair when reflection is scored
Example:
Card VII. 2 little Indian girls looking at each other. – Head here, face, nose, with bangs here. (WMTLL Indians?) Their feathers are going up behind them.
Form Quality
o - Ordinary (form fit that is relatively frequent and accurate)
u - Unusual (form fit that is of intermediate frequency or accuracy)
- Minus (form fit that is infrequent and inaccurate)
N - None (no object with definite form or outline, BUT refer to FQ Table for exception)
*Refer to Form Quality tables in Chapter 6 RPAS manual. If not included, use extrapolation.
If a response has multiple objects, code the FQ of the material objects (not an inconsequential part of the response) with the lowest FQ
FQ reflects conventional and accurate ways of processing information
FQ Tables
FQ tables are based on accumulated FQ tables (Beck et al (1961), Hertz (1970), Exner (2003), and international sample
Based on:
- Fit (derived from multiple judges from 11 countries)
- Frequency (from the multiple data sources above)
Extrapolation
FQ extrapolations must have the same shape, form features, and spatial orientation (not just content)
Extrapolation for Single Objects
- Search the FQ tables for responses with similar shapes. (if it is Dd99). If straightforward, assign the FQ.
- Search like areas.
- Search subcomponents of an object e.g., bird > wings; bull > horns
- Consider results and make a determination.
Extrapolation for Multiple Objects
Score the lowest form quality of important components
Validity
Do indicators measure what we think they measure?
Conclusions
Both Rorschach and MMPI have criterion-related validity effect sizes of substantial magnitude
Additional Consideration
These studies do not address the pattern of scores within a test, much less a pattern among multi-method tests, which is the basis of good psychological assessment
Move beyond the question of global validity and focus on individual scales and indices
> NOT ‘is the Rorschach valid’, rather ‘is this or that indicator valid”
Study of Validity of Individual Indicators
Published in Psychological Bulletin
A Review of the Validity Research on the Rorschach CS Variables
- A systematic meta-analysis for each of the individual CS indicators
- Goal: to estimate construct validity of Rorschach indicators
Summary
Most variables in R-PAS have meta-analytic support
R-PAS variables have more construct validity meta-analyses documenting their validity than any other multiscale assessment measure
Determinants
The most complex feature of scoring
Why something looks the way it does?
Information can be relayed in many ways:
- Directly - “The shading gives that impression,” “it is shaped that way”
- Indirectly - key words
Determinants (cont.)
Movement
- Human movement (M)
- Animal movement (FM)
- Inanimate movement (m)
Color (FC, CF, C)
Shading
- Achromatic color (C’)
- Texture (T)
- Vista (V)
- Diffuse Shading (Y)
Form Dimension (FD)
Reflection (r)
Form (F)
Three Suggestions of a Determinant
- Communication
> Consider all words and gestures (esp key words) - Prototypical Imagery
> The real world attributes of an object
– suggestive - require clarification a server cb dressed in black
– prototypical or core characteristic blood (is red) - Permissive Card Location
> Common determinant location table (p. 165)
– Lists all areas that elicit at least 5% of determinants
Key words - suggest a possible determinant
Loaded word - do not suggest a specific possible determinant, but should be clarified
- An amazing…
- Weird-looking
- That’s creepy
- Mysterious
Movement
M (Human movement)
Responses involving movement of a human
Experience, sensation or emotion, even if disembodied or abstract
- e.g., Card X: gloom, love, loud sound
Any animal in human-like activity or supernatural activity (this does not include an animal in any non-animal movement)
Movement
FM (Animal movement)
Responses involving animal movement (even if the movement is not congruent with that animal)
E.g., a cat flying with wings out»_space;> FM
Code FM unless human or supernatural elements are included
– FM - a fish suckling its young
– M - a fish sucking its baby at her breast
Movement
m (Inanimate movemement)
Movement of inanimate objects (waterfall, sun rise, rotting apples)
Natural forces like gravity, wind, rigor mortis
Also used for unnatural states of tension (hair sticking up)
Sounds only if the act of hearing is not involved
Movement
Movement must be occurring in the moment (not past action)
M, FM, and m are based on the nature of the movement not just the agent of action
- A bear bleeding = m
- A live animal falling from the sky = FM
- A dead animal falling from the sky = m
- A person being stretched = M
- A jack-o-lantern with a smile = M
Anticipatory movement (fixin’ to…)
> Score it as if already being produced
Props
Props provide a rationale for a response but are not seen in the blot, so are not coded
E.g., the amoeba looks big because you are looking through a microscope
Movement vs Positional Descriptors
Movement
- If tension exists (Wings spread, folded, extended; Arms up in the air)
No movement
- Positional (Two people facing each other)
Active or Passive Movement
Every movement response will be designated with a superscript as:
- a (active)
- p (passive)
- a-p (both)
Benchmark is talking (which is always scored passive)
See page 101-102
Context, Elaborations, Qualifications
Context can change a to p or p to a
Active = a leaf spinning out of control
Passive = a leaf falling slowly spinning to the ground
Movement within a painting, caricature, picture, or abstraction is always passive
*caution: “picture” can refer to the inkblot
Two possibilities if both a and p of one type of movement (M, FM, m) are involved in a single response:
- When more than one object is involved, score both a and p with a dash in between (e.g., Card I: two people dancing around a person standing»_space;> Ma-p)
- When a single object is involved, only the active superscript is used (e.g., Card II: a dog sitting there howling»_space;> FMa)
Clarifying Movement
Often trying to understand what makes it look like it is moving is a pointless clarification.
Often the client is frustrated and says it just does
BUT there are times when movement is expressed in such a way to need a clarification:
- Vibrating
- Flaming, burning
- Streaking through space
Chromatic Color
Use of color in articulating response.
Exact code depends on extent to which form is involved:
FC: Color contributes but form is dominant (e.g., it has that shape like liquid running down a wall - and it is red too)
CF: Color is dominant but form contributes (e.g., it is red and is running down here like bl would do)
C: Only color is involved (e.g., it is red like blood)
Is Form or Color Predominant?
The goal of distinguishing FC from CF resolves around what is the predominant determinant for the response?
Are they using form more than color?
Or color more than form?
Consider the relative use of color in the entire response
Sometimes mention of color is only identifying a location, so no color is coded (e.g., the red could be a bowtie)
Color-convergence: Consider the importance of the color of the object in the real world
> The blue is a lake; the red is blood > color vs the red is a fish > locator, not color)
Page 104-105
Is Form or Color Predominant? (Cont.)
In general, whenever a response contains elements that qualify for different categories of the same determinant, use the one with the least form
Color as locator
- The red could be a bowtie (no color convergence)
BUT something normally coded C that is only part of a larger response, part of which does have some form and is in positional relationship to the color, causes a step down from C to CF (I.e., consider the whole response)
E.g., colorful decorations on a Christmas tree
Achromatic Color (C’)
Identifying gray, black, or white as a characteristic
Generally:
- A white jet, a gray bug, it has a white edge
- Gray, black, and white can denote location only, which is not coded
- Achromatic color-convergence
e.g., the black is coal > C’
the black is tweezers > not C’
- Light and dark are key words (they can be achromatic color or shading)
Shading
When the perception of shading is part of the response it will be coded V, T, or Y
Shading involves contrasts or differences in shades of ink or mixing 2 colors , a varying intensity of ink or color will be perceived as texture, depth, or diffuseness
Communicated by words: shading, darker, lighter, contrast, varying pixels, or hinted at by designs, lines, marking, not solid, not the same, specks, splotches, or spots (hints require clarification)
Or by gestures – rubbing the card, putting hand behind the blot (be sure and document these actions)
Shading that Creates Form Features
Using shading features to create contours in the blot - not scored shading
Card IX - the green part looks like a ghost’s head - using the shading to create a mouth shape
Card VI - using the shading to create round spots on the young deer/fawn
Shading - Texture (T)
Used to code tactile impression
e.g., soft, rough, smooth, furry, wet, hot to touch, cold to touch
Must be based on variations of shading (doesn’t include “cold because it is blue” - the wouls a color determinate)
“Color” often must be inquired to see if actual color or if shading is being used (especially on non-color cards)
Shading - Texture (T) (cont.)
“The shading makes it look soft””
Fur may or may not be texture - clarify
Children rubbing the card is sufficient to score texture
Card IV. it is a black slimy monster walking through the woods.
- Here is the head, body, feet. (WMILL slimy?) because the ink makes it l.l. wet and slippery. (WMILL walking thru woods?) Bec there is a tree.
Shading - Vista (V)
Used when depth or dimensionality is perceived in shading
Determine if the response is based on shading (scored V) or on size or contours (scored FD)
Problem words include “bumpy,” “indented,” “rough”
Must articulate 3-D dimensionality
> Something is closer to you than other parts are based on shading
> Birds eye view, o looking at it from above, looking down on it from above. But “top view” is not 3D (not the distance)
Card VI. It l.l. a canyon you are looking down into.
– The coloring gets darker as you get deeper in the canyon, and there is a river running in the bottom.
Shading - Diffuse (Y)
Use of shading that is not coded vista or texture or is a form feature (so Y is the default use of shading)
Dilemmas: C’ vs Y
> Unless you are convinced it is C’, use Y
Sometimes Y is found in color contrasts: e.g., different pinks make it look rotten; different grays like a storm; the way the coloring comes together it looks like dried blood
Card VI. It l.l. smoke rising up here. Just this part. The ink has a smoky quality - how the pixels are varying in color
Convergence Principle
Response language, Prototypical imagery and Permissive location converge so that only one code is possible:
- Response: Color mentioned, “the red is blood”
- Prototypical imagery–blood is red
- Permissive location (Card II D2 or D3) - pulls for color
NO CLARIFICATION REQUIRED TO CODE C
Convergence Principle (cont.)
Achromatic color convergence
- “The white part here is snow”
- “The black part is the night sky”
Texture convergence
- Unequivocal tactile communication (only soft, texture, or smooth are unequivocal)
-Prototypical object content (bearskin rug)
- Approximately shaded blot area (Card IV or VI)
FD convergence
- Card IV – Looking up toward a giant like I am below him. Feet, legs, body, nose, and tail
Form Dimension (FD)
The artistic idea of foreshortening
Response in which the impression of depth, distance, or dimensionality is given by the relative size and/or shape of contours (no shading used)
e.g., it’s so small it must be way off
e.g., it l.l. it is in perspective
Obscuring-Type FD
One object obscures another behind it
Scored when something is behind something (if based on form)
e.g., I can only see part of the arm so it must be behind him
Sometimes subtle: “a person standing with a hood on”
> If hood is 2dimensional, not FD
> If hood covers anything like a face (“can only see part of the face”), FD
Card IV. L.l. a big monster riding a motorcycle smoking a cigar
- Head, body, feed and here is the motorcycle. (WMILL Big?) bec its feet are big and its head is small. (WMILL smoking a cigar?) the way the colors are makes it l.l. smoke here
Reflections
A reflection or mirror image based on the symmetry of the blot
Image must be identical
If you score a reflection, do not score pair (2)
e.g., > it looks like a mountain lake reflecting the trees and mountains; a woman looking at herself in the mirror, a steamboat and its reflection
Form
F (Form)
- Responses based exclusively on “shape” or by POINTING OUT FORM FEATURES
- Only code F when it is the only determinant in a response (it is exclusionary) (never in a blend)
- The F in FM and FD can be confusing because they do not necessarily refer to form (F)
Benchmarks for “Reasonably Certainty”
“…because of how it’s shaped.” = F
“it’s so small - it must be off in the distance.” = FD
“Different shades give the impression of depth.” = V
“That red looks like blood” = C
“…it’s climbing” = FMa or Ma
“…reflected on the other side.” = r
“…looks like a pink cat.” = FC
“The guy looks angry.” = Ma
Blends
When more than one determinant is used in a response
When written, separate each determinant by a comma
E.g., C’, FD, Ma
More than three determinants
» Can happen but check your scoring
Cannot use two codes of the same category of determinant (CF, FC)
> use the one with the least form emphasis
Can get two shading scores in a blend
BUT do not code same word or phrase two ways
Clarification
Clarification may be the biggest threat to reliability and validity (soft underbelly of the test, Exner)
Manual tries to standardize the guidelines for clarification as much as possible
Purpose: to “resolve uncertainties and ambiguities about coding” that the RP presented
Consistency across examiners in CP is the goal
