week 1-2 Flashcards
Is rorschach inkblot method valid?
serves a central role in personality assessment
has a long history in psychology
topic of an abundance of empirical research
meets supreme court daubert validity standards and is admissible in court
it is a very powerful technique but is exceedingly complex
what is a cognitive perceptual task
a task that is more concerned with how you do something rather that what they seen
how they see the card vs actually what they see
Rorschach is a cognitive perceptual task
Why does the Rorschach work?
task provides a standardized sample of perceptual and verbal problem solving behaviors
Inkblots were created and enhanced, carefully selected and pilot-tested such that several different things can be seen so we can see how people see things
5 scoring systems (by 1960s)
Samuel Beck (empirical)
Bruno Klopfer (psychoanalytic)
Marguerite Hertz (empirical)
Zygmund Piatrowski (psychoanalytic)
David Rapaport, Merton Gill, Roy Schafer
6 Criticisms of the Rorschach
(any scientific endeavor needs criticism)
lack of good norms
over-pathologizes
Low inter-rater reliability
Lack of relationship to dx
Lack of incremental validity
the problem of R
what caused the resurgence of the Rorschach
standardized, empirically validated results brought credibility
sufficient to meet criteria to be admissible in court
revisions were made as studies continued
The comprehensive system of the Rorschach
1974 - John Exner published the first volume
“not an x-ray of the mind but a procedure that provokes many of the psychological operations of the subject”
Return to a “cognitive perceptual test” as intended
Reflecting inner organization - we cannot help but lay down our inner organization in how we perceive and interpret the world (conditioning, history, schema, organizing principles, templates)
New Direction of the Rorschach
developed by Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erdberg, Erard
developed new system = RPAS (Rorschach Performance Assessment System)
addressed many of the criticisms and now we can engage in new research
how “lack of good norms” was addressed
Exner was re-norming until death
Shaffer spear-headed a large international sample
how “overpathologize” was addressed
new norms
revisions of some indices
trained users understand the nuances of assessment and safe-guards against over-pathologizing
how “low inter-rater reliability” was addressed
viglione book promotes greater precision in scoring
better graduate training
How “lack of relationship to dx” was addressed
Rorschach is not intended to dx
must consider indicator by indicator, not rule out method as whole
Replication is always an issue in research
Better training
How “lack of incremental validity” is addressed
depends on assessment - add it to a protocol wisely
better training!
how “the problem of R” was addressed
possible solutions:
good clinical training
use the Holtzman inkblot Method
convert indicators to ratio (as possible)
develop norm tables for different ranges of R
Develop a new administration system
RPAS
new system
has emerged over the last 15 years and is built on Exner’s comprehensive system
it is the system most solidly grounded in empirical evidence
established to evolve with advancing research
user-friendly system
How does testers personality impact process
the insight that tester’s personality is part of the process was ahead of its time (intersubjectivity)
values:
May increase perceptiveness
May see a greater variety of solutions
may foster tolerance
may contribute to tester’s growth
Projective traditionally refers to:
ambiguous stimulus or activity
test-taker generates a response with minimal external guidance
in responding the test-taker projects or puts forward elements of her personality
interpretation requires subjectivity
What is projection
Things that aren’t there
- movement probably is a bit projective because blot does not move
- embellishment leaves the field too (bats classification answer, bat that just went through a storm and is all beat up)
- Minus responses may be projection
special scores
Performance-based vs projective
performance based tests = nomothetic; one’s performance can be scored into meaningful categories that can be compared to norms, resulting in reliable and valid implications that are totally separate from projective analysis
Performance based measures
Value as a different method from self-report tests
what do we miss with self-report tests?
maturity
narcissism
intelligence
trauma
Value of the Rorschach
Rorschach is a standardized behavioral experiment that provides a sample of how one:
- filters and organizes
- applies meaning to stimuli and situation
- how conventionally they perceive
- how logically they think and communicate
-how they handle inconsistencies, contradictions and ambiguity
True or False: Rorschach correlates high with self report measures
False; some explain this as a failure of the Rorschach, others call lit incremental validity allowed by a different method/level of investigation
Explicit vs Implicit
Explicit: self-report measures (how a person sees themselves)
Implicit: Performance-based measures tend to tap implicit or underlying aspects of a person
