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Hermann Rorschach -

The Rorschach test is a predictive psychological test that was developed by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in the early 20th century.

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Student of Carl Jung -

While he was studying at the University of Zurich, and attending lectures by the likes of Carl Jung, Rorschach became interested in finding ways to interpret the mind.

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Early experiments -

During his early experiments, he showed a series of inkblots to study participants, and he made a note of what they saw and how.

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Intentions -

Rorschach had initially thought of using the inkblots as a sort of perceptual experiment, rather than any sort of diagnostic test.

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Recognizing patterns -

However, he soon came to realize that there were patterns in the responses given by different people with different personality traits.

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Initial results -

By 1918, the young Rorschach had written up the results of his first inkblot experiment, along with the method he used and a basic scheme for interpreting the results.

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Long-lasting influence -

Although Rorschach died in 1922 and did not bear witness to the subsequent influence of his work, it nonetheless went on to form the basis of an important projective test that is still used today.

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Contemporary applications -

Indeed, despite decades of controversy, the Rorschach test is still used in many contemporary contexts, from the courtroom to job recruitment processes.

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Basic premise -

The basic premise of the test is that by examining the images that someone sees in the inkblots, psychiatrists can make conclusions about that person's state of mind, and whether they are suffering from mental illness.

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Comparing responses -

The idea is that the answers provided by people suffering with mental illness will be considerably different from the answers provided by people who are mentally well.

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Developing the test -

There have been various iterations of the test since Rorschach's day, but it still uses the same core images of inkblots that he himself used in 1917 and 1918.

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Right and wrong answers -

With the Rorschach test, it is important to note that there are 'right' and 'wrong' answers. In fact, in 2009 there was a huge outcry when Wikipedia published these answers.

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Shrouded in secrecy -

According to many psychologists this was an outrage because the Rorschach inkblots themselves were meant to be kept secret, not to mention the answers to the test.

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Putting the test at risk -

The thinking was that by publishing the answers, patients would be able to study for the test and memorize the right answers, thereby rendering the test useless.

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Misunderstanding -

What these psychologists failed to realize was that the answers to the Rorschach test had been publicly available since at least the 1970s.

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Previous publications -

Indeed, they were published in the 1975 book 'The Nuremberg Mind' by Florence R. Miale and Michael Selzer, as well as in the 1983 book 'Big Secrets' by William Poundstone.

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Cheating instructions -

In fact, the latter of these books even includes a section on how to 'cheat' on the Rorschach test. That is, how to provide answers so that you don't appear mentally unwell.

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Storm in a teacup -

Perhaps there was no need, then, for such controversy when the answers to the Rorschach test were made public on Wikipedia. Indeed, the answers were already in the public realm, albeit less readily accessible.

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Real controversy -

The real controversy when it comes to the Rorschach test is about whether it is valid in the first place. Indeed, it doesn't make much sense to protect a test that is worthless anyway.

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Proponents -

Proponents of the Rorschach test believe that it is a sensitive and clear tool that is accurately able to detect a range of medical conditions.

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Advocates for its use -

It is the supporters of the test in the field of psychology that advocate for its continued use in serious situations, such as diagnosing someone on trial for a crime with mental illness.

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Critics -

Critics within the psychology community, however, believe that the test is nothing more than pseudoscience and that its continued use is an embarrassment to the profession.

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'What's Wrong with Rorschach?' -

In 2003, a group of psychologists who doubt the validity of the test published their book 'What's Wrong with Rorschach?.'

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"Weak at best" -

In the book, the co-authors looked at more than 50 years of research and studies on the scientific evidence for the Rorschach test and concluded that it is "weak at best and non-existent at worst."

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Public skepticism -

The court of public opinion does not tend to look favorably upon the Rorschach test; many people are skeptical as to how much insight it can actually provide.

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General skepticism -

Part of this may be due to general skepticism around psychiatric testing. It may also have to do with the fact that the Rorschach test does not yield a 'cut-and-dried' result like, for example, an IQ test does.

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Caveat -

However, it is worth bearing in mind that when it comes to the human mind, it is unreasonable to expect a cut-and-dried result.

Sources: (The Guardian) (Live Science)

See also: These famous artists struggled with mental illness

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