The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-10-18


have not coined a good phrase TO
describe it. The nearest is per-
sonality, or character, or human
relation test.
If it does what such a descrip-
ton suggests it can be seen that
it will be in immediate demand
with the ten million young men
and women who have to be fitted
into civil industry, and a large
number shocked by battle expert
ence who have to be assessed so
that a decision can be made as to
whether they will ever be able to
play their parts in the world.
The originator of the test was
Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psy-
chiatrist who died in 1922, and
who had experimental with his
procedure for diagnosing the per-
sonality for 10 years. The most
complete book published in Amer
lea dealing with the test was pub
lished in 1912, by the University
OF California Press. So it is not a
sudden or hare-brained idea, but
has background in the experience
Of scientific men.
Nature of Test
! emphasize this because It
doesn't sound as if it were very
sensible or profound. The test
consists in showing the subject a
number of blots, such as children
make by dropping ink on a sheet
of paper and folding it. The sub
ject tells what they look like to
him, if anything, and that is all.
But its simplicity is deceptive.
Rorschach showed his blots to his
students, his academic friends,
the janitor of the building, the pa
tients in the state hospital--they
all had meaningful experiences
when looking at these calculated
w meaningless blotches.
1t is claimed that a careful
study and scoring Of the results
will show a detailed analysis of
personality, and guide the exam
liner in advising what sort of work
the subject can do best.
AS an example Of what the test
will do and how dependable it is
we have the experience extending
over several years at Sarah Law
renee College. The students were
rated on entering college on the
basis Of the Rorschach test A, B,
C and D. Then they were followed
through their academic career.
There were % students each
classed as A and B. One Of them
had an academic failure. OF 16
students rated as c six had aca-
demic failures and one had to see
a psychiatrist. OF FL students
rated as D six had academic fail
ures and six had to see PSYCHE
artist.
Factors Involved
The test is being used not only
m colleges, but also in business to
fit people to the proper kind Of
work. It is also used extensively
in the study of nervous individu-
ais.
When one asks how such q
simple test can tell anything, the
question is partly answered by
studying how the scoring is made.
Three fundamental factors are in
volved. When the person tells
what the blot looks like it is scored
on the basis Of what part of the
blot suggested the answer, what
determined the response and
what was the content of the re-
sponses lie, did the blot suggest
an animal, a human, an object,
etc.. Just to give one brief gross
example, if Subject A cannot see
anything hat the blot suggests at
all while B can't make up his
mind whether it suggests a bat or
two clowns or a cloud, it is OBJ
,vious that you are dealing with
wo kinds of minds.
A sample report made after an
Elaborate series Of scorings is:
"His type Of mind is perfectly
at home in any routine detailed
task, but he cannot make deci-
sions. His difficulties would seem
TO lie in the fact that he can't see
the wood for the trees. Probably
an intelligence test would do him
good, because his difficulty seems
a purely intellectual one"
lerst, Mass. A dinner honoring DR..
Smith and DR.. Milton Simpson, who
retired from Kalamazoo COLLEGE s