Rorschach test

The Rorschach test is a psychological test in a form of inkblots on the cards. It is still used. It was named after Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach.
The test determines the state of patients and their problems.

 History 
Herman Rorschach was not the first who invented this method. Interpretation of inkblots was used in the game Gobolink from the late 19th century. In Europe such games were known as kleksography.  

Then Alfred Binet appeared. He first used it for psychological research. It determined the work of the imagination and consciousness.            

In 1921, Rorschach wrote his main book Psychodiagnostik where he described the test.            

Also Austrian psychologist SIgmund Freud showed how psychic expressions of the individual (in speech, dreams, and so on) could be read as signs pointing to unconscious processes. These processes were significant for a fuller and deeper understanding  of his personality. Finally, Freud stressed the very earliest experiences of the child in the family as of primary significance in the moulding of personality.            

Similar tests have been devised by American psychologist Wayne H. Holtzman.            

Later the test began to be used in all sorts of speculative ways. Researchers gave the test to Nazi criminals during Nuremberg Trials hoping to find out the psychological roots of mass murder.

 Method 
Rorschach showed inkblots to many  people with the same question: "What might this be?". It showed how people approached the task.  It showed also a different perception of people. Some people saw the movement on the pictures, some not.  

Usually inkblots pictures are shown secretly to make the patients' responses spontaneous.  

 In mass culture 
Rorschach test is used in many films, TV series, books, comics.

 One of the main character in comic book Watchmen is named after Rorschach. Rorschach also passed the Rorschach test.  
Andy Warhol created Rorschach Paintings displayed in the Baltimore Museum of Art.

 Related pages 

 Hermann Rorschach
 Alfred Binet
 Kleksography
Pareidolia

 References 

Category:Psychometrics