536 CHAPTER 13
(ROR-shok). There are 10 inkblots, 5 in black ink on a white background and 5 in colored
inks on a white background. (See Figure 13. 6 for an image similar to a Rorschach-type
inkblot.)
People being tested are asked to look at each inkblot and simply say whatever
it might look like to them. Using predetermined categories and responses commonly
given by people to each picture (Exner, 1980), psychologists score responses on key
factors, such as reference to color, shape, figures seen in the blot, and response to the
whole or to details.
Rorschach tested thousands of inkblots until he narrowed them down to the 10 in
use today. They are still used to describe personality, diagnose mental disorders, and pre-
dict behavior (Watkins et al., 1995; Weiner, 1997). However, along with the use of other
projective techniques in general, their use is controversial given questions about some
scoring methods and overall validity (Lilienfeld et al., 2000).THE TAT First developed in 1935 by psychologist Henry Murray and his col-
leagues (Morgan & Murray, 1935), the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) consists
of 20 pictures, all black and white, that are shown to a client. The client is asked to
tell a story about the person or people in the picture, who are all deliberately drawn
in ambiguous situations (see Figure 13. 7 ). Again, the story developed by the client is
interpreted by the psychoanalyst, who looks for revealing statements and projection of
the client’s own problems onto the people in the pictures.
These are only two of the more well-known projective tests. Other types of projec-
tive tests include the Sentence Completion test, Draw-A-Person, and House-Tree-Person.
In the Sentence Completion test, the client is given a series of sentence beginnings, such
as “I wish my mother ...” or “Almost every day I feel ...” and asked to finish the sen-
tence, whereas in the Draw-A-Person and House-Tree-Person, the client is asked to draw
the named items.But how can anyone know if the interpretation is correct? Isn’t
there a lot of room for error?PROBLEMS WITH PROJECTIVE TESTS Projective tests are by their nature very
subjective (valid only within the person’s own perception), and interpreting the
answers of clients is almost an art. It is certainly not a science and is not known for
its accuracy. Problems lie in the areas of reliability and validity. In Chapter Seven,
reliability was defined as the tendency of a test to give the same score every time it
is administered to the same person or group of people, and validity was defined as
the ability of the test to measure what it is intended to measure. to Learn-
ing Objective 7.8. Projective tests, with no standard grading scales, have both low reli-
ability and low validity (Gittelman-Klein, 1978; Lilienfeld, 1999; Lilienfeld et al., 2000;
Wood et al., 1996). A person’s answers to the Rorschach, for example, might be quite
different from one day to the next, depending on the person’s mood and what scary
movie might have been on television the previous night.
Projective tests may sound somewhat outdated, but many psychologists and psy-
chiatrists still use this type of testing (McGrath & Carroll, 2012). Some psychologists
believe that the latest versions of these tests and others like them still have practical use
and some validity (Choca, 2013; Meyer & Kurtz, 2006; Weiner, 2013), especially when a
client’s answers on these tests are used as a starting point for digging deeper into the cli-
ent’s recollections, concerns, and anxieties.Figure 13.6 Rorschach Inkblot Example
A facsimile of a Rorschach inkblot. A person
being tested is asked to tell the interviewer what
he or she sees in an inkblot similar to the one
shown. Answers are neither right nor wrong but
may reveal unconscious concerns. What do you
see in this inkblot?
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
projective test that uses 20 pictures of
people in ambiguous situations as the
visual stimuli.
subjective
referring to concepts and impressions
that are only valid within a particular per-
son’s perception and may be influenced
by biases, prejudice, and personal
experiences.
Figure 13.7 Thematic Apperception
Test Example
A sample from the Thematic Apperception
Test (TAT). When you look at this picture,
what story does it suggest to you? Who is
the person? Why is he climbing a rope?