ABSTRACT
The determinant components reveal the manner in which the individual relates to the world, while the area components disclose the scope of the tasks the individual is ready to tackle actively and the efficiency with which he solves problems. The simultaneous consideration of both the area and the determinant components makes it possible to estimate the amount and efficiency of an individual’s energy output and to determine what effect this output has upon his social relationships. From the perceptual standpoint, the area components are extensive while the determinant components are intensive. The area components pertain to the size and location of percepts which are seen in geometric and abstract features of the inkblots and which can be measured objectively and easily in quantitative terms. The determinants are less abstract and more concrete and qualitative; their exact measurement is far more difficult. They indicate whether the subject reacted meaningfully to chromatic or achromatic colors, to kinesthetic cues, or merely to the shapes of the blots. Their presence is ascertained less reliably than that of the area components. There is hardly ever any doubt as to what area is covered by a percept; but the decision as to whether color, movement, or shading is an essential part of a percept can be difficult at times. No components throw so much light upon the psychological mechanisms regulating the subject’s significant relationships with others as do the determinants. An analysis of them discloses how the individual differs from others, much better than an analysis of the other components. The determinant components reveal the experiences and action tendencies that are of the greatest intensity and depth. The determinants are the most important part of perceptanalysis because they tell us much more about the individual than does any other set of components. The subject gets in closest visual contact with the blots through the determinants by noticing and responding meaningfully to their shapes, colors, shadings, and kinesthetic cues.
