ABSTRACT
Introduced by Hermann Rorschach in 1921, the ‘Rorschach Test’ soon became the most widely known of all projective tests, often known as the ‘ink-blot’ test (Rorschach, 1921). (An American edition appeared in the same year as the Swiss first edition.) It comprises a set of ten cards, each with a symmetrical ‘ink-blot’ image. The individual taking the test is required to say what they see in this image. Contrary to popular belief, the specific content of responses, while significant, is considered less important than how the ink-blot is used – whether someone picks out lots of fine detail or responds in generalised terms to the whole image, whether they use the white spaces and margins, when they report movement, how many things are seen in the blot, response times, and so on. A highly detailed scoring method was developed for analysing responses. During the 1960s, its reputation nose-dived following research which showed lower inter-rater reliability between supposed ‘experts’ in the test’s use. Its fortunes then revived in the 1980s with the work of Exner (Exner, 2002) and his associate Weiner. This included revisions of the scoring system. The resulting ‘Exner system’ is now widely used and regularly updated.
