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Table of Contents

  1. What is the Rorschach Inkblot Test?
  2. Why can't I get a copy of the inkblots ?
  3. Where can I find the inkblots?
  4. How can I make my own inkblots ?
  5. What does the Rorschach tell you about a person?
  6. What if I want to take the Rorschach?

What is the Rorschach Inkblot Test?

Contrary to popular belief, the Rorschach Inkblot Test is NOT strictly a projective psychological or personality measure. In the strictest sense, the Rorschach Inkblot Test is a test or assessment of perception.  It is designed to evaluate how someone approaches their environment, In other words, it asks the question, "How does someone view and organize the world around them?"

Through analyzing what someone sees, where they see it, and what about the blot makes what they saw look like whatever they saw, the psychologist is able to make various hypotheses about how that person views and organizes the world.  Furthermore, the psychologist can compare the person's perceptions to a clinical or normative sample.  From this analysis, the psychologist then makes inferences about the person's approach to the world (which is largely stable and described often as character or personality), insofar as, one's feelings, thoughts, stress tolerance, relationships, and self-perception shapes and influences how that person views and organizes their world.  Thus, the major areas evaluated are: 1) the person's emotional world, 2) the person's cognitive world, 3) the person's ability to deal with situational stress, 4) the person's perception of others and relationships, and 5) the person's self-perception.

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Why can't I find or get a copy of the inkblots?

You might have had trouble locating copies of Rorschach's inkblots on the internet.

In accordance with American Psychological Association (APA) ethical standards, Psychologists protect testing materials from general distribution.  Ethical Standard 9.11 reads, in part, "Psychologists make reasonable efforts to maintain the integrity and security of test materials and other assessment techniques consistent with law and contractual obligations, and in a manner that permits adherence to this Ethics Code."  Thus, unless you are a licensed psychologist, or otherwise appropriately trained student or professional, you cannot have unfettered access to the inkblots.  Furthermore, while there are some websites that post the actual blots from time to time, the blots are copyrighted by Hans Huber and such postings, without permission of the publisher, can be considered a violation of those copyrights.

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Where can I find the inkblots?

If you are an appropriately licensed professional, you can purchase the blots from two major sources.  First, Pearson Assessments, sells the plates (i.e., inkblots) and assorted books and other Rorschach materials.  Second, the International Rorschach Society, has an order page too.

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How can I make my own inkblots?

For students writing reports and looking for examples of the blots, I would suggest making your own.  First, this is how Hermann Rorschach created his own blots originally.  Second, it is generally a lot of fun.  Third, it is the easiest way to get inkblots quickly.  As an aside, I made the logo for rorschach.org with India ink and cardstock.

  1. Take the cardstock and dribble ink around the face of the card.
  2. Fold the cardstock in half.
  3. Press the two sides together and rub the card smooth with the palm of your hand
  4. Unfold the card and presto, an inkblot!

Feel free to use color ink as well.  Rorschach developed several color inkblots in his series.

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What does the Rorschach tell you about a person?

A correctly administered, accurately scored, and appropriately interpreted  Rorschach Inkblot Test provides a psychologist with a series of clinical hypotheses regarding an individual's approach to the world.  The hypotheses are generated in five broad domains:  1) emotions, 2) cognitions, 3) ability to handle stress, 4) interpersonal relationships, and 5) self-concept.  It is the responsibility of the psychologist to evaluate the veracity of each hypothesis in relation to 1) the other hypotheses, 2) other testing results, 3) information from the patient, and 4) information from third-party participants (if appropriate).  A responsible clinician never utilizes a single measure to make any clinical decision.

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What if I want to take the Rorschach?

Typically, Rorschach Inkblot Tests are only administered within a battery of psychological measures administered to answer a specific clinical question in a psychological evaluation.  If you would like to have a psychological evaluation, you can contact the licensing boards* in your state to locate licensed psychologist in your area.

Alabama Hawaii Massachusetts New Mexico South Dakota
Alaska Idaho Michigan New York Tennessee
Arizona Illinois Minnesota North Carolina Texas
Arkansas Indiana Mississippi North Dakota Utah
California Iowa Missouri Ohio Vermont
Colorado Kansas Montana Oklahoma Virginia
Connecticut Kentucky Nebraska Oregon Washington
Delaware Louisiana Nevada Pennsylvania West Virginia
Florida Maine New Hampshire Rhode Island Wisconsin
Georgia Maryland New Jersey South Carolina Wyoming

District of Columbia

* Please be advised, the following links were judged accurate to the named site when generated.  Nevertheless, many states routinely change their web address structures.  If you find any broken links, please feel free to contact the webmaster.

Furthermore, you can search for local psychological associations (both city and state) on the internet to find referrals.

Google

Finally, there are often opportunities to become training subjects for graduate students. The National Council of Schools of Professional Psychology (NCSPP) is a group of schools who train psychologists in assessment and typically have such training needs.  Please be advised, many of the schools will allow students to provide direct feedback to the client (as the student's level of training would make the results suspect because of possible training errors).  Nevertheless, if you want the experience of taking the test, this is the easiest (and least expensive) way.

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Revised: March 10, 2005 .

 

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Last modified: March 10, 2005