Jump to content

Talk:Rorschach test: Difference between revisions

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Lantunes (talk | contribs)
Line 198: Line 198:


I wish someone would add it. Because I don't know how to pronounce it, and I think others as well. <small>—The preceding [[Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages|unsigned]] comment was added by [[User:Berserkerz Crit|Berserkerz Crit]] ([[User talk:Berserkerz Crit|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Berserkerz Crit|contribs]]) 12:41, 16 February 2007 (UTC).</small><!-- HagermanBot Auto-Unsigned -->
I wish someone would add it. Because I don't know how to pronounce it, and I think others as well. <small>—The preceding [[Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages|unsigned]] comment was added by [[User:Berserkerz Crit|Berserkerz Crit]] ([[User talk:Berserkerz Crit|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Berserkerz Crit|contribs]]) 12:41, 16 February 2007 (UTC).</small><!-- HagermanBot Auto-Unsigned -->

:Native English speakers - especially in the United States - tend to replace the phoneme [IPA: x] by the phoneme [IPA: k], just because it is not natural for them to pronounce a sound that does not exist in their language, e.g. Bach, the composer, should be pronounced [IPA: bax] and not [IPA: bak]. The correct pronunciation of the test is [IPA: ʁoɐʃax] as opposed to [IPA: ʁoɐʃak]. [[User:Lantunes|Lantunes]]


== Keeping the inkblots secret ==
== Keeping the inkblots secret ==

Revision as of 00:35, 2 April 2007

WikiProject iconPsychology Start‑class Mid‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Psychology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Psychology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.
StartThis article has been rated as Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
MidThis article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

More on methods of interpretation

For an informed discussion about the inkblot test, it would be useful to add more about the logic behind evaluating the answears. For example, the article states that those who see an animal in the example picture are more social. The idea here is that seeing a fox or two birds are common interpretations. If you see what others see, you'll probably get along better with others, or so the theory goes. It's easier to discuss this statement than "seeing animals = social". Another thing that's examined is whether the images you see refer to the whole image or portions of it. If you see something in the image as a whole, you'r able to "take in the whole picture" in life in general.

If this logic strikes one as flawed, one must in the end ask if any method of interpretation would work. In any case, the inkblot test is not based simply on statistical results among patient groups, as the article may seem to indicate. If so, new inkblot sets could be produced on demand from inexpensive trials and the secrecy of the old tests would not be an issue.


"Psychologists prefer that the general public not see them so that it will not skew results when the test is performed and copyrights on the images are vigorously enforced to try to prevent this." Is the above statement possible in the age of internet? What happen when the copyright expire? (Though not likely while Disney is around)

As a pscyhologist, I have to say, that I agree. Anyone who has seen the inkblots previously cannot be given the test again. So, whether it is an issue of copyright or not, it IS an issue of professional responsibilities. In order to purchase the inkblots and scoring materials, you have to show evidence of a doctoral degree in psychology. The scoring of the test is incredibly complicated, the most complicated of any assessment tool, I'd say. Regardless of the copyright law, any psychologist who allows their materials to fall into the hands of anyone other than a trained professional would be considered an unethical choice. I wish Wikipedia would honor the ethical requirements of the only professionals who have access to this material.

OK, the claims of copyright seem rather spurious to me. Hermann Rorschach died in 1922. Any ones he was using when he developed the test are well within the public domain. I don't recall how many, if any, in the set were developed after that, but the original ones are completely free and clear. All in all it appears to me to be yet another company trying to distort copyright laws to protect things that can't be protected. And, hell, even the ones under copyright can be used via Fair Use rules for comment and criticism. DreamGuy 18:10, Mar 5, 2005 (UTC)

I agree that the copyright claim is spurious, is there a source for the claim? As you say, if the author was Hermann Rorschach and he died in 1922 April 2, then they are in the public domain, both United States and EU. See an attempt at copyright analysis here commons:User:Wikibob.

simulated ink blot

Meanwhile I added a GFDL simulated ink blot (green on black) from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Rorschachtest - click on the image for full details.

Returning to the copyright, these guys display the outlines of the official ink blots and full 'cheat' details with no worries at all about copyright. They say:

After repeated letters from dozens of outraged psychologists and psychiatrists
claiming that this page "violates the copyright on the Rorschach Test", we feel
compelled to post this notice:
The information presented here, including the outlines of the Rorschach
inkblots, is not in violation of copyright law. Please don't waste your time
writing us to complain or threatening to "turn us into the publisher".

-Wikibob | Talk 01:05, 2005 Mar 16 (UTC)

What those guys say may or may not be true. There is such a thing as copyright renewal (which is why, for example, 19th centrury novels are copyrighted) and the Rorschach's copyright was last renewed in the 1990's. Faustian 20:57, 21 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Extensive references for future expansion of the Hermann Rorschach stub:

-Wikibob | Talk 01:13, 2005 Mar 16 (UTC)

Okay, I'm going agree with the psychologist on this thing- it is the ethical duty of a licensed mental health worker who has the qualifications to obtain this test to keep it under wraps. I was shocked to see this image on Wikipedia, as it's contributers are usually not only knowledgeable, but respectful of the topics upon which they are writing. Having this image up is a big problem in many ways. First, it makes this site, specifically this article, look unprofessional. Second, there's been decades and decades of blood, sweat, tears into testing the cards, norming data, running statistical analysis that are unimaginable to anyone outside of the field. You may think "Oh, its just a couple of cards." No. Each one is purposeful and cannot be changed due to reasons that are way too complicated to explain (and I certainly couldn't explain them all!) You may doubt its usefulness, but I assure you that as hokey as it may look to you (and it did to me before I spent years studying and administering it) it is reliable and valid as an IQ test (moreso, according to some data). Whether you appreciate it or not, the Rorschach is powerful in the psychological world of personality. Its used in courts, custody trials, diagnosis, etc, etc. Making images available on the internet will make it obsolete and we will have lost a helpful tool. I know people are often annoyed and resentful at psychologists for all our "secrets" and "games," but this test works, and has helped others because it has been kept "secret." As far as not having a substitute image- I beg to differ. There are plenty of sites that offer information that is appropriate for the public and they have Rorschach-like images. One of my Rorschach textbooks also has a few on the cover. I encourage the person who posted that image to substitute in order to renew the sanctity of test and make the article more informative and less "revealing."

Conflicting sentences

The following sentences from the article seem to be in conflict:

  • Most, if not all, inkblots contain symbols and images that are supposed to be interpreted sexually.
  • Secondly, because the blots of ink are inherently meaningless and subjective, evaluating the results of a test requires the blots of ink to have meaning in the first place.

I realize that there isn't a factual conflict, since even a portrait of Jesus Christ has no meaning until viewed and interpreted by someone. However, the second sentence implies that the designers of the test didn't include any images they felt would be likely to be interpreted in any particular way, while the first implies that they did.

I don't know which implication is correct, so I won't make changes, but this is problematic as currently written. --Yath 22:30, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, I think the first sentence is questionable... I think the idea is that they are all supposed to start out ambiguous but then they picked which blots to use in the test based upon the ones people picked sexual things on fairly often. Rorshach is definitely in one of the "Everything is sexual" camps. Of course then the question is if it really is still supposed to be meaningless if they expect certain answers. DreamGuy 02:24, Apr 14, 2005 (UTC)



I think that this little blurb is BS:

there is no reason to believe that images found in the ink blots represent some core
personality or self rather than feelings, past experience, creativity, or some other 
part of the mind that would not play a major part in the patient's actions.

Did you guys know that one of the cards is blank? Completely white. It actually gets some of the longest and most descriptive responses after being told that it isn't a joke and that it is a real card. They say it's a snow storm or a white dove over their vision or whatever. The point is, however, that this is direct evidence against the fellow saying that it doesn't reflect anything about the self. The only thing it could be is a reflection of the self. The card is flippin' BLANK for christ sakes; the only thing you can describe about it comes from within. Really I love that this card exisists -- it is a 100% flow directly from the unconscious. Very cool stuff. 128.114.172.101 17:04, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

and you know what? what is a person except for a sum of their past experiences and feelings? is that not what composes their self, their personality?

also if this guy is calling the rorschach bunk, then projection and transference would be too. there goes all of psychotherapy. i'm deleting it. JoeSmack (talk) 15:39, Jun 17, 2005 (UTC)

Is there a black one? --Yath 18:13, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)


None of the ten original Rorschach cards is blank. The Thematic Apperception Test has a blank card. --Georgius 14:22, 15 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

LOL, you're right. I'd make an arguement that they are similar projective tests, but I only have about half of one foot to stand on left...so I think I'll just shove it in my mouth and shut up. ;) JoeSmack (talk) 15:25, July 15, 2005 (UTC)

My $0.02

Sorry to return to the issue of having card one shown in this article. It seems unnecessarily provocative to post this, especially when there is a suitable non-Rorschach card to be in its place. And the issue is not copyright. I guess this doesn't matter in Wikipedia as long as someone wants to do this, no amount of appeal will prevail.

Also there are some problematic statements: the test is not "outdated" because the cards have been put on the Internet. It may spoil test results, however having seen the card does not in itself ruin the results.

Also, the statement about turing the card means the person is brain damaged is not the case. No psychologica testing is that simple. So, either someone with little or no knowledge must have stated this.

Also, using the word "believers" is also provocative.

And as I psychologist, I have problems with the Rorschach. However, I have more of a problem when articles in WP are contentious. The validity issue of the Rorschach test has not been decided for many of the claims against it (e.g., Woods) have been challenged. Again, I am not saying I think that the Rorschach is valid or not but just that the article should show an informed position. Of course this means having the criticisms stated boldly but also the replies to this criticism. To do this, I think, raises the level of scholarship of the article. (The level of scholarship complaint is not only with this article but with many WP articles.)

Maybe I will add to this article but not if it is going to stir up the passions of the anti-Rorschach people. It's not worth an "editing war". So let me know if I should bother. Rsugden 14:41, 31 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Is this a Freudian test ?

"Rorschach was a proponent of Freudian psychoanalysis, which emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind. More recently, the test has been used as a perceptual test"

In Rorschach's book, there are only few references to Freud, and his method makes me think to Exner rather than to psychoanalysis (he even writes that some clever persons guess thaht it is a perceptual test and not an imagination test). He looks at the number of answers, at the number of time patients look at small details, at the colours and so on, much like in Exner's CS, without anything which would remind me of Freudian theories. Apokrif 22:54, 13 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Rohrschach, not Rorschach!

Re CORRECT SPELLING. Professor Rohrschach's name is taken from the idyllic little Swiss town of Rohrschach on the Bodensee (a.k.a. Lake Constance). Although the town's name and by implication the name of the famous psychiatrist have been misspelled so often by now as to have become so to say "official" language, I can see no reason why Wikipedia should perpetuate this glaring mistake.
Even the most cursory glance at the map of Switzerland will confirm that Rohr... is the correct spelling. Dozens of villages and towns can be found having a "Rohr" in their name, e.g. Rohrbach, Rohrbachgraben, Rohrdorf, Rohrmatt, Rohrmoos, and of course any number of plain Rohr in the Cantons of Aargau, Solothurn, Freiburg etc to mention just the best known. And this is of course no coincidence. The German word Rohr has many meanings: reed, rush, cane, tube, pipe etc etc, while "Ror" would not point to anything in the world but the spelling of an illiterate person.
Rohrschach is a very fittingly named place indeed. The name is composed from Schachen, which in Switzerland mainly denotes low ground or lake shore, and Rohr, which in this case stands for Binsen (E. rush, L. juncus).
We all know that sloppy spelling is not frowned upon anymore in today's media. Nevertheless, in judging the question at hand we should ask ourselves how we would feel if it were our own names that were being mangled. Speaking for myself, I frankly admit that whenever I am addressed in a letter as Mr Zolinger, Mr Bollingen or Mr Holliger the thought that I might one day be listed in an encyclopedia under one of these misspellings causes me distress. I therefore urge every Wikipedian to give Professor Rohrschach his due and repair the injustice done to him. --BZ(Bruno Zollinger) 14:37, 1 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi... No... his real name was Rorschach. Period. Full stop. End of discussion. I don't care what the Swiss town is named, or where that name came from, as that's not his name. All of your ranting about misspelling of your name and so forth is completely irrelevant. DreamGuy 22:56, 1 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Amen. By the same logic we could declare that the "proper" spelling of Zollinger is Zelënyye Gory, Dzhyuylyanger, Çilingir, or Jelina Gora. - Nunh-huh 23:11, 1 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re REAL NAME (DreamGuy). First let me say that I am extremely sorry to learn that my explanations have come across as a "rant". I can assure you that this was never my intention. Please put it down to my relative unfamiliarity with the American idiom. This might also be the reason why I have apparently not managed to make myself clear about Professor Rohrschach's "real name". Not only the town's name is Rohrschach, but also Professor Rohrschach's original family name. My grandfather, Alois Zollinger, who had the honor of being personally acquainted with the revered Professor, told us more than once how unhappy Professor Rohrschach, a learned and very tradition-conscious man if there ever was one, felt about the mangling of the name Rohrschach. So while I fully understand the difficulties that would present themselves if you were to attempt at this late date to correct the error in Wikipedia, I nevertheless would be happy if you would reconsider your position in this matter.
Re LOGIC (Nunh-huh). By stating that by "the same logic we could declare that the proper spelling of Zollinger is (...) Jelina Gora", you are, of course, 100% right. The logic of the process that you have in mind for arriving at one of these names cannot be faulted. However, the correct logic of a process by itself does not guarantee a correct result. And in this case your result would certainly be wrong: My family name is not, has never been, and cannot be read as a translation or rendering of Jelina Gora, whereas Professor Rohrschach's name was Rohrschach, is Rohrschach, and shall remain Rohrschach even if there were not one person left on earth to remember this. --BZ(Bruno Zollinger) 19:36, 2 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If evidence to support this claim was made available to our readers, then it would be included in the article. However, it is not Wikipedia's job to rewrite history, only to record it, so the name of this article would retain the "Rorschach" spelling because that is what the test is called throughout the English-speaking world. Details on article-naming policy are available at Wikipedia:Naming conventions; the policy at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (common names) is particularly relevant.  — Saxifrage |  04:44, 3 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
His name was Rorschach, as agreed upon by his own followers and how he himself spelled his name. See http://www.rorschach.com/ for a sample of his signature and other reference. Discussing some Swiss town or whatever is pointless. Claiming that he didn't like how his name was spelled based upon what you say someone else told you is nothing more than [[unverifiable original research, which is against policy and against common sense as well. DreamGuy 05:20, 3 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re NAMING CONVENTIONS (Saxifrage). Thank you very much for drawing my attention to this interesting information. I agree, of course, that the faulty spelling of Professor Rohrschach's name is at the moment dominant in parts of the English-speaking world and that his world-famous test is therefore in all too many places misnamed. Please bear in mind, however, that the way names are spelled has a tendency to change through the years even in America. If examples are needed you might want to have a look at the spelling of Chinese names now and a century ago. Apart from practical problems that might arise, there is therefore no reason why errors should not be corrected at any given moment.
Re FOLLOWERS (Dreamguy). You no doubt have a point there. But it does not seem to me to be a very relevant one. If you consider that disciples tend to change their master's name practically as a rule (our own Jesus Christ whose "real name" certainly was neither Jesus nor Christ is just one example), your point would on the contrary be one more reason for a correction.
May I also point out once more that the information about Professor Rohrschach's dismay on seeing the family name mangled was not given to me by "someone else" but by my grandfather Alois Zollinger. Also, the fact that Professor Rohrschach himself finally succumbed to the concerted attacks of the illiterates is no reason at all why Wikipedia should not put the record straight.
One more fact that you might want to look into: Professor Rohrschach was not only an eminent scientist but also a great lover of music and an expert also in this field. Of all the innumerable musical societies that have sprung up in his honor, e.g. Stadtmusik Rohrschach, Maennerverein Frohsinn Rohrschach, Orchesterverein Rohrschach (run by the famous Nelly Bischof), to mention only the best known on an international scale, I do not know a single one that did not get Professor Rohrschach's name right. A glance at the excellent Swiss music site www.music.ch will yield all the confirmation that you might need. --BZ(Bruno Zollinger) 20:07, 3 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Again, Wikipedia is not about correcting errors that the rest of the world believes are not errors. Yes, Chinese spellings have changed, and Wikipedia's article names regarding Chinese subjects reflect this in many cases (and in many cases have not changed, depending on common usage). These changes in Chinese spelling are recognised by reputable sources outside of Wikipedia. However, the spelling of Rorschach in the context of the test has not changed in the English-speaking world, and so Wikipedia must adhere to that spelling.
Furthermore, your comment to Dreamguy is missing an important point: your information on the spelling of the Professor's name is a personal source unavailable to this project and its readers. Therefore, we cannot incorporate it into the article. See Wikipedia:Verifiability and Wikipedia:Cite sources for policy regulating information sources.  — Saxifrage |  00:47, 4 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re AVAILABILITY (Saxifrage). Puzzled by your remark about the supposed unavailability of the sources given by me, I have gone over my data once again and have found to my great dismay that an error has occurred indeed. I deeply apologize. Frohsinn Rohrschach is of course not a "Maennerverein" as erroneously stated in my last post but a Maennerchor (or Männerchor as it should correctly be spelled. I shall however also in future spell out the German Umlaute in order to avoid confusing readers whose systems are not equipped to handle such letters). A Maennerverein could of course be any kind of congregation, whereas in a Maennerchor people get together to sing.
This said, I do not think that you will encounter any more difficulties in checking my sources. Full data with addresses and phone numbers are freely available on the internet for the 3 societies mentioned (Stadtmusik Rohrschach, Maennerchor Frohsinn Rohrschach, Orchesterverein Rohrschach) and the www.music.ch will not let any person down who is seriously intent on research and not on defending preconceived notions about a subject he knows very little about.
Finally I would like to point out a glaring omission in the article. Professor Rohrschach was of course a deeply religious man with a profound interest in religious poetry. All serious witnesses agree that his Psychodiagnostik cannot be understood at all without this background. Absolutely none of this comes across in the article. Not even his favorite poem is quoted or even mentionned. Now, before anyone would want to complain about sources being "unavailable" he would do well to go to some reputable library, which I am sure can be found also in America, and read at least some of Professor Rohrschach's essays (beside the Psychodiagnostik of course) and look at least at a few pages of the excellent memoirs of the great man by his sister A. Berchtold-Rohrschach. Yes, I know, the situation being what it is, the books will probably be still listed under the faulty spelling. All the more reason to do something about it here. --BZ(Bruno Zollinger) 13:41, 4 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Those don't qualify as sources for Wikipedia, because Wikipedia does not accept original research. (See Wikipedia:No original research.) Consequently, there must be some third-party source that says, in effect, "The name of the test is wrong because it is based on the name of the Professor, and obviously his name is Rohrschach because all the institutions named after him spell it that way." Lacking such a document that Wikipedia can cite means not including the information in the article. Wikipedia only documents established knowledge and is not in the business of correcting it or synthesising new knowledge.  — Saxifrage |  21:40, 4 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re QUALIFICATION (Saxifrage). Well, at least now I know that Professor Rohrschach's own words as documented in his essays, his handwritten letters, his poems, his songs, and the testimonies of his family members and colleagues (all collected in Gesammelte Aufsaetze, Verlag Hans Huber, Bern und Stuttgart, 1965) do not qualify as sources for Wikipedia. And I also understand the reasons behind it.
I do not want to sound ungrateful. I truly appreciate your comments (no irony intended). On other pages I have encountered the same stubborn unwillingness to correct undeniable errors and inexcusable omissions. But there there was not even an attempt at explanation. On the page of a famous writer for example I have pointed out in vain that it could not possibly be true that he was born in 1880 and died in 1946 at the age of 62. Now I realize that, just as Professor Rohrschach, also this American writer will have to wait until someone presents a paper at some congress stating that in his opinion the data on which the leading theory is based, while not being exactly wrong, could also be interpreted to support an alternative theory according to which the writer died at the age of 49. This "third-party" paper would then, in your words, constitute knowledge established enough to be documented in Wikipedia. --BZ(Bruno Zollinger) 09:42, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

SPOV (the Swiss point of view)

Re SOURCES. Users DreamGuy and Saxifrage have been so kind as to instruct me on what at the moment is taken to qualify as a source for Wikipedia and what is considered information worthy of incorporation in an article. It is certainly not, nor has it ever been, my intention to break any rules here or suggest any changes of policy. Allow me, however, to explain how these matters are regarded elsewhere.
Beside the Professor's own works cited above, the following are considered in Switzerland to be not only sources but indispensable sources:
- Kerner, Justinus: Klecksographie, 1857
- Hens, Szymon: Phantasiepruefungen mit formalen Klecksen bei Schulkindern, 1917
- Behn-Eschenburg, Hans: Psychische Schueleruntersuchungen mit dem Formdeutversuch, 1921
Without these writings, how could anybody know what the Professor's Tolggengeschichte (sic) was all about? How could anybody guess that the tool (ink blots) that the Professor employed was in common use in his time and that he would never have dreamt of claiming exclusive rights on it? How could anybody understand that his "followers" have taken the work of a decent and honest man and turned it into a travesty and a scam? How could anyone ever find out that these "followers" have to be classed in the same category as clairvoyants, fortune-tellers and all the other practitioners of voodoo science and medicine?
Now, if users Saxifrage and Dreamguy feel that the SPOV on sources and their content should not be heard even on this Discussion Page, I shall be glad to examine their evidence for that too. If I should find it as convincing as the one presented by them so far regarding the article proper, I would in future refrain from bringing this SPOV up on this page, of course. --BZ(Bruno Zollinger) 11:46, 12 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Naive skeptics

You know, little annoys me more than the obstinantly uninformed derisiveness of so-called "skeptics" on wikipedia for any controversial topic they can find to dump on. So far I've found wikipedia articles on philosophy, psychoanalysis, the Rorschach test, and many other subjects infested with this pseudo-"skeptical" garbage, always with the obligatory link to that esteemed and,I am sure, rigorously peer-reviewed source of knowledge, the "Skeptic's Dictionary." Hey skeptics, why don't you turn your skepticism back toward yourselves and ask yourselves why you continually trash ideas about which you have no expertise or detailed knowledge? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.139.7.250 (talkcontribs)

Moreover, the beginning of the controversy section probably needs to be taken out, as the two points made there are basically completely irrelevent in modern psychological assessment. This cannot be emphasized enough! Faustian 13:30, 23 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Seeing Nothing

The article seems to ignore the fact that some people (myself included) honestly see nothing when looking at a Rorshach test. Does anybody know if this applies to enough people to affect the validity of the results? Symmetric Chaos 02:35, 19 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It's possible, but Wikipedia only contains information that other reliable sources publish. We'd need some peer-review article or a good journalism piece on that subject before the article could stop "ignoring" that. — Saxifrage 23:10, 19 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Re VALIDITY. Yes Symmetric Chaos, there are, unfortunately, some people who can't see anything. Professor Rohrschach called them the Sehbehinderte. But I can assure you that the validity of the results is in no way affected by this.--BZ(Bruno Zollinger) 08:33, 20 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Those who claim to see nothing are simply not revealing what they see or have such strong defenses that they cannot find anything that they would deem "appropriate." We react all the time. Those who don't are in comas. --Annalisa579 05:33, 2 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Outrage

I am a student psychologist that is outraged by this page. Regardless of whether or not these inkblots are copyrighted has absolutely no bearing on the ethical issue at hand. It takes years, sometimes decades, to provide the service of creating a new, creative, reliable test. The Rorschach is one of these tests which has long been regarded as a hallmark of psychology. A test such as this cannot be veiwed by the public, simply because it is based on first impressions. You are ruining this novelty by posting the first card on the internet. It is an injustice to psychologists who still consider the Rorschach as an integral test. If Wikipedia ever wishes to be a viable source of information, they will seriously consider becoming an ethical one as well and removing the inkblot picture. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Teenyshan (talkcontribs)

I am a student of psychology as well and I disagree with the dissemination of the inkblots in general, but while at Wikipedia I leave my bias behind as much as I can and edit according to Wikipedia's rules. One of these rules is that Wikipedia must remain neutral by not choosing sides in real-world disputes such as this one. Speaking as an editor, I think using a silhouette of only one of the inkblots is a good compromise between the camp that believes the inkblots should be known to all and the camp that believes they must be kept strictly secret.
Of course, this isn't the only possible good compromise, so constructive suggestions about how Wikipedia can illustrate this article in a neutral but informative way would be appreciated. — Saxifrage 22:16, 7 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed. Viewing the original image may invalidate the test, impacting client care. There is no reason to place the controversial image there; interested people can find the link after having been warned about it, rather than have the image pop up immediately when they look at the wiki page. It is truly irresponsible to place that image here, just because one can.Faustian 19:02, 9 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Inkblot

Does anyone else think the inkblot really really looks like Cyril Sneer? Or does this make me ill? Skittle 00:36, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I can see the resemblance. :) — Saxifrage 19:52, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The Ro(h)rschach name Discussion

The great thing about Wikipedia is that the above discussion about Ro(h)rschach can be read in the screen unlike more conventional encyclopedias. I think that the Wikipedia policers in this case were less than generous about this issue- calling a discussion "a rant" is indicative of a type of reverse knee-jerk reaction. One would think that a media like this could very much - and indeed - is designed to bring out knowledge that is hidden or that might be of value to the readers. Yes this is not the place for original research, but one of the great aspects of this format is that intelligent people who have something to contribute should be able to and positively encourage to do so! So to the Wikipedia policers, let me remind you - This is no way is going to be a standard boring encyclopedia. In the same way, this page is not controlled by professional psychologists who insist that 'their' story is the only true one. The recent controversy about the quality and nature of the Ro(h)rschach Test is a real one and now a historical phenomenon that MUST be addressed in this article. it cannot be repressed in the name of some presumed "sanctity." That is why we have Wikipedia.Brosi 21:10, 28 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Under methods...

The sentence "The is the mannis method is defined as the Comprehensive Scoring System." has an error, and I can't decide based on context what a possible correction might be. 201.81.252.13 07:01, 4 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Recent major change

Someone please confirm the validity of this edit [1]. Thanks, --WikiSlasher 10:49, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Actually it'll be better to look at the diff after my format fix [2], the text changes were made by 140.247.42.161 (talkcontribsWHOIS), not me. --WikiSlasher 10:53, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Take note that the earlier revision is wikified with links and has references and external links and an image, whereas the as-of-now current revision has none. --WikiSlasher 10:57, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

NPOV in controversy section

This section relies heavily on the "sceptics society" and on the writings of Lilienfeld's anti-Rorschach circle whose ideas do not represent the consensus on the judgment of the Rorschach, which continues to be used extensively in practice and research, within psychology. That work has been critiqued rather successfully by other researchers. I have made some additions but until more work is done to balance that of Lilienfeld that section does not represent a NPOV. Faustian 17:25, 8 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Pronounciation of Rorschach

I wish someone would add it. Because I don't know how to pronounce it, and I think others as well. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Berserkerz Crit (talkcontribs) 12:41, 16 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Native English speakers - especially in the United States - tend to replace the phoneme [IPA: x] by the phoneme [IPA: k], just because it is not natural for them to pronounce a sound that does not exist in their language, e.g. Bach, the composer, should be pronounced [IPA: bax] and not [IPA: bak]. The correct pronunciation of the test is [IPA: ʁoɐʃax] as opposed to [IPA: ʁoɐʃak]. Lantunes

Keeping the inkblots secret

I think the inkblots should be available for anyone who wants to see them and understands the fact that he or she won't be able to take the test effectively after seeing them. The pretention of keeping them secret is like reserving the right of applying it to someone against his/her will: if someone wants to keep the chance of taking the test, they just won't look for the inkblots in the internet. They won't look for any kind of information about the test!

Why? Someone interested in any test might want to learn the basics about it. With this image on the page, a person interested in taking the test, and curious about it, would have it spoiled for him by whomever has placed the image right at the top of the page, with no warning. There is already a link on the page for website that do show the images, so there is no reason to spoil the test by placing the image on the top of the page.Faustian 20:29, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Reading this article about the test without any image spoils (or at least changes) the results of the test as well.

No, it does not, as the article does not provide the sort of information that would spoil the test.Faustian 20:29, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

So even showing the ten inkblots wouldn't spoil the chances of taking the test for anyone who does want to take it eventually. (Sorry about my English..)

By placing the inkblot on the page you don't give anyone the choice - as soon as they go on the wiki page they see the image. There is already a link to those images on the page, so if someone really wants to invalidate the possibility of seeing the test for themselves, they can choose do so by going to the link. Placing the image on the page removes that choice. So, the image is inappropriate. Faustian 21:32, 11 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Definitely agree with Faustian. In addition, copyrights are violated. I removed picture. 193.65.1.44 11:51, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This is becoming silly. The anonymous contributor who keeps posting the images has been given several arguments why it is inapropriate to do so. He has not responded to those arguments, instead continuing to post the picture. My experience is that on other topics such behavior eventually results in a block of the anonymous user. Any chance of external mediation of this situation in this case?Faustian 20:29, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I did respond to those arguments in the text with the title "keeping the inkblots secret". What seems to me to be quite silly, is the obsession of some faustian guy of insisting in that rorschach created only the inkblots and no scoring system at all, like he was an artist more than a psichologist. I mean the line 6 in the article.

The concerns that you wrote in this section have all been addressed, above. This reply is what you did not respond to (and still have not). Why did you not respond to them? I will keep your line 6, however.Faustian 17:09, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

From what i've heard in psychology class, Rorschach's original inkblots aren't used anymore (or at least not not the degree you guys seem to be discussing about). I think fair use would probably apply in this case... also, i personally do not think that knowing about the inkblots, how they look, or thinking of what they might resemble will affect anything, as the psychologist would be looking at your impulsive responses and the way you respond, and not what you already know about the pictures. just my $0.02 Spindled 05:56, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The images are pd since Hermann Rorschach died in the 1920s. So life +70 has expired.Geni 21:09, 29 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]