Why is a Rorschach Test Like That?

The Rorschach test, also known as the Rorschach inkblot test, is a psychological test in which a person's perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. It was created by Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist, and first introduced in 1921.

The test consists of ten inkblots printed on cards (five in black and white, two in black and red, and three in multicolor) designed to be ambiguous and open to interpretation. These inkblots are presented one at a time to the person being tested, and the person describes what they see.

Scoring the Rorschach test is complex and requires extensive training. The responses are analyzed on various dimensions including:

Location: What part of the inkblot was focused on by the subject (e.g., the whole inkblot, a detail, etc.).

Determinants: Aspects of the inkblots that influenced the subject's perceptions, such as form, color, shading, and texture.

Content: The actual things or themes the subject sees in the inkblot, like animals, humans, nature elements, etc.

Form Quality: This refers to how accurately the subject's perceptions match the actual shapes found in the inkblots. Responses can be typical (high form quality) or idiosyncratic (low form quality).

[Sirealvington]

"ur clinically depressed"
Aw man not again

[matthun]

Looks like a CT scan of a pelvis to me.

[Tyron]

Psychologist here. Paradoxically, the less people speaks about it the better. When doing the test it would be optimal to not ever have seen or heard about it.

[LiterallyRyan_Gosling]

"Pelvis."
"Another pelvis."
"Shattered pelvis."
"Are you just showing me pictures of pelvises?"

[UnSpamtomRandom]

"Looks like a human pelvis"
"schizophrenia"
"Fuck not again"

[AdLockhorst-bfpz]

"why is the image upside down?" is always a good response.

[Ciprian-Amarandei]

Patient: "A stain of ink"
Doctor: "Lock him away and throw away the key"

[rez-.-]

This guy: "What do you see in this picture?"
My brain: "A VAGINA!"
Me: "Please shut up."

[TheRyuSword]

“A skull?”
“You’re clinically depressed.”
“I knew that, but surely you have further insight.”

[iainwalker]

The symmetry often makes them look anatomical to me

[unknownedleaf]

therapist: what do you see?
me: a rorschach test.
therapist: wait no thats not- wait- no you cant

[Ryan-indeed]

Seeing this after spending half a semester learning to code the results of the test sure brings back memories... Won't go into details so if people ever need to take it it doesn't get ruined, but I'll just say it's so complex to study as a psychology student, that I had to have 3 manuals open at the same time to reach a coherent conclusion

[MichaelSmith-jdki]

As a clinical mental health therapist, I love the inkblots. However, the Rorschach test is not and never has been a diagnostic assessment. It's a subjective and interpretive assessment that was always intended to give insight into a subject's ways of thinking and perceiving. It can be helpful at times, but my personal experience is that I can get some of those same insights by asking a person to tell me about their hobbies.
Overall, I think this video is a great explanation of the tool.

[Klexology]

Hi! I'm a psychology student and I just popped in to say that, though this is a really good explanation of the Rorschach test, posting the cards and the way answers are interpreted actually compromises the validity of the test. The Rorschach is now rarely used for this exact reason.

[acorr]

"Two bears highfiving. Next"

[CodyPerez]

The last one looked like two Master Chiefs sipping on tea

[kijuu]

My lawyer advised me to not give my answer for the first picture

[HAVENTYOUPPLEVERHEARDOF]

"looks like a bird"
"CLINICALLY DEPRESSED"
"Goddamn it not again"

[singularitychannel]

It should also be noted that Hermann Rorschach never intended his test to be used as a one-and-done nor was it ever meant for the broad uses that pop culture displays it as. While today we’ve found value in it for distinguishing patterns in people thoughts, originally it was just an assessment for schizophrenia.

[Strawberrygremlins]

"What do you see?"
"A weird pelvis"
"You are depressed"