An attempt to test assumptions about some indications of negativism on psychological tests

The Centrality of the Response Process in Construct Validity: An Illustration via the Rorschach Space Response

Recently, psychologists have emphasized the response process-that is, the psychological operations and behaviors that lead to test scores-when designing psychological tests, interpreting their results, and refining their validity. To illustrate the centrality of the response process in construct validity and test interpretation, we provide a historical, conceptual, and empirical review of the main uses of the background white space of the Rorschach cards, called space reversal (SR) and space integration (SI) in the Rorschach Performance Assessment System. We show how SR and SI's unique response processes result in different interpretations, and that reviewing their literatures with these distinct interpretations in mind produces the expected patterns of convergent and discriminant validity. That is, SR was uniquely related to measures of oppositionality; SI was uniquely related to measures of cognitive complexity; and both SR and SI were related to measures of creativity. Our review further suggests that the Comprehensive System use of a single space code for all uses of white space likely led to its lack of meta-analytic support as a measure of oppositionality (Mihura, Meyer, Dumitrascu, & Bombel, 2013 ). We close by discussing the use of the response process to improve test interpretation, develop better measures, and advance the design of research.

On the Validity of Rorschach's Hypotheses: The Relationship of Space Responses (S) to Oppositionalism

From Rorschach to date space responses ( S) have been interpreted as reflecting the trait of ‘oppositionalism.’ The research assessing the validity of Rorschach's hypothesis was reviewed. The results of the research done so far do not strongly or consistently support this hypothesis. On the basis of a critical analysis of the research strategies employed in these studies, conclusions and recommendations were made.

On the synthesis of information from psychological tests

This paper evaluated research concerning the synthesis or integration of information from Wechsler intelligence, Rorschach, and Thematic Apperception tests, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory in the process of personality assessment. Five methodological issues were considered in evaluating the extent to which the results contributed to the statistical prediction of clinical status: the method of measuring the clinical criteria, the status of participants or the groups tested, whether results were estimated for specific diagnostic groups, whether there were estimates of incremental validity for different psychological tests, and if diagnostic group status was predicted on the basis of test scores as opposed to the report of differences on tests between diagnostic groups. Few studies met as many as four of these methodological criteria; several provided information relevant to the process of statistical prediction.

Relationship of hostility and white space responses on the Rorschach

The present study was conducted to assess the relationship between hostility and white space responses on the Rorschach. The Rorschach was administered individually to 80 volunteer students on the university campus. 71 subjects were undergraduates and 9 were graduates. The mean age for the group was 24 yr. Among the males, 19 were white and 4 were non-white; among the females, 49 were white and 8 were non-white. Level of hostility was determined by Elizur's scoring of content and by adding all the weights for each subject's protocol. Percent was obtained for each subject by dividing the total of such responses by R or total number of responses. A significant correlation of .20 was obtained between level of hostility and white space responses. A correlation of .46 between total responses and white space responses was also significant. Gender and level of hostility correlated -.33. A multiple regression analysis gave an r of .51 for the combination of gender and total responses and level of hostility.

Interpretation of white space responses in children's Rorschach protocols

While most texts continue to assert that the Rorschach white space response (S) indicates hostility and oppositionality, several studies suggest that such responses are more accurately reflective of cognitive differentiation and autonomous strivings. In addition, there are no studies which have systematically explored the significance of S responses in children's protocols. To shed light on these issues, 47 children (7 to 13 yr.) were administered the Rorschach, Thematic Apperception Test, and the WISC-R, while their parents completed a behavioral checklist. Subjects with high S-response, independent of age, IQ, or perceptual accuracy, used the whole blot more often than those who made less frequent use of white space. They also had higher frequencies of shading determinants and blends and used more content categories. These results were interpreted as suggesting a tendency for subjects showing high S-response to construe the world in more complex terms. No differences were found between subjects high and low on S-response on either behavioral ratings or projective indices of hostility or negativism.