The effect of administration skills on Rorschach protocols

Although the Rorschach is the most widely studied and used non self-report measure to assess personality, no empirical studies have been carried out to investigate what level of expertise is needed to properly collect valid Rorschach protocols. The aim of the current study was to explore, using a within-subject design, the effect of training on proficiency in administering the Rorschach, specifically a) what kind of errors are associated with different levels of training, and b) what level of expertise guarantees a sufficiently effective Rorschach administration. The second (T1), the fifth (T2) and the tenth (T3) Rorschach protocols collected by 50 licensed psychologists attending a Rorschach training course were examined to explore what kind of mistakes were made at the different stages of training. In the Response phase, examiners collected more simplistic protocols and made more errors at T1, while they showed satisfactory proficiency at T2. Regarding the Inquiry Phase, the most relevant finding was that at T1 examiners made both errors of omission and commission, while at T2 they no longer made errors of omission but they did make more errors of commission, likely as a temporary effect of the training. At T3 a sufficiently effective Rorschach administration was carried out. Findings suggest that a 100-h Rorschach training course and 10 administrations as practicum, each followed by individual feedback and group discussion, might be sufficient to guarantee sufficiently effective Rorschach administration skills.

Zur Verwendung projektiver Verfahren in der Familienrechtspsychologie: ein Diskussionsbeitrag

Projektive Verfahren werden auch heute noch in der familienrechtspsychologischen Diagnostik eingesetzt. Erfahrungsgemäß lassen sich 3 unterschiedliche Anwendungsarten unterscheiden: a) als klassisch diagnostisches Instrument, b) als informelle Verhaltensprobe oder c) als Explorationshilfe bzw. Gesprächseinstieg. In der folgenden Übersicht werden diese 3 Anwendungsarten dargestellt sowie ihr Nutzen für die familienrechtspsychologische Diagnostik kritisch diskutiert. Hierfür wird zunächst ein Überblick über die empirische Fundierung der am meisten genutzten projektiven Verfahren (des Thematischen Apperzeptionstests und zeichnerische Verfahren allgemein) gegeben. Es wird dann diskutiert, ob die klassischen psychometrischen Gütekriterien auf projektive Verfahren anwendbar sind. Hinsichtlich der Verwendung projektiver Verfahren als informelle Verhaltensprobe wird auf mögliche Urteilsverzerrungen hingewiesen, insbesondere den „confirmation bias“, den Effekt der illusorischen Korrelation und den möglichen Einfluss irrelevanter Informationen auf den diagnostischen Prozess. Angesichts der potenziell negativen Auswirkungen auf die Validität der Diagnostik empfehlen wir, projektive Verfahren nicht in der Einzelfalldiagnostik einzusetzen, wenn keine direkten empirischen Belege für die Validität des spezifischen Verfahrens für die genutzte Auswertungsart und das zu diagnostizierende Konstrukt vorliegen.

Factors associated with utilization of emotion and personality instruments among neuropsychologists

Historically, assessment of emotion and personality functioning was not emphasized by clinical neuropsychologists, who instead focused almost exclusively on the evaluation of cognitive functioning. This study examined current practices regarding clinical neuropsychologists' usage of instruments for assessing emotion and personality, along with factors that may mediate their choice of measures and their beliefs about evaluating emotion and personality. Participants were 117 board-certified neuropsychologists as recognized by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP-CN), many of whom had been practicing for over 20 years (39%). Participants generally indicated that examining emotion and personality is essential to evaluations. There was variability among participants as to whether assessment of emotion and personality functioning is challenging, as well as whether or not clinical interview was better suited than instruments. Patients' lack of self-awareness, purposeful over- and under-exaggeration, and lack of sensitivity and specificity of the assessment instruments for neurologic disorders/conditions were identified as the greatest challenges in this area of assessment. Results of the survey suggest that further advancement in the construction and availability of emotion/personality instruments is necessary.

Forensic assessment may be based on common sense assumptions rather than science

Forensic assessments must be scientifically founded, because courts should obtain expert evidence with acceptable evidential value. In Slovenia, professional guidelines of forensic personality assessment are too general and not always in line with international professional recommendations. Thus, experts have no strict guidelines which would lead them to scientifically grounded expert opinions. The aim of the research was to establish which tests are employed in forensic assessment in Slovenia and to what extent the professional guidelines for expert opinions are followed. A total of 166 forensic personality assessments were reviewed, representing the majority of expert opinions issued in the period 2003-2018. The results of the analysis revealed that questionable projective tests are most commonly used. Typically, an expert opinion was rendered based on two tests, at least one of which was projective. What is more, expert opinions did not include hypotheses, in-text citations, reference lists, or proof of the expert witness's competence. The tests and their results were mentioned briefly and inadequately, without mention of their reliability and validity. Possible malingering of the person being evaluated was not detected. Professional guidelines were not followed and non-standardized tests without normative values and of questionable scientific merit were predominantly used, despite lack of proof that they truly measure what they claim to be measuring. These findings significantly differ from the results of similar research, raising serious concerns over the credibility of expert opinions in Slovenia.

The Scientific Status of Projective Techniques

Although projective techniques continue to be widely used in clinical and forensic settings, their scientific status remains highly controversial. In this monograph, we review the current state of the literature concerning the psychometric properties (norms, reliability, validity, incremental validity, treatment utility) of three major projective instruments: Rorschach Inkblot Test, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), and human figure drawings. We conclude that there is empirical support for the validity of a small number of indexes derived from the Rorschach and TAT. However, the substantial majority of Rorschach and TAT indexes are not empirically supported. The validity evidence for human figure drawings is even more limited. With a few exceptions, projective indexes have not consistently demonstrated incremental validity above and beyond other psychometric data. In addition, we summarize the results of a new meta-analysis intended to examine the capacity of these three instruments to detect child sexual abuse. Although some projective instruments were better than chance at detecting child sexual abuse, there were virtually no replicated findings across independent investigative teams. This meta-analysis also provides the first clear evidence of substantial file drawer effects in the projectives literature, as the effect sizes from published studies markedly exceeded those from unpublished studies. We conclude with recommendations regarding the (a) construction of projective techniques with adequate validity, (b) forensic and clinical use of projective techniques, and (c) education and training of future psychologists regarding projective techniques.

Field Reliability of Comprehensive System Scoring in an Adolescent Inpatient Sample

The extent to which the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach is reliably scored has been a topic of some controversy. Although several studies have concluded it can be scored reliably in research settings, little is known about its reliability in field settings. This study evaluated the reliability of both response-level codes and protocol-level scores among 84 adolescent psychiatric inpatients in a clinical setting. Rorschachs were originally administered and scored for clinical purposes. Among response codes, 87% demonstrated acceptable reliability(> .60), and most coefficients exceeded .80. Results were similar for protocol-level scores, with only one score demonstrating less than adequate reliability. The findings are consistent with previous evidence, indicating reliable scoring is possible even in field settings.

The Effects of Using the International Versus Comprehensive System Rorschach Norms For Children, Adolescents, and Adults

Currently, there is some debate about whether to use Comprehensive System norms (CS; Exner, 2003 ) or the Composite International Reference Values (CIRV; Meyer, Erdberg, & Shaffer, 2007 ) when interpreting Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM; Rorschach, 1921 ) protocols administered with the CS method. The goal of this study is to assist clinicians in making this decision by providing information about the effects of choosing one option or the other. Accordingly, this research evaluates the effects of using the CS versus CIRV norms with children, adolescents, and adults. First, we identified 43 variables for which the CS and the CIRV for children and adolescents differ from each other by at least a Cohen's d value of .50. Next, we evaluated whether these divergent variables are the same as those previously identified as divergent for the adult population. Results showed that for both children and adolescents, as well as for adults, relying on CS norms versus CIRV would result in interpretations that are more pathological in terms of (a) perception and thinking, (b) psychological resources and cognitive and emotional abilities, and (c) representations of human relationships. A discussion on the clinical effects of using one versus the other set of norms follows.

An Investigation of Interrater Reliability for the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) in a Nonpatient U.S. Sample

The Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) aims to provide an evidence-based approach to administration, coding, and interpretation of the Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM). R-PAS analyzes individualized communications given by respondents to each card to code a wide pool of possible variables. Due to the large number of possible codes that can be assigned to these responses, it is important to consider the concordance rates among different assessors. This study investigated interrater reliability for R-PAS protocols. Data were analyzed from a nonpatient convenience sample of 50 participants who were recruited through networking, local marketing, and advertising efforts from January 2013 through October 2014. Blind recoding was used and discrepancies between the initial and blind coders' ratings were analyzed for each variable with SPSS yielding percent agreement and intraclass correlation values. Data for Location, Space, Contents, Synthesis, Vague, Pairs, Form Quality, Populars, Determinants, and Cognitive and Thematic codes are presented. Rates of agreement for 1,168 responses were higher for more simplistic coding (e.g., Location), whereas agreement was lower for more complex codes (e.g., Cognitive and Thematic codes). Overall, concordance rates achieved good to excellent agreement. Results suggest R-PAS is an effective method with high interrater reliability supporting its empirical basis.

Introducing a Bayesian Approach to Determining Degree of Fit With Existing Rorschach Norms

This article offers a new methodological approach to investigate the degree of fit between an independent sample and 2 existing sets of norms. Specifically, with a new adaptation of a Bayesian method, we developed a user-friendly procedure to compare the mean values of a given sample to those of 2 different sets of Rorschach norms. To illustrate our technique, we used a small, U.S. community sample of 80 adults and tested whether it resembled more closely the standard Comprehensive System norms (CS 600; Exner, 2003), or a recently introduced, internationally based set of Rorschach norms (Meyer, Erdberg, & Shaffer, 2007 ). Strengths and limitations of this new statistical technique are discussed.

One more datum on Rorschach form quality

The central purpose of this work is to examine to what extent Form Quality (FQ) scoring of Rorschach responses, using Exner's (2003) Table A, is the reason for lower FQ to often be found in normative data outside the United States. The Rorschach protocols of 180 Portuguese boys and girls between 6 and 10 years of age were codified with respect to Form Quality in accordance with Exner's table of objects classified as ordinary, unusual, and minus, based on frequencies seen among U.S. adults and on an analogous Portuguese table (Table P) constructed from the protocols of 400 nonpatient children. Mean differences between the various FQ variables of the 2 tables were found to be insignificant. However, use of Janson's (2003) iota coefficient to evaluate agreement between the 2 approaches to scoring on the same protocols revealed that the more striking differences occurred in the FQu variable when agreement was assessed on the basis of each individual response. In view of these results, the authors recognize the possibility of Rorschach normative data to be universally applied, but still consider the possible advantage of each country or culture to build its own FQ table that will permit preservation of its particularities.

Response Frequency and Exner's Active-Passive Ratio as Rorschach Indicators of Flexibility

Among 75 college students, response frequency from the Rorschach correlated significantly at .21 with Alternate Uses and at .20 with Match Problems (measures of divergent thinking), but not significantly ( r = .07) with the Questionnaire (a self-report measure of flexibility) from the Test of Behavioral Rigidity. Contrary to hypothesis, the Active-Passive Movement Ratio from the Comprehensive System did not correlate significantly with any of these tests ( r = .04–.11). Whereas Response Frequency can be seen as another reflection of ideational fluency or productivity, as long has been speculated, the conceptual and empirical links between flexibility and the ratio of active to passive movement are dubious.

Depression and Vulnerability As Assessed by the Rorschach Method

We examined clinically depressed (CD; n = 16), previously depressed (PD; n = 19) and never depressed (ND; n = 18) individuals on 13 theoretically selected Rorschach (Exner, 1993; Rorschach, 1942) variables and on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). The group assignment was made according to the criteria of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). We tested 2 contradictory models for depressive vulnerability, Beck's (Clark & Beck, 1999) and Miranda and Persons's (1988; Persons & Miranda, 1992), in a planned comparison design with focused contrasts. The CDs significantly contrasted the combined group of NDs and the PDs in a pathological direction on 8 of the 13 Rorschach variables and on the BDI. However, the combined group of CDs and PDs also significantly contrasted the NDs in a pathological direction on 3 of these Rorschach variables and on the BDI. In addition, logistic regression analyses indicated that Rorschach indexes significantly improved the prediction of major depression above and beyond that achieved by the BDI. The findings show that the Rorschach method was able to identify (a) cognitive and aggressive disturbances that are present in individuals who are actively depressed but not in individuals who have been depressed in the past or never been depressed and (b) affective and coping disturbances that are present in depressed individuals and to some degree in PD individuals but not in individuals who have not experienced depression. We discuss the scanty evidence of psychological disturbances in PD individuals, as measured with the Rorschach, in relation to the mood-state dependent hypothesis of Miranda and Persons (1988; Persons & Miranda, 1992).

Personality Assessment from the Nineteenth to the Early Twenty-First Century: Past Achievements and Contemporary Challenges

The historical basis of personality assessment that led to the development of today's approaches and applications is described. The modern era of personality assessment began in late nineteenth-century Europe. Early twentieth-century highlights included the development of projective techniques like the Rorschach and several early self-report inventories, culminating in the development of the most widely used measure, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The most recent 30-year period showed expansions into personnel screening; clinical assessment, including wide use in forensic settings; and therapeutic assessment. However, contemporary controversies are apparent with two of the most widely used measures, the Rorschach and the MMPI instruments. These controversies are described, including concerns about the Exner Comprehensive System for the Rorschach and the last five years of changes to the MMPI-2, including the introduction of the Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales, the adoption of the Fake Bad Scale (FBS) into the instrument, and the release of the MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF). Current challenges facing psychologists in personality assessment are highlighted.

Toward international normative reference data for the comprehensive system

We build on the work of all the authors contributing to this Special Supplement by summarizing findings across their samples of data, and we also draw on samples published elsewhere. Using 21 samples of adult data from 17 countries we create a composite set of internationally-based reference means and standard deviations from which we compute T-scores for each sample. Figures illustrate how the scores in each sample are distributed and how the samples compare across variables in eight Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003) clusters. The adult samples from around the world are generally quite similar, and thus we encourage clinicians to integrate the composite international reference values into their clinical interpretation of protocols. However, the 31 child and adolescent samples from 5 countries produce unstable and often quite extreme values on many scores. Until the factors contributing to the variability among these samples are more fully understood, we discourage clinicians from using many CS scores to make nomothetic, score-based inferences about psychopathology in children and adolescents.

A Method to Optimize the Response Range While Maintaining Rorschach Comprehensive System Validity

Brief and lengthy Rorschach records have been identified as common problems in protocol administration. Clinicians have debated how to prevent overly short and long records, but they have been reluctant to alter standardized administration for fear of introducing bias. The present study examines a nonintrusive method for constraining responses by prompting for an extra response when only one is offered per card and by removing the card after four responses are given. Among patients who typically produce brief records, consisting of a residential sample of civil and forensic patients with a range of disordered thinking, the alternative administration method demonstrated improved Comprehensive System validity in assessing thought disorder and eliminated the need to readminister the test due to fewer than 14 responses. The findings have clinical implications for protocol administration with thought-disordered populations that typically produce brief records.

Personality Assessment in Today's Health Care Environment: Therapeutic Alliance and Patient Satisfaction

This article addresses the role of personality assessment-specifically the Rorschach (Exner, 2002)-]in the context of the health care industry's increased focus on patient satisfaction. When providing psychotherapy, a challenge to providing patient-centered care turns on understanding and acting on the key aspects of the patient's personality that are crucial to forming an effective alliance. This article includes a description and examples of how personality assessment can enhance therapists' understanding of the ideational, affective, and self-control aspects of complicated patients' problem-solving styles. This enhanced understanding in turn can lead to improved therapeutic alliance between therapists and patients and to increased patient satisfaction with their care. How to provide feedback to the therapist also is addressed.

The Rorschach Extended Aggression Scores

The Extended Aggression Scores were developed to quantify the aggressive Rorschach imagery produced by violent Antisocial Personality Disordered (ASPD; American Psychiatric Association, 1980 ) offenders. Despite their histories of real world violence, these subjects produced few Aggressive Movement (AG; Exner, 1993 ) responses. Why didn’t violent children, adolescents, and adults produce more AG responses? Considering their expression of uncensored pleasurable affect when relating their aggressive acts during their interviews, conscious censoring ( Exner, 1993 ; Meloy, 1988 ) did not adequately explain the paucity of AG responses among sentenced adults. Why would they describe their violent acts with pride and bravado during an interview and subsequently censor AG on the Rorschach? Conscious censoring among the Conduct Disorder (CD) children and adolescents, who frequently produced sexual content, seemed an equally unlikely explanation ( Gacono, 1997 ).

Earlier Rorschach research ( Holt & Havel, 1960 ; Rapaport, Gill, & Schafer, 1946 , 1968 ; Schafer, 1954 ) provided clues to understanding the discrepancies between Rorschach production and the interview/historical data. Direct or implicit aggressive content was thought to imply tensions of aggressive impulse ( Rapaport et al., 1946 \ 1968 ). Initial findings ( Gacono, 1988 , 1990 ; Heaven, 1988 ) suggested that the paucity of symbolized aggression, represented by AG movement, might be due, in part, to the ego-syntonic nature of aggression in ASPD and psychopathic subjects. The clinical logic was that AG symbolized tensions of ego-dystonic aggression when produced by violent, antisocial patients. In the absence of binding the aggressive impulse, the violent individual would, instead, act it out, thus vitiating the need to symbolize it. Existing data supported this hypothesis: Exner’ ;s (1995) character disordered sample produced lower AG frequencies than his adult nonpatients; violent children and adolescents produce lower AG frequencies than child and adolescent nonpatients; and the majority of the forensic subjects with known histories of violence produce less AG than nonpatients and the Gacono and Meloy clinical samples without histories of violence ( Gacono, 1997 ; Gacono & Meloy, 1994 ).

Despite the paucity of AG responses in ASPD records, other aggression imagery was not absent. Rather, the presence of other potentially scoreable aggressive imagery (see Gacono, 1988 , 1990 , 1997 ) allowed for the development ( Gacono, 1988 ) and refinement ( Gacono & Meloy, 1994 ; Meloy & Gacono, 1992 ) of five additional scoring categories: Aggressive Content (AgC), Aggressive Past (AgPast), Aggressive Potential (AgPot), Aggressive Vulnerability (AgV), and Sado-Masochism (SM).

Since their introduction ( Gacono, 1988 ), the Extended Aggression Scores have received considerable clinical interest and empirical study. As noted in the Rorschach Workshops’ Alumni Newsletter (2000) concerning the work of the Rorschach Research Council, “Another project on which there has been good progress is the special score for Aggressive Content (AgC). Council has reviewed the criteria and guidelines for its applications and has evaluated the literature concerning it .. . A more precise interpretation of AgC responses will probably hinge on findings for other variables .. .” (p. 13). Additionally, the ROR-SCAN Version 6 Rorschach Interpretive Scoring System ( Caracena, 2002 ) now includes AgC, AgPast, AgPot and SM.. What began as an attempt to expand the scoring of Rorschach aggressive imagery in CD and ASPD subjects, has evolved into a larger study of aggression on the Rorschach. In this article we present information concerning the reliability, psychometric properties, and construct validity of the scores and discuss their clinical meanings. We conclude that while AgPotential, AgVulnerability and Sado-masochism need additional research, the current research supports inclusion of the more frequently appearing AgContent and AgPast scores in the Comprehensive System.

A Consideration of Challenges to Psychological Assessment Instruments Used in Forensic Settings: Rorschach As Exemplar

In this brief primer, we provide an outline of key issues that will help psychologists organize and prepare their expert testimony. These issues include the need to obtain essential sources of research, a review of the actual legal standards regarding admissibility of test data in expert testimony, the nature of the expert relative to the assessment instrument in expert testimony, the nature of legal versus scientific debate, and the examination of appropriate qualifications of expertise when offering legal testimony. In addition, we use a summary of information contained in several recent articles to address challenges directed against forensic psychological testing. We use the empirical literature on the Rorschach as an exemplar in discussing these issues, as the admissibility of the Rorschach in particular has been challenged, and the issues frequently focused on with the Rorschach are equally applicable to other psychological measures. In this article, we provide essential sources of Rorschach research regarding several empirical studies that summarize important information and directly address previous criticisms of the measure.

Association of Rorschach and MMPI Psychosis Indicators and Schizophrenia Spectrum Diagnoses in a Russian Clinical Sample

In this study, I investigated the relationships among psychological test variables and schizophrenia spectrum diagnoses in a Russian sample of 180 psychiatric patients. Schizophrenia is understood somewhat differently in Russia than in the West. Analyses compared Rorschach (SCZI, PTI; Exner, 2001) and MMPI (Berezin, Mitroshinkov, & Sokolova, 1994) psychosis indicators (Sc, Sc3, Sc6, and BIZ) and 3 diagnostic systems: (a) Russian traditional, (b) the Russian-modified International Classification of Diseases (9th ed. [ICD-9]; Ministerstvo Zdravokhraneniya SSSR, 1982), and (c) the nonmodified ICD-10 (World Health Organization, 1992; comparable to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [4th ed.], American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Results showed modest support for the SCZI and PTI but not the MMPI indicators. While the field awaits further evidence, psychologists should proceed with caution when using the Rorschach and MMPI to assess for psychosis among Russians.

Incremental validity and the assessment of psychopathology in adults

Results from studies on incremental validity are described for (a) interviews, (b) personality inventories, (c) projective techniques, and (d) brief self-rated and clinician-rated measures. In some of the studies (clinical judgment studies), psychologists were given increasing amounts of information. In other studies (statistical prediction studies), increasing amounts of assessment information were entered into a statistical prediction rule. Although relatively little research has been conducted on incremental validity, results that have been obtained tend to favor the use of interviews, personality inventories (e.g., the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2; J. N. Butcher, W. G. Dahlstrom, J. R., Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989), and brief self-rated measures (e.g., the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, S. Reiss, R. A. Peterson, D. M. Gursky, & R. M. McNally, 1986). Results are generally less encouraging for projective techniques.

Pairs, Reflections, and the EgoI: Exploration of a Perceptual Hypothesis

In the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach (Exner, 2003), pair and reflection responses are combined into an Egocentricity Index (EgoI) that is said to measure self-focus and self-esteem. However, validation research over the past 30 years has found at most only limited support for these interpretations. This study suggests an alternative approach derived from Exner's (1969) suggestion prior to the EgoI that pairs and reflections are related to interpersonal perception and in particular to a tendency to perceive similarity. Forty custody litigants completed the Rorschach and Revised NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992b) Forms S and R. As the number of reflections increased, the description of the partner and the description of the self became increasingly dissimilar. As pairs increased, the description of the ex-partner on Form R and the self-description on Form S tended to become increasingly similar. This project suggests that pairs and reflections may be differentially related to perceived similarity and that combining them into a summative index may, at least in some circumstances, result in a loss of information.

A critique of Lilienfeld et al.'s (2000) "The scientific status of projective techniques"

Lilienfeld, Wood, and Garb (2000) published a largely negative critique of the validity and reliability of projective methods, concentrating on the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach (Exner, 1993), 3 systems for coding the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943) cards, and human figure drawings. This article is an effort to document and correct what I perceive as errors of omission and commission in the Lilienfeld et al. article. When projective measures are viewed in the light of these corrections, the evidence for the validity and clinical usefulness of the Rorschach and TAT methods is more robust than Lilienfeld et al. represented.

Rorschach administration: a comparison of the effect of two instructions given to an inpatient sample of drug addicts

The effect of administering the Rorschach Inkblot Method under two instructional sets was compared on three classes of outcome variables: the frequency with which subjects asked questions about the test; the frequency of brief protocols (fewer than 14 responses); and 17 traditional Rorschach structural summary scores. Sixty subjects, obtained from three inpatient psychiatric clinics treating drug addicts, randomly received either the short pre-testing instruction "What might this be?" originally developed by Herman Rorschach and recommended in the Comprehensive System, or a longer and more elaborated instruction, which for many years has been the standard instruction in Norway. Compared with the Norwegian instruction, the short instruction produced significantly more questions to the examiner about the test. For the other outcome measures no differences were observed.

Rorschach measures of aggressive drive derivatives: a college student sample

This study investigated measures of aggressive drive derivatives on the Rorschach and Personality Assessment Inventory with 70 college students. As predicted, (a) self-reported physical aggression potential was related to Rorschach measures of identification with the aggressor and aggressive impulses, (b) suicidal ideation with impulsivity was related to a Rorschach measure of aggressive impulses turned toward the self, and (c) the borderline features scale was related to a Rorschach pathological object relations measure. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that a Rorschach measure of emotional impulsivity added unique variance to these Rorschach aggression variables in predicting self-reported physical aggression potential, suicidal ideation with impulsivity, and borderline features. Finally, caution is advised in applying our findings when there is motivation to suppress aggressive responses

Psychological measures as predictors of military training performance

The predictive validity of 7 ability tests, the Big Five, and the Rorschach method administered to 71 male applicants at the Naval Special Forces (NSF) of Norway was evaluated based on pass/fail results in training. The findings showed: (a) small correlations between the ability tests, the Big Five scales, and the success criterion; (b) Rorschach variables measuring stress tolerance, reality testing, cognition, and social adjustment correlated significantly (r =.25 to.48) with pass/fail results in training, and (c) logistic regression analysis revealed that 3 of the Rorschach variables accumulated incrementally in the prediction of training completion when entered after the ability tests and the Big Five scales, thus supporting the merit of using Rorschach variables for predicting NSF training performance

Análise de testes de personalidade: qualidade do material, das instruções, da documentação e dos itens qualidade de testes de personalidade

Considerando a importância da avaliação psicológica na atuação profissional do psicólogo, o objetivo do estudo foi avaliar testes de personalidade publicados no Brasil, no que se refere à qualidade do material, da documentação, das instruções e dos itens. Foram analisados vinte e dois testes. Os instrumentos foram pontuados de acordo com os critérios estabelecidos. Os resultados mostraram que dois instrumentos tiveram a maior nota (PMK e IFP) e que o melhor critério identificado nos instrumentos foi a qualidade das instruções.

A new nonpatient sample for the rorschach comprehensive system: a progress report

Some concern about recently published nonpatient data, plus the fact that some records in the published sample of 600 nonpatients (Exner, 2001) were collected more than 20 years ago, prompted the initiation of a project to develop a new nonpatient sample. In this article, findings are presented for the first 175 participants tested in the new project. It is noted that the data from the new project are quite similar to those for the sample of 600. Results suggest that the similarities between the data sets supports the notion that the published sample is probably representative and provides a reasonable basis from which to identify response rates and the proportions of nonpatients expected to fall in, or outside of, established parameters for various ratios and other structural indexes.

Can sex offenders who minimize on the MMPI conceal psychopathology on the Rorschach?

Rorschach sensitivity to minimization is important in forensic evaluations of sex offenders because these individuals frequently deny psychological problems. To study Rorschach minimization, we divided alleged sex offenders according to whether they minimized on the MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) or MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) and compared their Rorschachs on indexes of distress, faulty judgment, interpersonal dysfunction, and cognitive distortions. We predicted there would be no differences between MMPI minimizers and nonminimizers on these indexes and that sex offenders of both groups would show greater psychopathology than normative adult samples. Results indicate that mini- mizers produce normal MMPI clinical profiles but still show evidence of psychopathology on the Rorschach. As predicted, sex offenders showed more Rorschach psychopathology than normative samples. Sex offenders' protocols that contained sexual content also showed perceptual distortions. These findings indicate that the Rorschach is resilient to attempts at faking good and may therefore provide valuable information in forensic settings where intentional distortion is common.

Clinical assessment

Are clinical psychologists' assessment practices cost-effective? Are they scientifically sound? Are they fair and unbiased? Financial pressures from managed care interests, recent developments in the law, and multicultural issues are forcing the profession to confront these hard questions regarding accountability. Our review discusses the important changes that have begun to alter the field of personality assessment and describes recent research on clinical judgment and its implications for the future. We conclude that clinical psychology can adapt to future conditions by developing assessment strategies that are economical, scientifically sound, and culturally sensitive.

An examination of interrater reliability for scoring the Rorschach Comprehensive System in eight data sets

In this article, we describe interrater reliability for the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner. 1993) in 8 relatively large samples, including (a) students, (b) experienced re- searchers, (c) clinicians, (d) clinicians and then researchers, (e) a composite clinical sample (i.e., a to d), and 3 samples in which randomly generated erroneous scores were substituted for (f) 10%, (g) 20%, or (h) 30% of the original responses. Across samples, 133 to 143 statistically stable CS scores had excellent reliability, with median intraclass correlations of.85, .96, .97, .95, .93, .95, .89, and .82, respectively. We also demonstrate reliability findings from this study closely match the results derived from a synthesis of prior research, CS summary scores are more reliable than scores assigned to individual responses, small samples are more likely to generate unstable and lower reliability estimates, and Meyer's (1997a) procedures for estimating response segment reliability were accurate. The CS can be scored reliably, but because scoring is the result of coder skills clinicians must conscientiously monitor their accuracy.