Schachtel shared with his great contemporary David Rapaport the goal of scientifically reframing the psychoanalytic understanding of personality. Experiential Foundations of Rorschach's Test, first published in 1966, is in one sense Schachtel's extended dialogue with Rapaport (in the guise of Schachtel's interlocutor) about this ambitious task. In the course of his brilliant and lucid meditation on this topic, Schachtel attempted far more than the simple explication of particular test responses. His book contains, and should be read as, an entire theory of personality considered in terms of the ways in which one person may meaningfully and detectably differ from another.
Schachtel shared with his great contemporary David Rapaport the goal of scientifically reframing the psychoanalytic understanding of personality. Experiential Foundations of Rorschach's Test, first published in 1966, is in one sense Schachtel's extended dialogue with Rapaport (in the guise of Schachtel's interlocutor) about this ambitious task. In the course of his brilliant and lucid meditation on this topic, Schachtel attempted far more than the simple explication of particular test responses. His book contains, and should be read as, an entire theory of personality considered in terms of the ways in which one person may meaningfully and detectably differ from another.
For decades, The Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM)--the most popular of the projective tests--has been routinely employed for personality assessment and treatment planning. But in recent years, it has not been free from controversy. Criticisms of its validity and empirical support are catalyzing new efforts to strengthen its foundations and document its broad utility. Among the most common--yet also most confusing and challenging--categories of clinical disorders is the personality disorders. However, minimal data have been available on the RIM evaluation of most of those found in DSM-IV. This welcomed book constitutes the first research-grounded, comprehensive guide to the use of the RIM in assessing personality disorders. The first section offers a theoretical overview of personality disorders and constructs a framework and compelling rationale for the legitimate role of the RIM in their assessment. The second, third, and fourth sections present Cluster A disorders--paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal; Cluster B disorders--antisocial and psychopathic, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic; and Cluster C disorders--avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive. The fifth section presents passive aggressive and depressive personality disorders, currently being proposed for DSM inclusion. Each chapter in these four sections includes an extensive description of the disorder, a review of empirical studies of the use of the RIM to assess it, an analysis of the Rorschach variables that may characterize patients diagnosed with it, and a depiction of a real case and discussion of the ways in which the RIM contributed to its formulation. The sixth and final section explores the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and the RIM. Rorschach Assessment of the Personality Disorders brings practical help for clinicians and clinicians-in-training, and suggests new paths for researchers seeking to advance our understanding of the complexities of these disorders.
Martin Leichtman's The Rorschach is a work of stunning originality that takes as its point of departure a circumstance that has long confounded Rorschach examiners. Attempts to use the Rorschach with young children yield results that are inconsistent if not comical. What, after all, does one make of a protocol when the child treats a card like a frisbee or confidently detects "piadigats" and "red foombas"? A far more consequential problem facing examiners of adults and children alike concerns the very nature of the Rorschach test. Despite voluminous literature establishing the personality correlates of particular Rorschach scores, neither Hermann Rorschach nor his intellectual descendants have provided an adequate explanation of precisely what the subject is being asked to do. Is the Rorschach a test of imagination? Of perception? Of projection? In point of fact, Leichtman argues, the two problems are intimately related. To appreciate the stages through which children gradually master the Rorschach in its standard form is to discover the nature of the test itself. Integrating his developmental analysis with an illuminating discussion of the extensive literature on test administration, scoring, and interpretation, Leichtman arrives at a new understanding of the Rorschach as a test of representation and creativity. This finding, in turn, leads to an intriguing reconceptualization of all projective tests that clarifies their relationships to more objective measures of ability.
This book serves as an up-to-date Rorschach primer and elaborates on the various applications of Rorschach assessment for adolescents with respect to differential diagnosis, forensic consultation, and therapeutic assessment. It opens with three chapters that provide readers with a basic overview and introduction to the topics integrated throughout the text. The first reviews the development and foundations of the Rorschach Inkblot Method; the second discusses key issues in the assessment of adolescents, with particular attention to differentiating patterns of psychopathology from normal developmental variations; and the third presents general considerations in using performance-based assessment instruments in the assessment of personality functioning in adolescence. Later chapters explore the current status of the Rorschach Inkblot Method with respect to theoretical formulations, research findings, and practice guidelines. The final chapter draws on information in the preceding chapters to present a model for Rorschach assessment of adolescents. This model is designed to facilitate accurate and useful formulations of personality functioning that contribute substantially to advancing responsible adolescent development.
This book provides a definitive empirical study of antisocial character pathology and its assessment through the use of the Rorschach. Drawing upon a decade of research with nearly 400 individuals in various hospitals and prisons, the authors paint an extraordinary intrapsychic picture of the personality structure and psychodynamics of these troublesome patients. Serving as both an educational tool and a reference text, this book presents: * Rorschach data on several different antisocial groups -- conduct disordered children and adolescents, antisocial personality disordered adult males with and without schizophrenia, antisocial adult females, and male and female sexual homicide perpetrators; * nomothetic (group) and idiographic (case study) data; * data which have been analyzed and theoretically interpreted using both structural methods and psychoanalytic approaches which represent the cutting edge of Rorschach theory and practice; and * a developmental approach in analyzing Rorschach data gathered from antisocial children, adolescents, and adults -- providing striking similarities. This is the first Rorschach database of this type that has ever been published. As such, it serves as a valuable reference text for Rorschach users -- providing a definitive empirical base, theoretical integration, and a focus on individuals who create severe problems for society.
Any research that involves the use of the Rorschach or focuses on the nature of the Rorschach must be framed in the context of the basic principles that mark any scientific investigation. However, most texts concerning research design or data analysis do not deal directly with many of the unusual issues that confront investigators who use the Rorschach in their research. The nature of the test and test procedures are somewhat different than for most psychological tests, and, often, these special characteristics become critical when research designs are formulated. Similarly, some of the data of the tests are quite different from the customary distributions yielded by other psychological tests. Thus special care must be exercised when considering the variety of tactics that might might be used in analyzing the test data. This text is unique in that it is specific to the Rorschach. Bringing together experts on Rorschach research, this volume presents in-depth treatments of every facet of methodology -- from design to analysis -- as well as more conceptual issues. It is designed to aid investigators in contending effectively with the many difficult challenges that are often encountered in Rorschach research. This work adds to the information already available to the accomplished researcher as well as provide some enlightenment for the Rorschach research novice. It dispels the notion that rote methodology or analyses can be applied routinely to studies involving the Rorschach. And it helps to improve the quality of investigations in which the test is included, and contribute in some way to the improvement of the overall research yield in the Rorschach community.
This second edition of Irving Weiner's classic comprehensive, clinician-friendly guide to utilizing the Rorschach for personality description has been revised to reflect both recent modifications in the Rorschach Comprehensive System and new evidence concerning the soundness and utility of Rorschach assessment. It integrates the basic ingredients of structural, thematic, behavioral, and sequence analysis strategies into systematic guidelines for describing personality functioning. It is divided into three parts. Part I concerns basic considerations in Rorschach testing and deals with conceptual and empirical foundations of the inkblot method and with critical issues in formulating and justifying Rorschach inferences. Part II is concerned with elements of interpretation that contribute to thorough utilization of data in a Rorschach protocol: the Comprehensive System search strategy; the complementary roles of projection and card pull in determining response characteristics; and the interpretive significance of structural variables, content themes, test behaviors, and the sequence in which various response characteristics occur. Each of the chapters presents and illustrates detailed guidelines for translating Rorschach findings into descriptions of structural and dynamic aspects of personality functioning. The discussion throughout emphasizes the implications of Rorschach data for personality assets and liabilities, with specific respect to adaptive and maladaptive features of the manner in which people attend to their experience, use ideation, modulate affect, manage stress, view themselves, and relate to others. Part III presents 10 case illustrations of how the interpretive principles delineated in Part II can be used to identify assets and liabilities in personality functioning and apply this information in clinical practice. These cases represent persons from diverse demographic backgrounds and demonstrate a broad range of personality styles and clinical issues. Discussion of these cases touches on numerous critical concerns in arriving at different diagnoses, formulating treatment plans, and elucidating structural and dynamic determinants of behavior.
This book constitutes a collection of articles that were written for, and recently published as, special sections in three consecutive issues of the Journal of Personality Assessment. Part I provides lucid commentaries on the current status of and future issues regarding the Rorschach and MMPI-2 and other instruments, including the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory -- Adolescent (MMPI-A), the Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS-R), the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems -- Circumplex version (IIP-C), the revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), and the third edition of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III). The authors not only participated in the dvelopment of the instruments, but continue to lead the research effort in their application in both clinical and research settings. Part II addresses several issues that have been recurring themes, and often topics of debate, in the research and professional literature. The contributors discuss the impact of the five-factor model on personality assessment, the issue of deception in personality assessment, and various critical issues in the measurement of mood states. Other articles focus on the integration of the MMPI-2 and Rorschach and the process that clinicians should follow when applying scientific knowledge to clinical practice. Part III is primarily devoted to overviews of several statistical methods that are employed infrequently in personality assessment research, but have great potential in contributing to the understanding of the complex data sets often encountered in the measurement and study of personality. These articles serve as both an introduction and a brief tutorial for personality researchers who are unfamiliar with the subject matter. They are valuable references that will form the basis for evaluating the appropriate use of these methods in published research in their areas of interest.
Appreciation of the beauty and complexity of the human mind when perceiving an ambiguous stimulus led Dr. Hermann Rorschach to develop his scientific method eighty years ago. Full of gratitude for his brief life and work, the editors hope this volume will stand as an idiographic testament to his brilliance for the Rorschach students of the future. The contributors are clearly the most notable Rorschach clinicians in practice, and their work integrates the Comprehensive System and psychoanalytic methods. This book is organized into four sections. Within each of the first three sections -- devoted to psychotic, borderline, and neurotic disorders respectively -- the editors and invited authors have contributed Rorschach case studies which vertically cut a character pathology, personality disorder, or clinical diagnosis through a particular level of personality organization. The last section charts the enormously varied course that Rorschach work can navigate -- from the understanding of a Nobel laureate, the pain of trauma and transexuality, and the Nazi perversion of youth, to the consensus Rorschach in couple's therapy and cutting edge work in neuropsychology.
