The Rorschach response process

Five groups of subjects, consisting of 20 schizophrenics, 20 depressives, 20 nonpatient adolescents, and 40 nonpatient adults split at the median on the MMPI K Scale, were instructed to give as many responses as possible to each Rorschach card within a 60-second time limit per card. The average number of answers given by each group was dramatically greater than the mean number obtained under standard test conditions, with approximately two-thirds of all answers occurring during the first 30 seconds of card exposure. Evaluation of form quality shows no deterioration of goodness of it with the increase in R, that is, all groups, except the schizophrenics, consistently gave good form quality answers. After testing was completed, subjects in the four adult groups were asked to select their two "best" answers to each card. The high K nonpatients and depressive tended to select the greatest number of Popular answers while the schizophrenics selected the fewest Populars and picked a significant number of poor form answers. In a related study, 20 therapists recruited two each of their own patients for testing. Each therapist tested one of his own patients while the second patient was tested by another therapist. Results show that therapists and to obtain longer and more "revealing" protocols from their own patients. The findings of these studies are discussed in the context of stimulus assimilation, ranking of interpretations, and the issue of social desirability.