Who Created the Inkblot Test?

Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach first published the inkblot test in 1921. Rorschach displayed interest in inkblots from a young age and eventually developed a way to use them for psychological assessment. Although the inkblot test has been subject to inconsistency and controversy since its development, it remains 1 of the most widely used projective psychological tests today.

Childhood

• Hermann Rorschach was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on Nov. 8, 1884. As a child, Rorschach earned the nickname "Kleck" due to his love "klecksography," a popular game among Swiss children that involved dropping ink on a piece of paper, and then folding the paper in 1/2 to create interesting designs.

Education and Career

• Rorschach was an excellent student and ultimately became interested in psychiatry. He attended medical school in Zurich and studied under notable Swiss psychiatrists, Eugen Bleuler and Carl Jung.
  After graduation, Rorschach worked at various psychiatric institutions in Switzerland and Russia. He continued to develop his interests in psychoanalysis and art therapy.

Inkblot Test Development

• By 1911, Rorschach noticed that children playing klecksography varied widely in their inkblot interpretations. He then began informally studying how the mentally ill interpreted inkblots. Although others before him, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Justinus Kerner and Alfred Binet, had also experimented with inkblots, Rorschach was the first to develop a system to make the interpretation of inkblots a useful tool for psychological analysis.
  During the inkblot test, the examinee is shown a series of 10 inkblots and asked to describe what he sees. It is assumed that the examinee will project his own personality and emotions onto the ambiguous picture, providing the examiner with insight into his unconscious mind.
  Rorschach's set of 10 inkblots was first published in 1921 in a book entitled "Psychodiagnostik." His peers were skeptical about the ability of inkblot interpretation to assess personality accurately. Responding to this criticism, Rorschach continued his efforts to standardize testing procedures to make his inkblot test a useful psychological tool.
  However, Rorschach was unable to see his inkblot test achieve success in his lifetime. He died in 1922 from complications of appendicitis.

Test Standardization

• After Rorschach's death, at least 4 others attempted to standardize inkblot test administration. However, this only resulted in further confusion and inconsistency.
  In the late 1950s, American psychologist John Exner developed what became known as Exner's Comprehensive System, which consolidated these different approaches into 1 universal procedure. This approach identifies 3 categories for use in scoring and interpreting the inkblot test: location, determinants and content. Exner's Comprehensive System remains 1 of the most widely used systems today.

Current Use

• The Rorschach inkblot test continues to be the most popular projective test used today. However, the reliability of the test has been called into question. Critics of the inkblot test argue that the interpretation of an examinee's responses is highly dependent on the examiner's own personal judgment, and therefore not likely to be reliable among examiners. Alternatively, others contend that with proper use and training, the Rorschach can be reliably interpreted and therefore remains a useful psychological instrument.