IQ and defense mechanisms assessed with the TAT.
The concept of defense mechanism has a long history in psychoanalysis and clinical psychopathology. The function of defenses has been modified over the years, from a counter-force against instincts to the protection of self-esteem. To understand the role of defenses in pathological and normal development, a coding method to use with Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories – the Defense Mechanism Manual (Cramer, 1991a) – has been developed and validated. Three broad defenses – Denial, Projection, and Identification – may be coded with this method. The article presents examples of TAT stories that have been coded fo...
Source: Rorschachiana - August 24, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Cramer, Phebe Source Type: research
Failure of location recognition in the Rorschach: An eye-tracking investigation.
Eye movements during the Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM) were monitored to investigate the existence of location recognition failures that were accompanied by clients’ explanations in the inquiry phase. We hypothesized that perceived locations may have differed from actual explained locations if fixations did not occur – and visual attention was diverted to other locations – just before the response in the free association phase. The eye movement data of 29 participants under a Rorschach administration were collected, and 688 responses were obtained. Of these, 195 responses that involved perception of small, specific ...
Source: Rorschachiana - August 24, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Yasuda, Masaru Source Type: research
Faces in the clouds.
White-Space Face responses on (primarily) Rorschach Cards II (WS or DS5) and X (WS or DdS30) have traditionally been scored Form Minus and regarded as pathological indicators of impaired reality testing, poor cognitive focusing, even psychosis/brain damage. These responses may now surpass the frequency cut-off for unusual/minus form level scoring. Puzzlingly, recent research moves these “faces in the clouds” from “abnormal” toward statistical “normality.” Attachment theory/research is combined with an object relations perspective and infant face perception research to suggest that these responses are the face o...
Source: Rorschachiana - August 24, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Peterson, Charles A. Source Type: research
Compendiarius.
The present issue of Rorschachiana is an unusual one as it includes two special sections as well as the traditional general one. This editorial will be short to give enough space for the 2015 special section on Neuroscience and the Rorschach. Emiliano Muzio, the Guest Editor, has gathered a series of highly relevant and original articles for the second issue of the journal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Rorschachiana)
Source: Rorschachiana - August 24, 2015 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Nashat, Sadegh Source Type: research
Review of The adult attachment projective system.
Reviews the book, The Adult Attachment Projective System by Carol George and Malcolm L. West (see record 2012-10831-000). This is the first book written about the Adult Attachment Projective System (AAP), an assessment method developed by the authors, an undertaking that began in 1995. The authors’ aimed at writing a book that is useful to a wide audience. The AAP is a free response task aiming at the assessment of individuals’ inner working models of attachment. While the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was designed to elicit autobiographical narratives, the AAP requires the individual to create narrative stories to ...
Source: Rorschachiana - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Nygren, Marianne Source Type: research
The Music Apperception Test: Coding, research, and application.
The Music Apperception Test (MAT) asks respondents to “tell a story to the music.” Brief compositions portray basic emotions followed by 30-s silent periods. The MAT relies on the emotional import of music, so narratives vary for content, settings, and outcomes. Stories are recorded and transcribed for coding. Thirty-seven MAT variables in ten categories of response are described: Fluency, Latency, Time to Termination, Pace, Content, Interaction, Off-Task Response, Voice, Narrative Style, and Affective Fit. Provisional norms for children, adolescents, and adults, are based on 2,016 responses of 168 individuals. Split-h...
Source: Rorschachiana - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: van den Daele, Leland Source Type: research
A study on the psychometric properties of the Fairy Tale Test (FTT).
The Fairy Tale Test (FTT) is a projective personality measure that provides a comprehensive evaluation of the child’s personality. The test consists of 21 cards that depict popular fairy tale characters that are administered in sets of three. Having three versions of the same character allows the child to project different aspects of self and activates the emergence of several defense mechanisms such as undoing, reaction formation, and splitting. The test is administered in the form of a semi-structured interview. Children’s responses are interpreted in a quantitative and qualitative way. Quantitative interpretation in...
Source: Rorschachiana - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Coulacoglou, Carina Source Type: research
Tell-Me-A-Story (TEMAS) assessment for culturally diverse children and adolescents.
This article describes the standardization of the TEMAS in the US, the validation of the Orthodox Jewish version of the TEMAS, and the internal reliability of the Argentinian version of the TEMAS. In the US, the test was normed on a sample of 642 children (281 boys and 361 girls) from public schools in the New York City area, ages 5–13 years, with a mean age of 8.9 years (SD = 1.9). The total sample represented four ethnic/racial groups: Puerto Rican and other Hispanic, Black, and White children. The TEMAS measures 10 personality functions, 18 cognitive functions, and seven affective functions. This paper presents two st...
Source: Rorschachiana - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Costantino, Giuseppe; Litman, Leib; Waxman, Richard; Dupertuis, Daniel; Pais, Ernesto; Rosenzweig, Cheskie; Forti, Guadalupe; Paronik, Jessica; Canales, Maria M. F. Source Type: research
Emergence of primary processes in the TAT of the Parisian School in adults with schizophrenia.
This study aims to investigate the primary processes of thoughts and how these are expressed in the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). The primary process, characteristic of schizophrenic individuals, is an essential concept in the psychoanalytic theories concerning the unconscious aspects of psychic functioning. It is characterized by the absence of coherence and logical relationships, unawareness of temporal relationships and the reality principle. In this study, the TAT was analyzed according to the Parisian School, focusing particularly the emergences of the primary processes. The participants were 32 individuals divide...
Source: Rorschachiana - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Lelé, Alvaro José; Flores-Mendoza, Carmen Elvira; de La Plata Cury Tardivo, Leila Salomão Source Type: research
The dynamics of TAT process: Psychoanalytical and psychopathological perspectives.
After many years of clinical practice, research and the teaching of projective tests, Shentoub and her colleagues (Debray, Brelet, Chabert & al.) put forward an original and rigorous method of analysis and interpretation of the TAT protocols in terms of psychoanalysis and clinical psychopathology. They developed the TAT process theory in order to understand how the subject builds a narrative. Our article will emphasize the source of the analytical approach developed by V. Shentoub in the 1950s to current research; the necessity of marking the boundary between the manifest and latent content in the cards; the procedure for ...
Source: Rorschachiana - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Verdon, Benoît; Chabert, Catherine; Azoulay, Catherine; Emmanuelli, Michèle; Neau, Françoise; Vibert, Sarah; Louët, Estelle Source Type: research
Thematic apperceptive techniques inform a science of individuality.
This special section of Rorschachiana presents eight papers that describe and apply formal, interscorer reliable systems for thematic apperceptive techniques. This special section represents a first step in bringing together international approaches to assessment using storytelling techniques, some of which were presented at the recent ISR meeting in Istanbul. My hope is that this section will advance communication among these authors as well as between these authors and others throughout the world as we learn about each other’s work. Storytelling assessment has much to offer to the improvement of clinical care and cross...
Source: Rorschachiana - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jenkins, Sharon Rae Source Type: research
A comparison of learning-disabled children and non-learning-disabled children on the Rorschach: An information processing perspective.
This study concluded that LD children are unable to perceive, interpret, and synthesize information from their environment in a clear and realistic way when compared with their non-LD peers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Rorschachiana)
Source: Rorschachiana - June 16, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Brainard, Richene Bevilaqua; Viglione, Donald J.; Wilke, Jared R. D. Source Type: research
Assessing the alternate-form reliability of interview-based and web-based Rorschach responses measuring body boundary imagery and regressive imagery.
This study assesses the alternate-form reliability of the Body Type Dictionary (BTD) for measuring body boundary imagery and primordial thought language in interview-based and web-based Rorschach responses. The intraclass correlation coefficient demonstrated fair to good agreement for barrier imagery, .72, and penetration imagery, .55, which indicates that the web-based administration of the Rorschach inkblot test represents an acceptable alternative to the traditional Rorschach interview assessment for measuring body boundary imagery. Primordial thought language had a fair level of agreement, .43, whereas conceptual thoug...
Source: Rorschachiana - June 16, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Cariola, Laura A. Source Type: research
Creativity and emotional distress on the Rorschach test.
While the relationship between creativity and emotional distress has been extensively reviewed, little research has been done on creativity as demonstrated in the Rorschach test. Forty participants were administered the Rorschach as well as the Remote Associates Test (RAT) of verbal creativity. A significant correlation was found between the RAT and the following Rorschach variables: FQminus, (H)+(Hd), M none, MOR, and DEPI. The present findings call for caution when attributing emotional distress on the basis of Rorschach measures, since these measures are also indicative of the individual’s creative strengths. These re...
Source: Rorschachiana - June 16, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Schwartz, Hadas; Canetti, Laura Source Type: research
The Draw-A-Person Test and body image.
This study investigated the DAP indices of height, width (size), and inclusion/omission of details and their relation to body image as measured by a self-report scale (Gray’s body image scale) and manifested by the diet behaviors and body mass index of 55 healthy female students. Although the drawings of the diet group were smaller, there was no significant relationship between figure size and diet behaviors. However, body image as measured by a self-report scale did result in significant differences between groups. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between the size of the figure drawn and body image as measu...
Source: Rorschachiana - June 16, 2014 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Handelzalts, Jonathan E.; Ben-Artzy-Cohen, Yael Source Type: research
