It is a questionnaire, widely used in psychological assessment processes, which uses cards with ink stains to identify personality traits of a person. The patient observes the material and answers questions about what he sees. “The test provides indices that allow the specialist to check, for example, intellectual, affective and emotional conditions, general control of rational and affective processes, adaptation and social adjustment and control of impulsivity”, explains psychologist Erika Kato Okino, from the Brazilian Association of Rorschach and Projective Methods (ASBRo).
The method was created in 1921 by Swiss psychiatrist and neurologist Hermann Rorschach, who realized that recognizing features in blots required complex functions of the mind. In Brazil, the test produced and printed by the Swiss publisher Verlag Hans Huber is used, the only one recognized by the International Society of Rorschach and its affiliated entities, such as ASBRo. But it doesn’t work alone: to assess the patient, information obtained in interviews and other psychological tests is also taken into account. To apply the Rorschach Test, the psychologist needs to take a two-year course with theoretical and practical classes. In addition to the health area, the exam helps with business, school and legal matters.
1. In a quiet, bright environment, the psychologist presents a card with a different inkblot at a time (there are ten cards). Then the patient says what he sees in the blots. The session is usually not recorded, but it can be, as long as the patient authorizes it and ethical care is preserved.
two. During the test, the psychologist observes the patient’s general behavior: perception, posture, attention, memory, logic, etc. Dozens of details are also taken into account, such as reaction time, number of responses and area of the interpreted image.
3. As he shows the cards, the psychologist also asks more specific questions about the patient’s responses to better understand his interpretation. He wants to know, for example, what elements of the blur led to a certain response
4. To arrive at the result, the psychologist fills in a table with several categories. Each represents one of many aspects, such as the person’s movements, the feelings shown, etc. The final interpretation comes from a comparison of this table with patterns obtained in research
SOURCES Brazilian Association of Rorschach and Projective Methods, Encyclopedia Britannica and International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods