Are Rorschach Tests Really as Reliable as Scientists Say?

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Ever since 1920, the Rorschach test has stood as one of the most commonly used personality measures in the world. Although very popular, this test is as famous as it is infamous. Thinking that this test can't possibly be as accurate as many claim, I searched the internet for an ink blot image and means of interpreting it to see if I could accurately interpret a Rorschach Test, and for that matter, prove that it isn't as credible as many think. Finding just the article I needed on deltabravo.net and a simple inkblot diagram, (which i listed in the tags) I asked a friend to interpret it. He said that it looked like the head of a fox, to which I then started to diagnose. I told him that it relates to his feelings of loneliness, considering the nature of the fox, and his dread concerning the winter months ahead. Is this interpretation wrong? Not necessarily, actually. When it comes to inkblot tests, deltabravo.net noted that not one interpretation is necessarily correct or incorrect, which to me validates my notion of little replicability, because no one interpretation will be exactly the same.
Not only that, but the author of the article includes some interesting quotes, one of them being "The only thing the inkblots do reveal is the secret world of the examiner who interprets them. These doctors are probably saying more about themselves than about the subjects." (Anastasi, 1982) which actually makes a lot of sense. Interpreting something is entirely up to the person, so how something is analyzed really says more about them then their test subject! The article also describes what scientists classify as a good or bad answer, and even that depends! To me, this massive level of inconsistency not only disproves the validity and reliability of the Rorschach test, but shows a layer of confirmation bias that interpreters have because they can't even agree on a structured means of interpretation! Below I have included some pretty cool Rorschach inkblot diagrams and if there is one good thing about these tests, it's that they are very fun to interpret! I have also included some interpretations of them so you can cross reference them with what your friends say about what they see and tell them about the deep layers of their subconscious.

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This page contains a single entry by eber0255 published on November 20, 2011 10:30 PM.

Standardized Testing--Should it be Used for College Admissions? was the previous entry in this blog.

Condition of Worth is the next entry in this blog.

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