Psychodiagnostics - A Diagnostic Test Based on Perception

Book excerpt: HERMANN RORSCHACH PSYCHODIAGNOSTICS A DIAGNOSTIC TEST BASED ON PERCEPTION INCLUDING RORSCHACITS PAPER THE APPLICATION OF THE FORM INTERPRETATION TEST PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY BY DR. EMIL OBERHOLZER TRANSLATION AND ENGLISH EDITION BY PAUL LEMKAU, M. D THE HENRY PHIPPS PSYCHIATRIC CLIMC, BALTIMORE AND BERNARD KRONENBERG, M. D. NEW YORK FIFTH EDITION, WITH A NEW BIBLIOGRAPHY VERLAG HANS H U B E R, BERNE, SWITZERLAND Distributors for the U. S. A. GRUNE STRATTON INC. 381 Fourth Avenue New York, N. Y PL, . E TO THE The widespread and growing interest in the Rorsehach test among English speaking workers has made apparent the need for a more easily available source of information concerning Rorschachs original and basic work than the German Editions supply. This English Translation is presented in the hope of filling that need. We are aware that this need has been met sporad ically by various unauthorized translations, but these have been available to bet few of those interested in the test. None of these translations was at hand during the preparation of the translation presented here. The task of translating Rorschachs German is doubly difficult. One wishes to present his ideas adequately and at the same time preserve as much as possible of the personality of Rorschach as it is revealed in his choice of words, his sentence structure, and his delicate shadings of meanings The first attempt yielded a too literal translation which did not present the ideas clearly enough. This first effort was completely rewritten and carefully checked to make sure that the sense as well as the flavor of the original was preserved to the greatest possible extent. We are especially grateful to Dr. Adolf Meyer whoencouraged us to take up the task and who has continued to be interested in our progress. Many individual points have been discussed with colleagues at the Phipps Clinic, and we are grateful to them for their help and stimulation. To Mrs. Florence Halpern of the Staff of Bellevue Hospital in New York, and Miss M. R. Caine, also of New York, we also owe our thanks for help with particular problems arising in the course of the work. Other colleagues have generously con sidered our questions with us and have encouraged us these friends are too numerous to mention but all may be assured that their help was appreciated. Especial thanks are due to Dr. Christopher Tietze for time-consuming labor in checking the manuscript for those finer shadings of meaning apparent only to one whose original language is German. The intelligent and co operative criticism of Miss Helen Kaste as she typed the manuscript has resulted in the elimination of many errors which would otherwise have marred the work, 2nd Lt. H. L. Siple, ATJS, was helpful in the preparation of the index. Bernard Kronenberg. Paul Lemkau. CONTENTS Preface to the English Translation ............. 3 Epilogue .......... .......... 9 Preface to the Second Edition .......... ... II Introduction ................... 13 List of Symbols and Abbreviations ............. 14 L The Method, 1. Apparatus ..... . ............. IS 2. Procedure .................. . 16 3. Interpretation of the Figures as Perception ........ . 16 XL TMfe Factors of the Experiment. 1. Statement of Problems ................ 19 2. Number of Responses ............ .... 21 3. Reaction Time .................. 21 4. Failure to Answer ............. .... 22 5. Form, Movement and ColorResponses Their Relation to the Perceptive Process 22 a Form Responses ........... ..... 23 b Movement Responses ............... 25 c Color Responses .... ............ 29 d Incidence of Movement and Color in the same Interpretation ..... 35 6. Mode of Apperception ................ 36 a Statement of Problems .............. 36 b Scoring the Mode of Apperception ........... 37 c Number of W, D, Dd, etc .............. 40 d Apperceptive Types ............... 41 e Sequence in Mode of Apperception ........... 43 7. Content of Interpretations...