- A dictionary of medical eponyms

Rorschach test

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A psychological projection test in which inkblots are used clinically for diagnosing psychopathology. A person is presented, in a certain sequence, 10 plates with specially designed inkblots in grey black and pastel colours, and is asked to tell what they depict or what they remind of. The answers are supposed to give a picture of major traits of personality structure and psychopathology. Some consider it to give an X-ray picture of the human mind, to others it is hardly more scientific than astrology and other forms of occultism.

Already in 1911 Rorschach had begun experimenting with the interpretation of ink blots. However, he was not the first one who did this; among his famous forerunners are Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Andreas Justinus Christian Kerner (1786-1862).

Bibliography

  • J. Kerner:
    Kleksographien. 1857. A book of inkblot-inspired poems.
  • H. Rorschach:
    Psychodiagnostik. Methodik und Ergebnisse eines Wahrnehmungsdiagnostischen Experiments (Deutenlassen von Zufallsformen).
    Bern, Ernst Bircher, 1921.

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