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Hermann Rorschach’s Psychodiagnostics (2021)

2022; Hogrefe Verlag; Volume: 43; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1027/1192-5604/a000154

2151-206X

Filippo Aschieri,

Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications

Free AccessHermann Rorschach’s Psychodiagnostics (2021)Filippo AschieriFilippo AschieriFilippo Aschieri, European Center for Therapeutic Assessment, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, L.go Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italyfilippo.aschieri@unicatt.ithttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1164-5926Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:April 28, 2022https://doi.org/10.1027/1192-5604/a000154PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInReddit SectionsMoreRorschach, H. (2021) Hermann Rorschach’s Psychodiagnostics: Newly Translated and Annotated 100th Anniversary Edition (P. J. Keddy, R. Signer, P. Erdberg, A. Schneider-Stocking) (Original published in 1921) Hogrefe Publishing, 294 pages. ISBN (Print) 978-0-88937-558-1, US $69.00, € 59.95. ISBN (PDF) 978-1-61676-558-3, US $59.99, € 52.99. https://doi.org/10.1027/00558-000One century after its first edition, the Rorschach Test is still developing, both in its scoring methods and in its fields of application (Mihura et al., 2022). What John Exner wrote in 1969, a few years before the first edition of the Comprehensive System (1974) about the presence of many Rorschach systems that have in common only the 10 cards, still holds true today. Since 1921, Rorschach systems have varied increasingly in terms of the response coding and of the rationale underlying the test itself. Comparative examinations of Rorschach methods show their differences in theoretical and empirical backgrounds (Prudent et al., 2022), particularly between psychodynamic and empirical approaches (Aschieri & Pascarella, 2021; Guinzbourg de Braude et al., 2021; Meskanen & Pucci, 2021).Thus, in 2022, a reading of Hermann Rorschach’s Psychodiagnostics, translated and edited by Philip J. Keddy, Rita Signer, Philip Erdberg, and Arianna Schneider-Stocking and published by Hogrefe in 2021, could be particularly enlightening for returning to the test origins and rationale with fresh eyes. This book contains the new translation of the original text by Hermann Rorschach, but it is much more than that.In fact, the authors include additional relevant material that goes well beyond the translation of the book. Readers have access to the biography of Hermann Rorschach, an analysis of the writings that preceded the 1921 book, a translation of a lecture by Hermann Rorschach on the relationship between the test and psychoanalysis that was published right after the publication of the book, a glossary collecting the terms used in the translation, a list of publications from Hermann Rorschach, and a section on the annotations to the translation. The amount of material included in this volume speaks of the monumental effort made by the authors to provide readers with the most complete, accurate, and up-to-date publication possible.The biography and the subsequent sections, written by Rita Signer, probably one of the best contemporary experts on Hermann Rorschach (see, e.g., Müller & Signer, 2004; Signer & Müller, 2005, 2008) present a fresh, detailed, and vivid description of Hermann Rorschach’s life, personality, and thinking. Signer reports the influence of Jung in his studies, his psychoanalytic writings, and the trajectory of his career from his first position in a psychiatric hospital close to Bern to the role of associate director at the psychiatric hospital in Herisau. However, most notably, readers will feel the spirit with which Rorschach devoted himself to clinical work, developing a test that would eventually become a great tool for exploring “the most interesting thing in nature [which] is the human soul” (p. 16), and be the basis for therapeutic assessment, since the “highest thing a person can do is to heal sick souls” (Müller & Signer, p. 8, in Rorschach, 1921/2021).The section on “The Creation of Psychodiagnostics” describes the background of the creation of the test and provides wonderful examples of the ambiguous images that accompanied the development of the inkblots. It offers readers a description of the work that Hermann Rorschach did “behind the scenes” prior to the publication of Psychodiagnostics in 1921: from the initial experiment conducted in 1911 with students, to the refinements of the “perceptual-diagnostic experiment” he wrote about in 1918, 1919, and 1920. Signer provides a summary of the 1918 text on Investigations on Perception and Apperception in Healthy and Ill Persons: Draft, giving the readers introduction to how inkblots were made, and how the author initially tested the “concurrent validity” of movement color determinants, using ambiguous drawings along with the inkblots. The section also reports on the rationale of the perception and apperception processes measured by Hermann Rorschach’s experiment.In the summary of the first 1919 text, On Perception and Apperception in Healthy and Ill Persons (Rorschach, 1919a), Signer highlights the growing interest of Hermann Rorschach in the curvilinear relationship between Rorschach movement and introversion tendencies. He found that the more intelligent and resourceful respondents were, the more movements they had in their responses to the test. However, the presence of movements was also correlated with extremely introverted respondents. Extreme cases of introversion were representative of patients suffering from autism. Signer highlighted, based on documenting Rorschach’s reading of the Essai sur l’introversion mystique written by the psychiatrist Ferdinand Morel (1918), the influences on Hermann Rorschach’s view of introversion by Janet, Bleuer, and Jung concepts of reality function, autism, and introversion, which were extensively cited in Morel’s book.In the summary of the second text from 1919, A Perceptual-Diagnostic Experiment (Rorschach, 1919b), Signer stresses a development in the definition of the “experience type.” Rorschach clarified the relation of extratensive and intratensive respondents with color and movement responses (Rorschach, 1921/2021):On the one hand, the “color influences” stand in direct proportion to the extraversive factors; yet on the other hand, they stand in direct proportion to the lability of affects. Kinesthesias are, on the one hand, in direct proportion to the introversive factors; yet, on the other hand, they are in direct proportion to the stability of affects. (p. 26)Signer finally addresses the main points and developments that appeared in the last text prior to the publication of the manual, titled A Perceptual-Diagnostic Experiment (1920). In this text, Hermann Rorschach further clarified that, “there is no introverted and extraverted type, but only a predominantly introverted one capable of introversions, as well as a predominantly extraverted one capable of extraversion” (Rorschach, 1920, p. 14, in Rorschach, 1921/2021). Not only are extraversion and introversion dynamic categories of individual functioning, but in this text Hermann Rorschach stressed the possibility of changing the predominant approach during one’s lifetime, and that these categories could also be used to describe cultural periods and changes at a societal level.The central part of the newly published volume is devoted to the new translation of the Hermann Rorschach masterpiece Psychodiagnostics (1921), which is presented in a fresh, relatable, and clear language. Some translation choices, among many, are worth mentioning. For example, the previously used “modes of apperception” are now referred to as “modes of visual grasping,” and some headings of paragraphs were re-edited to provide a more informative description of the contents of the text going beyond the “single word” title originally used by the author. A noteworthy surprise is the use of “plates” instead of “cards” to refer to the support of the inkblots.Other changes to the previous translation of the book are connected to “hints” added by the translators with the aim of facilitating the readers’ use of the book. For example, the responses of the 28 Rorschach protocols included in the book have been numbered, facilitating (a) the understanding of how Hermann Rorschach defined the boundaries of Rorschach responses and (b) the understanding of his coding.After the main text, the editors have also translated the paper titled “The Evaluation of the Form Interpretation Experiment for Psychoanalysis” – already presented in the 1942 English edition of Psychodiagnostics. In this section it is particularly interesting to observe how Hermann Rorschach systematically proceeded in the interpretation of a real protocol, moving from smaller inferences based on individual variables (or groups of variables), to corroborating inferences comparing indications from different typologies of variables, to framing such inferences within relevant theoretical backgrounds.A reader studying this content should already feel enriched and fulfilled at this point in the book. Remarkably, however, the editors have added even more content that is extremely useful for readers: a glossary of key terms used by Hermann Rorschach in Psychodiagnostics, the complete list of publications by (and on) Hermann Rorschach, and finally the uniquely valuable annotations to the translation of the book contents. These annotations would be worthy of a publication in and of themselves because they provide theoretical background to “concepts” that were widely known at the beginning of the last century and that might be harder to grasp today. For example, terms such as those that appear in the following passage would remain obscure to most readers without the care that the editors took to guide the readers in the historical background of the volume (Rorschach, 1921/2021):Rorschach cites Eugen Bleuler’s idea of perception from the latter’s Lehrbuch der Psychiatrie (Textbook of Psychiatry; Bleuler, 1916, p. 9). For Bleuler, perception consisted of three components: sensation, memory, and association. Rorschach deduced that the “interpretations” of his klecksographies were “doubtlessly” perceptions, yet with one difference: all perceptions “identifying integrations between sensation-complexes are memories of sensation-complexes.” These “integrations” occur “unconsciously” during everyday perceptions. However, in the experiment, the incongruence between sensation-complexes and memories of sensation-complexes are [sic] so great that this effort of integration is perceived intrapsychically as an effort by the respondents. (p. 21)Also, these annotations allow us to make sense of some examples used by Hermann Rorschach that today would probably be hard to understand. For example, I found fascinating the use of King Wilhelm II and Luis XIV as prototypical examples of extratensive personalities, without reference to narcissism, which is now a feature reliably measured by the test (Mihura et al., 2013).In conclusion, I would strongly recommend this book to all Rorschach users. It provides a description of Hermann Rorschach and of the cultural and scientific background in which the test was created, and is written in a language adapted to contemporary psychological thinking. An active reading of the book will be a test for our own view of psychopathology and our own ability to adapt Rorschach concepts to contemporary psychology.References Aschieri, F., & Pascarella, G. (2021). A systematic narrative review of evaluating change in psychotherapy with the Rorschach test. Rorschachiana, 42(2), 232–257. https://doi.org/10.1027/1192-5604/a000142 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar Bleuler, E. (1916). Lehrbuch der Psychiatrie [Textbook of psychiatry]. Springer. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar Exner, J. E. (1969). The Rorschach systems. Grune & Stratton. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar Exner, J. E. (1974). The Rorschach: A comprehensive system. Wiley. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar Guinzbourg de Braude, S. 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On psychosis: An international comparative single case study of the Nancy French, Lausanne, and American Rorschach approaches. Rorschachiana, 43(1), 42–69. https://doi.org/10.1027/1192-5604/a000151 First citation in articleAbstract, Google Scholar Rorschach, H. (1918). Untersuchungen über die Wahrnehmung und Auffassung bei Gesunden und Kranken, Entwurf [Investigations on perception and apperception in healthy and ill persons, draft] (Rorsch HR 3:3:6:1). Hermann Rorschach Archive, Institute for the History of Medicine, Bern, Switzerland. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar Rorschach, H. (1919a). Zur Wahrnehmung und Auffassung bei Gesunden und Kranken [On perception and apperception in healthy and ill persons] [Typewritten lecture manuscript] (Rorsch HR 3:2:1:1). Hermann Rorschach Archive, Institute for the History of Medicine, Bern, Switzerland. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar Rorschach, H. (1919b). 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Signer, P. Erdberg, A. Schneider-Stocking, Trans. & Eds.). Hogrefe Publishing. (Original work published 1921) First citation in articleGoogle Scholar Signer, R., & Müller, C. (2005). Was liest ein Psychiater zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts? Die Fachlektüre Hermann Rorschachs im Kontext seiner psychiatrischen und wissenschaftlichen Tätigkeit [What does a psychiatrist read at the beginning of the 20th century? Hermann Rorschach’s scientific reading in the context of his professional practice and scientific activity]. Schweizer Archiv für Neurologie und Psychiatrie, 156(6), 279–284. https://doi.org/10.4414/sanp.2005.01623 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar Signer, R., & Müller, C. (2008). „Ich will nie mehr … nur Bücher lesen, sondern Menschen”. Die Entstehungsgeschichte des Rorschach-Tests [“I never want to read … just books again, but people.” The genesis of the Rorschach Test]. In I. BlumP. WitschiEds., Olga und Hermann Rorschach. Ein ungewöhnliches Psychiater-Ehepaar (pp. 13–23). Appenzeller. First citation in articleGoogle ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byColor and Affect A Long, Never-Ending HistoryAnna Elisa de Villemor-Amaral and Latife Yazigi28 April 2022 | Rorschachiana, Vol. 43, No. 1 Volume 43Issue 1March 2022ISSN: 1192-5604eISSN: 2151-206X Published onlineApril 28, 2022 InformationRorschachiana (2022), 43, pp. 89-94 https://doi.org/10.1027/1192-5604/a000154.© 2022Hogrefe PublishingPDF download