The Rorschach inkblot test is a type of projective psychological test created in 1921 by Hermann Rorschach. The test is used to analyze personality and emotional functioning. The Rorschach consists of ten inkblot cards which in a way are printed in symmetrical fashion from right to left; ten of inkblot cards include five black and grey, two black and red, and three colored cards (Trull & Prinstein, 2012). The Rorschach test is anchored to Freud's psychoanalytic theory especially the idea of free association where the therapist helps patient discover unconscious thoughts and feelings that had been repressed or ignored. The question now concerns on if and how we can find meaning on this unstructured test for personality assessment that relies on the subject's interpretation of ambiguous stimuli?.
Reliability and Validity.
The reliability of Rorschach scores have been questioned by research-oriented clinical psychologist for years (Wood et al., 2003). A distinction may be made between a test's ideal interrater reliability and its field interrater reliability. It is good to note that the ideal reliability is demonstrated by highly trained experts who are performing at their optimal or best condition, while the field reliability in contrast is demonstrated by practitioners who are performing under constraints and condition typical of their work. Generally standard textbooks on clinical assessment have commented favorably on interrater reliability of the Comprehensive System (Erdberg, 1985; Groth-Marnat, 1990; Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 1993). Although the present trend has centered and focused on scoring, the reliability of test administration and recording also receive issues; prior to the beginning of the Comprehensive System, researchers found that Rorschach scores could be expectedly contaminated by situational factors (Masling, 1960). Consequently Lord (1950) cites instances such as the interpersonal style of the test administrator that could influence the subject's responses to the cards.