The Rorschach Technique: An Introductory Manual by Bruno Klopfer and Helen H. Davidson, 2/5

After a few pages containing a dizzying number of acronyms, diagrams and guidelines, I soon realised that there is more to the Rorschach than simply labeling someone as disturbed because they saw a scary face and blood stains in an ink blot.  Interestingly, the Rorschach is not actually a test at all, but a method, purportedly providing valuable psychological info through analysis of the subject’s reaction to and interpretation of 10 different ink blot cards.  While the method is admirably complex, I was disappointed that the book focuses more on administering and interpreting the Rorschach than establishing its legitimacy in the first place.  Being assured that “the meanings attached to the scores…possess clinical rather than experimental validity” does little to allay my native suspicion (128).

My low rating of this book is based on the fact that it is outdated (from 1962), does not adequately establish the Rorschach’s validity and provides only black and white depictions of the cards.

[Why I read it: random thrift store find.  I wanted to learn more on the topic, since I suspected that popular culture’s perception of the Rorschach was flawed.]