An introductory text reads the psychoanalytic perspective holds that some aspects of personality exist beneath conscious awareness. Projective personality tests seek to uncover these characteristics. Ideas and anxieties in the unconscious will appear in descriptions of ambiguous stimuli, revealing previously hidden conflicts that the test administrator can evaluate.
The first section is titled Test administration. A photo shows several cards with different thematic content. Text below the photo reads, the standard administration of the T A T presents a selection of 5 to 12 cards. The participant is asked to tell a story for each scene, including what the characters are feeling and how the story might end.
Text beside the photo reads, the best-known projective tests, the Thematic Apperception Test (T A T) and the Rorschach Inkblot Test, are both conducted in the same way (Lilienfeld, Wood, and Garb, 2005): The test administrator presents a series of picture cards, one at a time, then records the participant’s responses. The administrator also notes behaviors such as gestures, tone of voice, and facial expressions.
Three cards of symmetrical inkblots are shown on the right side of the text. Text below reads the Rorschach has 10 cards with symmetrical inkblots, 5 in color and 5 in black-and-white. The participant is prompted to give multiple responses for each image, identifying details.
The second section is titled Test Interpretation. Accompanying text reads, To help decrease the influence of administrator bias in interpretation of projective tests, comprehensive systems have been developed to standardize scoring and interpretation of some tests. For the Rorschach Inkblot Test, responses are coded on dimensions such as location (whole inkblot or one detail), themes (unique or consistent), and thought processes (Erdberg, 1990). The use of a comprehensive system allows administrators to compare typical and atypical responses.
A section titled PARTICIPANT RESPONSES shows a black and white inkblot. Various responses are listed alongside; they read as follows: Looks like two people; the people are fighting over something; or they’re carrying something heavy together; maybe it’s one person looking in a mirror; I also see a butterfly. A callout at the bottom reads, “These sample responses are representative of this type of inkblot (Burstein and Loucks, 19 89).
A section titled EXAMINER RESPONSES shows a list of examiner responses as follows:
Participant mentions the typical response of two figures; Suggestion that the people are fighting could indicate issues with aggression or an aggressive personality; Focus on individuals working together could represent a need for social connection; However, seeing one person alone could indicate social anxiety;
Now participant switches to a specific part of the image, which could also show that he is uncomfortable thinking about others, perhaps related to introversion.