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    Rorschach inkblot test

    罗夏墨迹测验

    Technique
    Also called
    Rorschach test, Rorschach Inkblot Method

    The Rorschach is a projective test in which people say what each of 10 inkblots looks like. The examiner scores where in the blot the response is located, which features (such as form or color) it draws on, and its content, and compares the scores with norms.[1]

    Generated here, not a test card

    Example response

    “The whole thing looks like a butterfly with open wings.”

    Select an item on the right to see how one response is broken down for scoring. The blot was generated for this site and is not one of the 10 Rorschach cards.
    1. 1921 Rorschach publishes the test in Psychodiagnostik
    2. 1974 Exner’s Comprehensive System tries to standardize scoring
    3. 2013 A meta-analysis tests 65 Comprehensive System variables
    4. Alongside Mihura, Meyer and colleagues build R-PAS, choosing variables mainly from these reviews
    How one response is scored by location, the features it draws on and its content, then compared with norms. The blot was generated for this site and is not a Rorschach card. Select a part for details
    How one response is scored by location, the features it draws on and its content, then compared with norms. The blot was generated for this site and is not a Rorschach card. Save as image (PNG)

    Key points

    • The Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach introduced the test in 1921 with his book Psychodiagnostik.[1]
    • Some of the 10 blots are black or gray and some carry color. From 1974, John Exner’s Comprehensive System tried to standardize scoring.[1]
    • A 2013 meta-analysis tested the validity of 65 Comprehensive System variables.[2] R-PAS, a newer scoring system two of its authors helped develop, drew mainly on these reviews when choosing its variables.[4]
    • Scores tied to thought disorder and cognitive functioning have strong support; evidence for judging emotional and other noncognitive traits remains weak.[3]

    An example

    In a psychology class, the teacher shows an inkblot. Lin sees a bat, and Jay sees two people dancing. The teacher uses this to show that people can see different things in the same image, and notes that a classroom demonstration cannot support any conclusions.

    Misreadings and limits

    A common misreading treats it as a fun personality quiz or an all-purpose diagnostic tool. It is generally considered unreliable; critics find noncognitive scores poorly supported, and Comprehensive System norms tended to make healthy people look disturbed.[1][3]

    Sources

    1. 1 Encyclopaedia Britannica (n.d.). Rorschach test. Encyclopaedia Britannica. View source
    2. 2 Mihura, J. L., Meyer, G. J., Dumitrascu, N., & Bombel, G. (2013). The validity of individual Rorschach variables: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the Comprehensive System. Psychological Bulletin, 139(3), 548–605. doi:10.1037/a0029406
    3. 3 Wood, J. M., Garb, H. N., Nezworski, M. T., Lilienfeld, S. O., & Duke, M. C. (2015). A second look at the validity of widely used Rorschach indices: Comment on Mihura, Meyer, Dumitrascu, and Bombel (2013). Psychological Bulletin, 141(1), 236–249. doi:10.1037/a0036005
    4. 4 Viglione, D. J., Blume-Marcovici, A. C., Miller, H. L., Giromini, L., & Meyer, G. (2012). An inter-rater reliability study for the Rorschach Performance Assessment System. Journal of Personality Assessment, 94(6), 607–612. doi:10.1080/00223891.2012.684118

    Last checked against sources: October 26, 2026