Tat and the Rorschach

U.S. Foreign Policy

Psychology

TAT and the Rorschach

In the world of psychology there are several projective techniques that were created through both the Freudian and the Neo-Freudian Theories. These projective techniques continue to gain verified research support as each moves closer to being seen as a standardized research techniques. "For the purpose of individual trauma treatment and outcome evaluation, the benefits of performance-based methods such as the Rorschach test and the Thematic Apperception Test have been numerously stressed in the literature." (Inoue, 2009, p. 181) Unfortunely, they may still be subjective and open to many interpretations. Because of the possibility of mixed results, the majority of the psychologists that use these tools incorporate them into a mix of tests that provide information about an individual as opposed to using the projective techniques alone to make an assessment. This essay aims to focus on two of these techniques, Thematic Apperception Test with the Rorschach Inkblot Test, and then compare and contrast them to one another. The secondary goal is to provide insights into when one is more appropriate to use vs. The other and why.

There is little doubt that one of the most commonly used projective techniques is the Rorschach or Rorschach Inkblot Test. Everyone has seen this test applied in bad horror movies or in old psychological thrillers. This test is made up of ten white cards with blots of ink on them. The blots can be black, black and red, or they could have many colors. Originally, the inkblots were random designs which have maintained through time. There has been a great deal of research into each card and the associated blots. Consider looking up into the sky and you witnessed some unique image in a cloud. That is the underlying methodology behind the Rorschach technique. When a card has no real shape like many clouds, humans use the unconsciousness mind to project their own inner thoughts and ideas into the shape. Children for example, often see dogs and cats, bogey men and monsters. These images that people see in the Rorschach more than likely are their inner feelings and desires of love or nurturing and the inner fears and phobias about the pressures of life and death.

The Thematic Apperception Test or TAT was created by a brilliant a psychoanalytic thought developed student named Henry Murray. A TAT is also made of cards, but they are either black or white with grayscale pictures. The pictures are never in color and where chosen because they are somewhat ambiguous and are meant to portray emotions or thoughts without providing any specific details. One card, for example, may be nothing more than a human silhouette and that silhouette may be starring into the distance. These cards are designed to project some activity without providing insights into the cards relationship to an emotion. The cards were also chosen because they have psychoanalytic themes of thought. These themes relate to issues like narcissism or oedipal complex, sexual nature, violence, aggression or sexual activity and more. "Concerning trauma assessment using the TAT, there are numerous studies on the object relations of abused children measured by the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale. (Inoue, 2009, p. 182)