What is the Rorschach Inkblot Test?

Katherine Gray
Inkblot number 9 image credit Rorschach.org 
The Rorschach test created in 1921 by Swiss Psychologist Hermann Rorschach, is a psychological test based on the arrangement of inkblots in either black and white or colour. The test is used on individuals to analyse the persons perceptions of what they see within the inkblots.
The Rorschach test is regarded as a psychometric evaluation of pareidolia-a form of apophenia, which is a human tendency to see shapes, pictures or objects which are meaningful in some way to the observer, from a random and ambiguous artwork or pattern.  
The psychological interpretation and analysis complex, and some psychologists will use the test to evaluate personality characteristics, cognitive and emotional functioning.  
It could be argued that over the years, the Rorschach test has fallen victim to misuse and misrepresentation within 'pop psychology', losing its important and meaningful contribution to the science of psychology and field of psychoanalysis.
It is a valuable psychometric tool when used correctly by a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist, in the appropriate clinical setting. 
Watch and learn more about the Rorschach test, in this Ted Ed video created by Damion Searls. 
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