Projective Tests and Scales

lecture 4

Dr. Marwa Monde

 CODING AND SCORING

• The coding and scoring of a Rorschach protocol is a two-step process.

• The first step consists of assigning each response a set of codes that identify various
features of how the response has been formulated and expressed.
• The second step consists of combining these response codes in various ways to generate
several totals, ratios, percentages, and indices that are known as summary scores.
• These scores are typically arrayed in what is called a Structural Summary.
• The Rorschach Structural Summary, like the profile of scales on a self-report inventory,
plays a key role in the interpretive process and can be computer generated
• To arrive at a Structural Summary. the examiner must first code the individual responses
for their basic, supplementary, and elaborative aspects.
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 Basic Codes: Location, Determinants, and
Contents

• Every Rorschach response is coded for three basic aspects of how it is

formulated:
• (a) where it was seen (location),
• (b) what made it look as it did (determinants),
• (c) what it consists of (contents).

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 Location

• The location of a response is the part of the blot that has been used for a percept.
• Location is determined in the In- quiry Phase by instructing people, "Show me where you saw it" or asking them. "Where
did you see it?“
• If the whole blot has been used for a percept, it is coded as W.
• If a commonly used detail has been used, the location is coded as D.
• If the percept has been given to an infrequently used detail, it is coded as Dd.
• The D (common) and Dd (unusual) details for each blot are indicated in location charts that are reproduced in Exner's
(2001, 2003) RCS textbook and workbook. The criterion for identifying common details was their occurrence in 5% or
more of 7,500 test protocols in the RCS standardization database. Location choices occurring in fewer than 5% of these
protocols were considered infrequently used details.
• In addition to being coded as W, D, or Dd for their location, some responses involve the white space as well as the inked
space on a card. These white space responses are coded by adding S to the location code to produce the com-bined codes
of WS, DS, and Dd S. The RCS location codes .

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 Determinants

• Determinants are characteristics of the inkblot that have given rise to a response. Determinants are elicited in the Inquiry
Phase with the instruction, "Tell me what made it look like that" and by asking such questions as "What helped you see it
that way?" and "What suggested that to you?"

• There are five basic categories of determinants:

form, movement, chromatic color, achromatic color, and shading.
• Responses based solely on the form of a location area are coded as F.
• Use of forma is indicated when individuals articulate its influence ("It's shaped like one") or identify parts of an object
they have seen ("Here are the head, the arms, and the legs"), and F is also coded by default when no other determinants are
reported ("It just looks like that"). When any of the other four types of determinants are reported as the basis for a
response. F is typically not coded separately, even when shape or object parts are mentioned.

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• People sometimes attribute movement to their Rorschach percepts. If they see people moving ("Two women
lifting something") or animals engaged in human activities ("Dogs playing patty-cake"), M.
• If they see animals engaged in movement appropriate to their species ("A lion walking along"), the response
is coded FM.
• If they see inanimate objects in motion ("A leaf falling"), the response is coded m.
• Individuals may articulate having used chromatic colors in the blots in formulating a percept. If the
chromatic color is secondary to the form of an object ("It's round, like an apple, and it's red"), the response
is coded FC.
• If chromatic color takes precedence over the form of an object ("It's different colors here, maybe like some
flowers"), the response is coded CF If chromatic color is used without any form ("The sky, because it's blue,
no shape to it"), the response is coded C.

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• The achromatic colors black, gray, and white may also be reported by people
as the basis for a percept ("A black bat." "Gray, like storm clouds," "Snow,
because it's white"). Parallel to the coding for chromatic color use,
achromatic color is coded as FC" ("A black bat"), C'F ("Gray, like storm
clouds"), or C" ("White, like snow"), depending on the relative prominence
of form or achromatic color in determining the percept

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• Shading as a determinant involves a reaction to variations in the saturation of the
hues in a blot, most commonly with respect to contrasts among the shades of gray
and black. If the shading is used as a basis for inferring a three-dimensional
perspective ("The colors are fainter here, so it looks farther away"), the response is
coded V for Vista. If shading is used as a basis for inferring some tactile quality of
an object ("It looks soft and furry because of the way it's shaded"), the response is
coded 7 for Texture. If shading is used as a basis for describing darker or lighter
coloration in a percept, without Vista or Texture ("The darker and lighter parts are
shaded, like a moth's wings"), the response is coded Y for Diffuse Shading. V. T.
and I like the chromatic and achromatic color codes, allow for designation of the
role of form in determining the response (e.g., FT, TF or T).

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• In addition to these five basic categories of determinants, two other possibilities
may occur.
• The first of these is Form Dimension, which is coded with FD when a response
involves a three-dimensional perspective but does not include an articulated use of
shading.
• The two most common types of responses coded FD involve something seen in the
distance ("A man leaning backward, with his head farther away than his feet"; "An
aerial view of an island") or one object seen behind another ("Someone hiding
behind a bush"; "An animal with its tail sticking out behind").

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• The second additional possibility is Reflection, which is coded as Fr or rf when one part of
a blot is identified specifically as a reflection of another identically shaped part of the blot.
The Fr code is used when a reflected object has a definite form (e.g.. "Here's an animal on
this side, and on the other side is its reflection in the water"), and rF is coded when reflected
content has no specific form (e.g., "This looks like a landscape reflected in the water"),
• People may at times articulate more than one determinant in explaining the basis for a
particular percept. In these instances, the determinants are coded together in what is called a
Blend response. For example, "A rocket ship taking off, and the exhaust is here, because of
the red" involves a blend of inanimate movement and color-form, and the determinant
would be coded as m. CF. A response of "Here's a red butterfly, with different shades of
color on its wings" blends form-color and shading and would be coded as FC.FY The RCS
determinant codes .

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 Contents

• Every response is assigned a code to designate the content of what a person has
reported seeing. On average, approximately 75% of an individual's Rorschach
responses involve percepts of human or animal figures
• Human figures are coded as H for whole persons, H d for partial figures ("Head of
a person"; "A person's legs"), and (H) or (H d) for mythical or fictitious figures ("An
angel": "A clown's face"; "The upper torso of the abominable snowman"). Animal
figures are coded as A, Ad. (A), or (Ad) on the same basis.

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 Supplementary Codes

• In addition to being coded for location, determinants, and contents, every

Rorschach response is given one or more supplementary codes to identify its
form quality (FQ) and whether it involves a pair of objects (2), a popular
percept (P), or organizational activity (Z).

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