So why do the shrinks pull the inkblot and word assn. tests so quickly?

[Deja Q]

Or the Rorscharch test where they show suggestive symmetrical pictures along with the "word association" tests which BEG for something perverted to be said?!

Every time I see a new shrink, this is the first thing they do. Apart from an MMPI, but I always give invalid results on the MMPI (so how much do these luzers get paid again?) Anyway, I need to be comfortable with my shrink before I can answer these tests accurately.

And it's amazing, they say "say the first thing that comes to your mind". Well, I'm not saying what first comes to my mind! I always pause and act stupid because I'm not going to embarrass myself (odd, but true!). Pausing hasn't helped, but the whole industry is a pond full of quacks anyway...

[Dookus]

1. a recent issue of

Skeptic Magazine had a very good article debunking Rohrschach tests. It's simply modern-day phrenology.

[Dookus]

2. whoops...

sorry, it was Skeptical Inquirer magazine...

http://www.csicop.org/si/2003-07/rorschach.html

[JackSwift]

3. Rorscharch "ink blot" tests

have been considered quackery for years by most mental health pros. The reason being that there are books out there with the "answers" and these have never tested out as proving anything. With that said, hearing what someone has on their mind and not trying to fix square pegs in round holes might prove useful in the context of the rest of the sessions. But if I were a shrink (and I've only been a shrinkee and never seen these tests used) I would skip this kind of crap and do some real listening.

[dweller]

4. Using your perceptual sense

to measure the condition/consciousness of your mental state.
Sight overrides all other sense faculties.

your interpretation of the stimuli reveals your state of mind, at least for the moment.

quaack!
dp