Rorschach Inkblots Test Cheat Sheet?

The Rorschach blots and their commonly known interpretations have spread all over the world as Wikipedia updates it page on Rorschach inkblot tests and psychologists... More Below... Posted by on Jul 30th, 2009 and filed under Featured, News, Science.

rorschach-blotsThe Rorschach blots and their commonly known interpretations have spread all over the world as Wikipedia updates it page on Rorschach inkblot tests and psychologists may lose one of their tools for mental state analysis.

The NY Times reports that in the last few months, the online encyclopedia Wikipedia has been engulfed in a furious debate involving psychologists who are angry that the 10 original Rorschach plates are reproduced online, along with common responses for each. For them, the Wikipedia page is the equivalent of posting an answer sheet to next year’s SAT.

One Wikipedia poster named Faustian wrote, “The only winners seem to be those for whom this issue has become personal, and who see this as a game in which victory means having their way. Just don’t pretend you are doing anything other than harming scientific research.” The Rorschach plates were posted in Wikipedia last June by Dr. James Heilman.

“I just wanted to raise the bar — whether one should keep a single image on Wikipedia seemed absurd to me, so I put all 10 up,” Dr. Heilman said in an interview. “The debate has exploded from there.”

The posting of the plates could defeat the multitude of medical research that documented the inkblots and it’s performance.

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