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Wikipedia engulfed in row over Rorschach tests
The Telegraph ^ | 7/30/2009

Posted on 07/30/2009 8:51:14 PM PDT by bruinbirdman

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, has been drawn into a row over its decision to publish common responses to the 10 Rorschach inkblots.

The plates were created by the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach for his book "Psychodiagnostik," published in 1921. Because they were made more than 90 years ago their US copyright has lapsed.

However, psychologists have complained that publishing the inkblots and responses is the equivalent to putting answers to school exams on the internet.

"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," one Wikipedia poster named Faustian wrote on Monday, adding, "Just don't pretend you are doing anything other than harming scientific research."

Initially Wikipedia had just one of the inkblots online, but the row intensified in June, when James Heilman, an emergency-room doctor from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, posted images of all 10 plates to the bottom of the article about the test, along with what research had found to be the most popular responses for each.

"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." Psychologists have registered with Wikipedia to argue that the site is jeopardising one of the oldest continuously used psychological assessment tests.

The plates have appeared on other websites, but it was not until they showed up on the popular Wikipedia site that psychologists became concerned.

"The more test materials are promulgated widely, the more possibility there is to game it," said Bruce L. Smith, a psychologist and president of the International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods, who has posted

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: psychology; rorschach; wikipedia
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To: bruinbirdman

I had one of these tests as a child. They said I responded like a Vietnam vet who had been in a war zone. I took that as a compliment and left it at that.


21 posted on 07/30/2009 9:20:14 PM PDT by Maelstorm (Why are those who claim to have open minds so afraid of open debate?)
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To: bruinbirdman

Am I seeing that right? In that plctured inkblot I see Nancy Pelosi has got Satan and Stalin buy the nads and squeezin hard.


22 posted on 07/30/2009 9:29:53 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin

Pelosi?

That’s a stretch...


23 posted on 07/30/2009 9:32:59 PM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 191 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: null and void

What you don’t think she would hang out whith them ?


24 posted on 07/30/2009 9:38:06 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin
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To: Maelstorm

Was it a past life reading? LOL!


25 posted on 07/30/2009 9:42:50 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("Media: quit making things up." --Sarah Palin)
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To: count-your-change

Hehehe. Too much film noir, I suspect.


26 posted on 07/30/2009 9:49:57 PM PDT by ReneeLynn (Socialism, it*s the new black.)
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
Pelosi - multiple face lifts - stretch...


27 posted on 07/30/2009 9:51:25 PM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 191 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: null and void

If it does, I’ve got the same symptoms.


28 posted on 07/30/2009 9:53:21 PM PDT by stormer
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To: bruinbirdman

Looks like a sheep wearing the Pope’s outfit, parting the Knights who say, “Ni.”


29 posted on 07/30/2009 9:55:02 PM PDT by Rastus
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To: ReneeLynn
I went to school, you know. I was in grammar school. Once we were taking a test. I was copying this other kid's paper, and I guess the teacher heard my Xerox machine. And she said, “Emo, am I stupid or were you cheating?” I said, “Ah, yes and no.”

She sends me to the principal, and I get to his office and I sit down and he looks at me and says, “Emo, Emo, Emo.” I said, “I'm the one in the middle, you drunken slob.” He said, “How would you like to repeat the fifth grade?” I said, “Well, I don't know if I could do it exactly, uh, but I'll try.” He said, “I could expel you!” I said, “You'll have to catch and eat me first, ya wierdo!” He said, “Emo, you have to go over to the school psychologist.” I said, “Why do I have to go to the school psychologist?” So he shows me the petition.

And I go over to the psychologist, and he says, “Emo, what does this inkblot look like to you?” I said, “Oh, it's kind of embarrassing.” He said, “Emo, everyone sees something, so don't be embarrassed. Tell me what the inkblot looks like to you.” I said, “Well, to me it looks like standard pattern #3 in the Rorschach series to test obsessive compulsiveness.” And he gets kind of depressed. I said, “Okay, it's a butterfly.” And he cheers up. He said, “What does this inkblot look like?” I said, “It looks like a horrible ugly blob of pure evil that sucks the souls of man into a vortex of sin and degradation.” He said, “No, um, the inkblot's over there. That's a photo of my wife you're looking at.” “Oh,” I said, “was I far off?” He said, “No. That's the sad part.”

And he gives me a chocolate Easter bunny. And this shows how tricky those guys are. I eat the chocolate and I think, wait a second... this isn't around Easter. “Was this a test?” He said, “Yes.” “And what does it mean?” He said, “Well, had you eaten the ears first you would have been normal; had you eaten the feet first you would have had an inferiority complex; had you eaten the tail first you would have had latent homosexual tendencies; and had you eaten the breasts first you would have had a latent oedipal complex.” I said, “Well, go on. What does it mean when you bite out the eyes and scream, ‘Stop staring at me!’?’” He says, “It shows you've a tendency towards self-destruction.” I said, “What do you recommend?” He says, “Go for it!”

- Emo Philips

30 posted on 07/30/2009 9:56:05 PM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (The man who said "there's no such thing as a stupid question" has never talked to Helen Thomas.)
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To: Future Snake Eater

What is that guy carrying birth control pills in his left hand?


31 posted on 07/30/2009 9:56:30 PM PDT by stormer
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To: null and void

No, just slightly pathetic.


32 posted on 07/30/2009 10:16:50 PM PDT by dangus (I am JimThompson)
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To: bruinbirdman

I see a pink eared bunny in a priests robe hugging two overweight chocolate Santas carrying bags of toys.

I am certain this means I am insane, but at least I had the decency to not look up the answers.


33 posted on 07/30/2009 10:19:54 PM PDT by spodefly (This is my tag line. There are many like it, but this one is mine.)
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To: null and void

LOL Stretched damn near to the point of catastrophic failure.


34 posted on 07/30/2009 10:33:37 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin
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To: bruinbirdman

“The more test materials are promulgated widely, the more possibility there is to game it,” said Bruce L. Smith, a psychologist and president of the International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods”

Said with a straight face, no doubt


35 posted on 07/30/2009 11:03:50 PM PDT by This_far
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To: spodefly

Looks a skunk I ran over a few weeks ago.


36 posted on 07/30/2009 11:07:41 PM PDT by this_ol_patriot (I saw manbearpig and all I got was this lousy tagline.)
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To: bruinbirdman

To me, this looks remarkably like the official seal on the face of Barry's birth certificate.

37 posted on 07/31/2009 12:13:38 AM PDT by Zakeet (Obama: Always wrong, never in doubt.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Not for phrenology. These guys are the same APA that removed homosexuality and a rash of other mental illnesses from standard practice. I mean they know, buddy!


38 posted on 07/31/2009 4:11:35 AM PDT by 1010RD (First Do No Harm)
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To: bruinbirdman

Is this what a gynecologist sees?


39 posted on 07/31/2009 4:16:30 AM PDT by csvset
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To: 1010RD

There is a depressing amount of politics in the psych trade, no doubt. I guess inkblots never became politically incorrect.


40 posted on 07/31/2009 4:19:47 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (The Democrat Party: a criminal organization masquerading as a political party)
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