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Aggregating Form Accuracy and Percept Frequency to Optimize Rorschach Perceptual Accuracy

Horn, Sandra L

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, Psychology - Clinical.
Exner’s (2003) Comprehensive System and Meyer et al.’s (2011) Rorschach Performance Assessment System use Form Quality scores as a method for assessing the accuracy of perceptions on the Rorschach. However, Form Quality is a rather coarse classification method as it is based on just three options along a continuum of perceptual accuracy. There is currently not a fully dimensional Rorschach score that can thoroughly and efficiently tap into both the frequency with which particular objects are reported while taking the test and the perceptual fit of those objects to the cards. This study is focused on exploring the structure of a fit variable, Form Accuracy, in combination with a frequency variable, Percept Frequency, to make progress on a new dimensional method of scoring perceptual accuracy that will improve the ability to identify distorted perceptual processes and impaired reality testing and thus improve validity coefficients in the Rorschach-based identification of psychosis. Percept Frequency tables were developed from six internationally collected samples from Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the U.S. that quantified how often objects were reported while completing the Rorschach task. Form Accuracy ratings were obtained from a database of 13,031 objects that had been rated an average of 9.9 times by different judges from eleven countries who were asked to rate the extent to which the object fit the contours of the inkblot at the location where it was seen. A criterion database containing 159 protocols and 3,897 scorable responses was then scored for Form Accuracy and Percept Frequency. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to complete structural analyses of Form Accuracy and Percept Frequency scores at the response level, and correlations of these variables were computed at the protocol level with a criterion measure assessing severity of disturbance based on psychiatric diagnoses. Across different levels of aggregation, there was resounding evidence that the structure of each of the ten Rorschach cards and the sequence of first, second, third, or fourth responses given to a card played a large role in determining Form Accuracy and Percept Frequency scores. As such, these scores are strongly influenced by structural features of the Rorschach task that cannot be entirely attributed to stable characteristics of the test-taker. There were consistent clustering effects in the data due to the card number and due to the response within a card. Predicted scores for Form Accuracy and Percept Frequency were highest on Cards 5, 1, and 7, and they were lowest on Cards 9 and 6; scores were also lowered with each subsequent response within a card. Surprisingly, Percept Frequency scores did not correlate with the criterion measure of diagnostic severity, though Form Accuracy did have small correlations. Understanding the structural patterns of the fit and frequency data is an important undertaking in forming the foundation for future research on a dimensional Rorschach perceptual accuracy scoring system.
Gregory Meyer, PhD (Committee Chair)
Jeanne Brockmyer, PhD (Committee Member)
Joni Mihura, PhD (Committee Member)
Jason Rose, PhD (Committee Member)
Donald Viglione, PhD (Committee Member)
207 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Horn, S. L. (2015). Aggregating Form Accuracy and Percept Frequency to Optimize Rorschach Perceptual Accuracy [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1449513233

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Horn, Sandra. Aggregating Form Accuracy and Percept Frequency to Optimize Rorschach Perceptual Accuracy. 2015. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1449513233.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Horn, Sandra. "Aggregating Form Accuracy and Percept Frequency to Optimize Rorschach Perceptual Accuracy." Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1449513233

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)