The Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) Psychometric Validity of Individual Variables.

Since the publication of the Rorschach Inkblot Method (Rorschach, 1921/1942 ), theorists, researchers, and practitioners have been debating the nature of the task, its conceptual foundation, and most important its psychometric properties. The validity of the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1974 , 2003; Exner & Weiner, 1995 ) has been supported by several meta-analyses that used different types of nontest external criterion for validating individual variables. In a recent meta-analysis, Mihura, Meyer, Dumitrascu, and Bombel ( 2013 ) found coefficients ranging from modest to excellent for most of the selected CS variables, with 13 of them reported as showing "little to no support." This article focuses on these variables. Although endorsing Mihura et al.'s mainly validating findings, we also suggest that the evidence presented for the little or no validity of these 13 variables is not quite compelling enough to warrant changing their definition or coding, or removing them from the system. We point to some issues concerning the description and interpretation of these variables and the appropriateness of the external criteria used for exploring their validity, and suggest considering these issues in further CS research. Implications of Mihura et al.'s meta-analysis for clinical and forensic practice are discussed.

The amnestic syndrome: applying the Rorschach Inkblot method for differential diagnosis.

Dissociative processes were investigated in a man diagnosed with focal retrograde amnesia (FRA) following a traumatic head injury without any anterograde memory deficit. Findings were derived from the Rorschach Inkblot method, which was administered together with other performance-based tests and a self-report inventory for evaluating dissociative proneness in personality functioning. A substantial set of behavioral and test response variables indicated dissociation proneness and the activation of dissociative mechanisms. This conception was supported a few months following the evaluation when the patient reported a total spontaneous recovery of the memory deficit. The interplay between neurological and functional factors in FRA is discussed with a view for creating an integrated model.

Invited commentary: applying psychodynamic developmental assessment to explore mental functioning in adolescents.

Recent publications in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence present a variety of topics exploring adolescents' mental functioning in the twenty first century. Conceptually, many of the articles address the intriguing, though rarely explicit, question of developmental continuities and change from adolescence to adulthood. Such investigations, which are particularly prominent in articles that discuss personality dispositions such as impulsivity or lack of empathy and their relationship to emotionally disturbed or maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, examine interactional effects of these dispositions within the personality-context matrix. From a methodological perspective, however, the major tools used for assessing personality dispositions are self-report inventories while performance-based methods, previously defined as projective tests, are not used at all despite the wide range of empirical studies that provide support for their psychometric properties. This commentary suggests that applying a theoretically based, multi-method assessment procedure in empirical research would be most fruitful for any study aimed at exploring mental functioning in adolescents. As an example, I would use the Rorschach Inkblot Method, currently being internationally considered as the most frequently applied personality test for assessing adolescents. Implications for research, practice and policy decision-making are discussed.

Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) reference data for Israeli adolescents.

This study presents Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1974, 2003) data for a sample of 100 Israeli nonpatient adolescents divided into 2 age-based groups: 11-14 (n = 42) and 15-18 (n = 58). The data are compared to those derived from the international project of Meyer, Erdberg, and Shaffer (2007). The results suggest that contemporary Israeli adolescents demonstrate age-appropriate inclination to show excessive self-inspection (FD), to be overly individualistic, perceiving reality in a unique and unconventional manner (elevated Xu%; lowered X+% and P), and to be involved in scientific issues (elevated Sc). The age-based group of 11 to 14, however, also tends to show difficulties in affect modulation (C > 0). Nonetheless, Israeli nonpatient adolescents are quite unlikely and not more than nonpatient adults, to show elevation on the major CS constellations of psychopathological manifestations. Although these observations are mostly in agreement with data collected from their peers around the world, the Israeli youngsters seem to be more similar to adults than to youngsters from other countries as to various CS measures, including those pointing to openness and attentiveness to stimuli (i.e., Lambda, F%). The main conclusion is that with the exception of some age-appropriate deviations, the international reference data for adults can be used for evaluating psychopathology in adolescents.