RORSCHACH TEMPO AS A SCHIZOPHRENIC INDICATOR

Abstract

The basic rationale underlying psychodiagnostic attempts to identify schizophrenia is thac disordered thinking should be reflected in deviations from normally expected test patterns. This study investigates the utility of deviations in Rorschach tempo as an indicator of schizophrenia. Normative data on tempo, which pertains to fluctuations in the number of responses per card, indicate that Rorschach responses typically are evenly distributed among che cards with the exception of Cards V and X, which normally elicit fewer and more responses, respectively, than the others (Beck, Rabin, Thiesen, Molish, & Thetford, 1950; Piorrowski, 1957, p. 321). Furthermore, IX appears to be the most difficult card as measured by frequency of rejection (McKeever & Gerstein, 1959; Mensh & Matarazzo, 1954) and reaction time (Sanderson, 1951 ). On the basis of these data, four indices of deviant tempo were derived for smdy: (a) more responses to V than to IV, (b) more to V than to VI, (c) more to IX than to VIII, and (d) more to IX than to X. These particular indices were selected because rhey involve comparisons over successive cards and berween chromatic or achromatic cards only. Possible extraneous influences of color and sequence are thus minimized. It was hypothesized that schizophrenics would show greater incidence of these indices than nonschizophrenics. PROCEDURE Two independent samples, A and B, were used to evaluate the above hypothesis. Sample A, with 83 Ss, included aU patients over a 2-yr. period from an adult psychiatric clinic for whom scorable Rorschachs were available. These Ss were from 16 ro 45 yr. of age, with a mean of 25.8 yr., and had given from 11 co 51 Rorschach responses, with a mean of 25.3. According to the recorded consensus of an intake committee, 33 of these patients were schizophrenic or incipiently so, while 50 were experiencing difficulties primarily neurotic in nature. Sample B included all adults tested in the clinic and inpatient psychiatric services of a general hospital over a 1-yr. period, with the exclusion of those patients with primary organic diagnoses. These Ss, 82 in number, had a mean age of 30.2 (range 15 to 62) and a mean response coca1 of 23.8 (range 9 to 72), and 28 of them were schizophrenic. For the 47 hospital patients in Sample B, the diagnostic criterion was the discharge diagnosis. In both samples no significant differences existed between the schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic

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