Structural vs. Interpretive Ambiguity: A Cross Cultural Study with the Holtzman Inkblots

Derogatis, Leonard R.; Gorham, Donald R.; Moseley, Edward C.

doi:10.1080/0091651x.1968.10120449

Cited by 3 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Other concepts found to be universal were animal, fowl, face, mask, person-riding-animal, landscape, butterfly, moth, fish, seahorse, and rain or storm. Derogatis, Gorham, and Moseley (1968) sought to determine the relationship between the structural (physical) ambiguity and the interpretive ambiguity of the HIT, the latter being defined in terms of the variability of responses made to the stimulus. Another goal of this study was to determine the amount of agreement on these dimensions among individuals with diverse backgrounds (psychologists and American, Mexican, Chinese, and German students).…”

Section: Cross-cultural Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Holtzman Inkblot Technique.

Gamble¹

1972

Psychological Bulletin

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After a brief description of the rationale, construction, and structure of the Holtzman Inkblot Technique, this study critically reviews 10 years (1959-1969) of research with this instrument. An impressive body of positive findings is in evidence, but many more studies are needed in most areas covered by this review. The various technical refinements and extensions of this instrument that have been produced should facilitate the appearance of much needed future research. The dearth of relevant studies renders an evaluative comparison with the Rorschach impossible at this time. Implications of certain issues raised by R. Schafer in 1948, M. D. Ainsworth in 19S4, and R. Holt in 1968 in relation to Rorschach validity studies are discussed in reference to research with the Holtzman technique.

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Section: Cross-cultural Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Holtzman Inkblot Technique.

Gamble¹

1972

Psychological Bulletin

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“…In here, diagnostic group seems to be one factor. Derogatis et al (1968) found a negative correlation between structural ambiguity and interpretative ambiguity in the HIT. However, the correlations were only sig-nificant in the American and in the Mexican sample.…”

Section: Structural and Interpretative Ambiguity And Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Most of the significant correlations correspond to large effect sizes (r ≥ 0.50) according to Cohen (1988, p. 80, 86), yielding a high power of 1-β ≥ 0.90 in most of the cases. Derogatis et al (1968) found high intercorrelations between the structural ambiguity ratings of the different cultural groups. Leichsenring and Hager (1992) demonstrated a high correlation between the structural ambiguity ratings of Derogatis et al (1968) and the ratings of a German sample.…”

Section: Structural and Interpretative Ambiguity And Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Interpretative Ambiguity Derogatis et al (1968) assessed the interpretative ambiguity of the HIT cards via the number of different words that were given in response to a card. They found a significant, but lower correlation between the the above mentioned groups of subjects concerning interpretative ambiguity (r = 0.44-0.55).…”

Section: Structural Ambiguitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, interpretative ambiguity was assessed by the same procedure as was applied by Derogatis et al (1968). The number of different words was counted per card by a computer program (MTAS, Center for Computing in the Humanities, 1988) that was applied to the responses of the different diagnostic groups.…”

Section: Structural Ambiguitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Structure in the Assessment of Psychopathology

Leichsenring

2004

European Journal of Psychological Assessment

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Summary: This study investigated the role that the structure of a diagnostic instrument plays in the assessment of personality functioning. Empirical studies have shown that the cards of the Rorschach and Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) vary significantly with regard to their structure. Thus, it was possible to investigate if cards of high vs. low structure tend to elicit specific diagnostically useful responses. For this purpose, samples of normals (n = 30), patients with neurotic disorders (n = 30), borderline patients (n = 30), acute schizophrenics (n = 25), and chronic schizophrenics (n = 25) were studied with the HIT. For each diagnostic group it was examined if cards of high vs. low structure tended to elicit more thought disordered responses, hostility, and anxiety according to the HIT scoring system. With regard to structure, two aspects were differentiated, structural vs. interpretative ambiguity of the HIT cards. In all nonschizophrenic groups, cards of high structural ambiguity elicited significantly less thought disordered responses. By contrast, cards of high interpretative ambiguity elicited more thought disordered responses, anxiety, and hostility in all groups except the chronic schizophrenics. The measures of structural vs. interpretative ambiguity of the HIT cards showed a negative correlation in all diagnostic groups. According to these results, both aspects of ambiguity and their interplay play an important role in the assessment of psychopathology, at least within the range of ambiguity represented by the inkblots of the HIT.

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The Influence of Color on Emotions in the Holtzman Inkblot Technique

Leichsenring

2004

European Journal of Psychological Assessment

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In this study, the influence of chromatic and achromatic color on emotions in the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) was tested empirically. Samples of normals (n = 30), patients with neurotic disorders (n = 30), borderline patients (n = 30), and both acute (n = 25) and chronic schizophrenics (n = 25) were studied with the HIT. A computerized investigation of verbally expressed emotions was performed by means of the “Affective Dictionary Ulm” (ADU; Dahl, Hölzer, & Berry, 1992 ), which was applied to the responses in the HIT. The effect of color was tested separately for cards containing red vs. non-red colors. According to the results, normals, patients with neurotic disorders, and borderline patients expressed love and anger significantly more often in response to cards containing red colors. For the non-red color cards neither an effect on love and anger, nor on anxiety and depression could be demonstrated. Furthermore, the chromatic cards of the HIT elicited significantly more different words given in response to a card than the achromatic cards. Again, this was true for normals, patients with neurotic disorders, and borderline patients, but not for schizophrenics. Structural ambiguity of the HIT cards correlated significantly negatively with the number of emotion words given in response to a card, again with the exception of schizophrenics. The latter result is discussed referring to the “almost axiomatic rule” ( Gunderson & Singer, 1975, p. 6 ) that borderline patients function adequately on structured tests but appear more seriously disturbed on less structured tests.

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Structural vs. Interpretive Ambiguity: A Cross Cultural Study with the Holtzman Inkblots

Cited by 3 publications

References 8 publications

The Holtzman Inkblot Technique.

The Holtzman Inkblot Technique.

The Role of Structure in the Assessment of Psychopathology

The Influence of Color on Emotions in the Holtzman Inkblot Technique

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