The Parallel Series – The Behn–Rorschach Inkblot Test

Abstract

This article examines the historical background of the Behn-Rorschach Test based on new document translations, including the dissertation ( Psychische Schüleruntersuchngen mit dem Formdeutversuch) conducted by H. Behn-Eschenburg under Hermann Rorschach’s direct supervision and published in 1921. The Behn-Eschenburg dissertation was published at the same time and is a companion piece to Psychodiagnostics. The dissertation project applied Rorschach’s clinical theory and coding scheme to a duplicate set of inkblots (“the parallel series”) in a sample of 209 13–15-year-olds. The article reviews the newly translated correspondence between Rorschach, Behn-Eschenburg, and other colleagues in the development of the parallel series that was not published until 1940. Psychodiagnostics describes Hermann Rorschach’s rationale and prerequisites for development of the parallel series, and the dissertation is an early extension into new territory beyond Psychodiagnostics. Various investigators in the 1950s and 1960s critically examined Rorschach’s claims that the parallel series is equivalent to the original inkblots. The Behn-Eschenburg dissertation, published concurrently with Psychodiagnostics, illuminates the earliest development of Rorschach’s psychology on the eve of his untimely demise.

Editorial

“…While editing the articles contained in this issue of Rorschachiana , I was reminded of some contributions that have previously appeared in this journal. Acklin (2024) offers a novel perspective on the life of H. Rorschach, of his thinking and ideas developed around the time that he created his inkblots, hence complementing the historical part of the answer to “Why does the Rorschach work?” Acklin’s work called to mind a research thread that has recently regenerated interest in the test’s origins aiming to reconstruct the original view that H. Rorschach had of his creation. In this framework, Andronikof (2023) described the perceptual decision-making process as the basic function triggered by the test.…”