Psychologists rage over online Rorschach test

Psychologists are on the rampage after the Rorschach ink-blot tests were published on Wikipedia along with their 'answers' by a Canadian emergency room doctor seeking to strike a blow against censorship.

The Rorschach test is a series of 10 ink-blots first published in a 1921 book Psychodiagnostik by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach. They were developed as a means of assessing a patient's personality and diagnosing mental illness. Subjects are shown the inkblots on plates and asked what they see. Every aspect of their reaction is taken into account: for example, seeing things in the white spaces within the larger blots, instead of in the inked areas, reveals a contrarian streak.

The controversy began with a discussion over whether a single Rorschach plate, shown on the Wikipedia page devoted to the subject, should be removed. Anything that can be construed as censorship is anathema to Wikipedia users so it was no surprise when last month James Heilman, an ER doctor in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, decided to take matters into his own hands by posting all 10 official plates on the page. "I just wanted to raise the bar - whether one should keep a single image on Wikipedia seemed absurd to me, so I put all ten up," he told the New York Times.

‘Don’t pretend you are doing anything other than harming scientific research’

Wikipedia has for the moment decreed that the plates should remain on the page, but a lively debate continues to rage - stoked by psychologists registering their objections.

The main concern for psychologists is that making the ink-blots widely available - especially, as on the Wikipedia page, alongside the most popular interpretations - will reduce their effectiveness in diagnosing patients.

"The only winners seem to be those for whom this issue has become personal, and who see this as a game in which victory means having their way," a Wikipedia member named Faustian observed. "Just don't pretend you are doing anything other than harming scientific research."

It seems unlikely that such views will prevail on the website that continues to host the controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban, which caused outrage among the Islamic community when it was published by a Danish newspaper in 2005.

Ultimately, a more prosaic concern may decide the matter. The Rorschach test is widely considered to be ineffective and is rarely used in Britain. A 2005 study published in Scientific American Mind criticised the test because two psychologists assessing the same results would not always arrive at the same diagnosis. Also, the test is calibrated to the European mind and is therefore less effective for people from other ethnic backgrounds. ·