Hermann Rorschach biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Hermann Rorschach was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on November 8, 1884. He lost his mother in 1897, when he was only 12 years old. Rorschach's father, who died just seven years later, was a local art teacher and encouraged the young Rorschach to express himself creatively. Psychiatrist and medical historian H.F. Ellenberger described the environment of Rorschach's upbringing as "...an atmosphere of extraordinary intellectual, artistic and cultural concentration."

In high school, Hermann Rorschach was apparently so enamored of Klecksography -- a Swiss childhood game of making pictures out of inkblots -- that friends took to calling him "Klecks."

In 1904, Rorschach headed to the Académie de Neuchâtel to study botany and geology. He spent a single term there before taking a French class at the Université de Dijon. Rorschach next enrolled in medical school at the University of Berne in 1904. Specializing in psychology, he fulfilled his studies in Zurich, Nuremberg and Berlin, eventually graduating from the University of Zurich, in 1909.

In 1910, he married a Russian woman named Olga Stempelin, a classmate from medical school.

Early Career

In 1913, Rorschach left his job at a mental institution in Switzerland and moved to Russia with his wife. The following year, he moved back to Switzerland and became a resident at Waldau Psychiatric University, while awaiting the arrival of his wife, who had been temporarily detained in Russia. By 1915, he accepted a position as associate director of the Herisau Asylum.

Inkblot Test

In 1917, Rorschach became aware of Swiss psychiatrist Szyman Hens' studies using inkblot cards to analyze patients' fantasies. Rorschach was also influenced by his acquaintance and contemporary, Carl Jung, who was using word association tests to tap into the unconscious mind. Rorschach combined his interests in psychoanalysis and art to create his own controversial "Rorschach inkblot test." He was the first researcher to use inkblots to analyze how patients projected their own associations onto seemingly random stimuli.

Rorschach tested his system on 300 patients and 100 control subjects. The test was composed of 10 inkblot cards -- half of them in color, and half black and white. Patients were shown one card at a time and asked to respond while Rorschach wrote down their answers. Afterward, Rorschach showed patients the cards again and prompted them to explain their answers. Rorschach evaluated test results based on the criteria of location, quality, content and conventionality. He used the data to draw conclusions about the patient's social behavior.