Rorschach test

Named after Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach (1884–1922), its creator.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɔːʃɑːk tɛst/, /ˈɹɔːʃæk tɛst/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɔɹˌʃæk tɛst/, /ˈɹɔɹʃək tɛst/

Rorschach test (plural Rorschach tests)

1. (psychology) A method of psychological evaluation that uses a person's interpretations of inkblots or similar images to discover information concerning his or her personality, emotional functioning, or unconscious mind.

   Synonyms: blot test, inkblot test, Rorschach, Rorschach inkblot test

   • 2001 May, Scott O. Lilienfeld, James M. Wood, Howard Garb, “What's Wrong with This Picture?”, in Scientific American‎^[1], →DOI, →PMID, page 85:

     Psychologists have dozens of projective methods to choose from beyond the Rorschach Test, the TAT and figure drawings.

2. (by extension) Any test of an individual's perception of phenomena.
   • 1996, Roger Warner, Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos, Steerforth Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 84:

     She demurely took out a piece of paper with an ink blot on it, a Rorschach test . […] Poe said he had been saved by Desmond FitzGerald, the patron saint of knuckledraggers, who sent him away from headquarters to keep him from getting  […]

3. (figurative) Something which reveals the intent or belief of a person.
   • 2004, Scott A. Huscher, Appellant, v. Wells Fargo Bank, as Trustee, etc., Respondents (Huscher v. Wells Fargo Bank)‎^[2], Court of Appeal of California, Second District, Division Eight, Docket #B168103:

     Because Irvine asserts that the earlier case law interpreting section 2280 was incorporated into Probate Code section 15401, but offers inconsistent interpretations of the law, it has become a Rorschach test for the parties.

   • 2026 January 25, Peter Baker, “For Trump, the Truth in Minneapolis Is What He Says It Is”, in The New York Times‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     And indeed, many of Mr. Trump’s supporters watch the same videos from Minneapolis and find in the sometimes murky images details that to them vindicate the shootings, actions by Ms. Good or Mr. Pretti that appear more threatening than what many others see. In effect, the videos have become a national Rorschach test for American polarization.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2026 February 2, Cade Metz, “A Social Network for A.I. Bots Only. No Humans Allowed.”, in The New York Times‎^[4], →ISSN:

     The chatty bots became the talk of Silicon Valley and an elaborate Rorschach test for belief in the current state of A.I. According to countless posts on the internet and myriad interviews with The New York Times, many saw a technology that could make their lives easier.