How does the Rorschach inkblot test work? - Damion Searls

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Take a look at this image.

看看這張圖。

What might this be?

這可能是什麼？

A frightening monster?

一隻嚇人的怪獸？

Two friendly bears?

兩隻友善的熊？

Or something else entirely?

或其他完全不同的東西？

For nearly a century,

近一個世紀以來，

ten inkblots like these have been used

十張像這樣的墨漬圖被用來

as what seems like an almost mystical personality test.

做人格測驗，且似乎神秘無比。

Long kept confidential for psychologists and their patients,

長期以來都對心理醫生 及其病人保密，

the mysterious images were said to draw out the workings of a person’s mind.

這些神秘的圖形被認為 會引出一個人的腦部活動。

But what can inkblots really tell us,

但墨漬究竟能告訴我們什麼？

and how does this test work?

這項測驗又是如何運作的？

Invented in the early 20th century by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach,

羅克夏測驗是瑞士 精神病學家赫曼羅夏克

the Rorschach Test is actually less about the specific things we see,

在二十世紀初發明的，重點其實 比較不是在我們所見的特定事物，

and more about our general approach to perception.

比較是在我們一般的感知方式。

As an amateur artist

赫曼是業餘的藝術家，

Hermann was fascinated by how visual perception varies from person to person.

每個人的視覺感知 都各有不同，這點讓他很著迷。

He carried this interest to medical school,

他把這項興趣帶到醫學院，

where he learned all our senses are deeply connected.

在那裡，他學到我們所有的 感官間都有很深的連結。

He studied how our process of perception doesn’t just register sensory inputs,

他研究感知的過程要如何才能 不只是記下感官輸入，

but transforms them.

還要轉換它們。

And when he started working at a mental hospital in eastern Switzerland,

當他開始在瑞士東方的 一家精神病院工作時，

he began designing a series of puzzling images

他開始設計一系列 讓人費解的圖像，

to gain new insight into this enigmatic process.

試圖為這個謎樣的過程 取得新的洞見。

Using his inkblot paintings,

羅夏克開始用他的墨漬圖畫

Rorschach began quizzing hundreds of healthy subjects

測試數百名健康受試者

and psychiatric patients with the same question:

及精神病患，問他們同樣的問題：

what might this be?

這可能是什麼？

However, it wasn’t what the test subjects saw that was most important to Rorschach,

然而，對羅夏克而言， 最重要的不是受試者看到了什麼，

but rather, how they approached the task.

而是他們用什麼方式 完成這項任務。

Which parts of the image did they focus on or ignore?

他們會著重或忽略 影像的哪些部分？

Did they see the image moving?

他們看到的影像會動嗎？

Did the color on some inkblots help them give better answers,

某些墨漬上的顏色能協助他們 提供更好的答案嗎？

or distract and overwhelm them?

或者會讓他們分心、無法招架？

He developed a system to code people’s responses,

他開發了一個系統， 來將人的反應編碼，

reducing the wide range of interpretations to a few manageable numbers.

把廣泛的詮釋濃縮成 可以處理的數量。

Now he had empirical measures to quantify all kinds of test takers:

現在他有了經驗手段 可以將各種受測者量化：

the creative and imaginative,

有創意和有想像力的人、

the detail-oriented, the big-picture perceivers,

細節導向的人、察覺大局的人，

and flexible participants able to adapt their approach.

及能適應他們方式的彈性受試者。

Some people would get stuck,

有些人會卡住，

offering the same answer for multiple blots.

對數個墨漬都給予同樣的答案。

Others gave unusual and delightful descriptions.

其他人則會做出不尋常 且令人高興的描述。

Responses were as varied as the inkblots,

回應的答案跟墨漬一樣多樣化，

which offered different kinds of perceptual problems–

它們呈現出的是 不同型的感知問題——

some easier to interpret than others.

有些比較容易詮釋，有些比較難。

But analyzing the test-taker’s overall approach

但，分析受試者所採用的整體方式

yielded real insights into their psychology.

能夠產生出對他們心理的洞見。

And as Rorschach tested more and more people,

隨著羅夏克測試更多的人，

patterns began to pile up.

模式也越積越多。

Healthy subjects with the same personalities

有相同人格的健康受試者

often took remarkably similar approaches.

通常會採用非常類似的方法。

Patients suffering from the same mental illnesses

受同樣心理疾病所苦的病人

also performed similarly,

也會有類似的表現，

making the test a reliable diagnostic tool.

因此這項測驗變成了 可靠的診斷工具。

It could even diagnose some conditions

它甚至可以診斷出一些

其他既有方法 很難辨識出來的病症。

difficult to pinpoint with other available methods.

In 1921,

1921 年，

Rorschach published his coding system alongside the ten blots he felt

羅夏克出版了他的編碼系統，

搭配的十張墨漬圖

gave the most nuanced picture of people’s perceptual approach.

是最能細微描述人們 感知方式的墨漬圖。

Over the next several decades,

在接下來的數十年，

the test became wildly popular in countries around the world.

這項測驗在全世界各國廣受歡迎。

By the 1960s,

到了六○年代，

it had been officially administered millions of times in the U.S. alone.

光是在美國，這項測驗 就已經正式施做了數百萬次。

Unfortunately, less than a year after publishing the test,

不幸的是，測驗出版後不到一年，

Hermann Rorschach had died suddenly.

赫曼羅夏克突然過世。

Without its inventor to keep it on track,

少了原發明者來掌舵，

the test he had methodically gathered so much data to support

他用有條理地收集了 這麼多資料來佐證的這項測驗

began to be used in all sorts of speculative ways.

也開始被放到 各種推論方法中使用。

Researchers gave the test to Nazi war criminals,

研究者讓納粹戰犯做這項測驗，

hoping to unlock the psychological roots of mass murder.

希望能解開大屠殺的心理源頭。

Anthropologists showed the images to remote communities

人類學者把這些圖像 拿給偏遠社區的人看，

as a sort of universal personality test.

當作一種世界通用的人格測驗。

Employers made prejudiced hiring decisions based on reductive decoding charts.

僱主根據演譯出來的解碼圖表， 做出有偏見的僱用決策。

As the test left clinics and entered popular culture

當這項測驗離開了臨床， 進入了流行文化中，

its reputation among medical professionals plummeted,

它在醫學專業領域中的 聲譽一落千丈，

and the blots began to fall out of clinical use.

墨漬圖不再被用在臨床用途上。

Today, the test is still controversial,

現今，這項測驗仍然很有爭議性，

and many people assume it has been disproven.

許多人假設它已經被證明是假的。

But a massive 2013 review of all the existing Rorschach research

但，2013 年針對所有既有的 羅夏克研究所做的一項大規模檢討

showed that when administered properly the test yields valid results,

顯示出如果這項測驗能被妥善地 實施，產生出來的結果是有效的，

which can help diagnose mental illness

能夠協助診斷心理疾病，

or round out a patient’s psychological profile.

或是讓病人的心理側寫能更完整。

It’s hardly a stand-alone key to the human mind–

不太可能單靠這把鑰匙 就解鎖人類的大腦——

no test is.

沒有任何測驗能做到。

But its visual approach and lack of any single right answer

但，這項測驗的視覺方式 以及沒有單一答案的特性，

continue to help psychologists paint a more nuanced picture

持續協助心理學家更精細地描繪出

of how people see the world.

人們看世界的方式。

Bringing us one step closer

讓我們又更進一步

to understanding the patterns behind our perceptions.

了解我們感知背後的模式。