Inkblot Test: Difference between revisions
Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.8
m (Mass update links) |
(Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.8) |
||
(11 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:InkblotTest.jpg|frame|What do you see? And no, [[Watchmen (
{{quote|''"He said pepul see things in the ink. I said show me where. He said think. I told him I think a inkblot but that wasnt rite eather. He said what does it remind you—pretend something. I closd my eyes for a long time to pretend. I told him I pretned a fowntan pen with ink leeking all over a table cloth."''
|'''Charlie Gordon''', ''[[Flowers for Algernon]]'' ([[You Make Me Sic|sic]])}}
Whenever someone in fiction gives or receives a Rorschach test, the one where the patient looks at a blot of ink and says what he sees, the test is misrepresented. Instead of finding a reason for the patient to see something, the psychiatrist focuses more on ''what'' the patient sees. If the patient sees a butterfly, he's innocent, if he sees a corpse, he's guilty. Also, obsessed characters are always shown to see the same thing, no matter what the blot looks like.
▲{{quote|''"He said pepul see things in the ink. I said show me where. He said think. I told him I think a inkblot but that wasnt rite eather. He said what does it remind you—pretend something. I closd my eyes for a long time to pretend. I told him I pretned a fowntan pen with ink leeking all over a table cloth."''|'''Charlie Gordon''', ''[[Flowers for Algernon (Literature)|Flowers for Algernon]]'' ([[You Make Me Sic|sic]])}}
▲Whenever someone in fiction gives or receives a Rorschach test, the one where the patient looks at a blot of ink and says what he sees, the test is misrepresented. Instead of finding a reason for the patient to see something, the psychiatrist focuses more on ''what'' the patient sees. If the patient sees a butterfly, he's innocent, if he sees a corpse, he's guilty. Also, obsessed characters are always shown to see the same thing, no matter what the blot looks like.
In some comedic situations, inkblots sometimes will be created spontaneously with a sheet of folded paper and whatever ink or inklike substance might be handy. In ''very'' comedic situations, such a blot will spontaneously form a perfectly clear image of whatever the plot requires the character to be diagnosed as obsessed with.
Line 13:
It should be noted, however, that there are many scoring (and administration) methods. The Exner scoring system is statistically validated and, as such, presents very little "interpretation" issues. Psychiatrists still tend to dismiss it, though, based on how it struggles to consistently be more than about 66% accurate. (Incidentally, some of the factors scored are: how long it takes to come up with an interpretation, how novel or common the interpretation is, how much the interpretation actually resembles the blot, bias towards color vs shape, whether the patient is deliberately being difficult, etcetera.)
Note that any inkblot seen in a movie and TV show will ''not'' be one of the actual Rorschach blots, but a blot made up for that production. The American Psychological Association [[Spoil At Your Own Risk|has attempted to keep them reasonably secret]] so that when the test is actually administered, the patient's reactions will be spontaneous. However, at this point the test has been widely distributed on the internet and is now considered defunct. Also, fictional blots are almost universally simple black ink on white
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* A Rorschach test featured prominently in ''[[
* An antagonistic duelist in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Used, appropriately, with the character Rorschach in ''[[Watchmen (
** At least in the movie, once Rorschach breaks out of his cell and gets his <s> mask</s> face (which frequently shifts into inkblot patterns) back he asks the doctor: "What do you see?".
* In [[Grant Morrison]]'s graphic novel ''[[Arkham Asylum:
* In ''Kid Eternity'', Kid is on the receiving end of this by his [[Evil Counterpart]] Dr. Pathos after being interned in the mental hospital he works at. Dr. Pathos grows increasingly frustrated when it becomes clear that Kid is just going to keep saying he sees "a man being swallowed by a giant vagina."
* There was an issue of ''[[Legion of Super
== [[
* A Mary Sue, upon being given a Rorschach test for her glorified cutting, or because she has seen her one true love (Draco) fake his own death, will respond with "an inkblot", and is thus deemed not crazy. In reality, she would either be unimaginative or uncooperative.▼
* In a ''[[Dilbert (Comic Strip)|Dilbert]]'' [[Story Arc]], the [[Pointy-Haired Boss]] put Alice in the company's drug rehab program, despite her not having a drug problem, so that he would look productive. The doctor gives her an inkblot test at one point, the image on the first card clearly being a profile of the Pointy Haired Boss.▼
* Gary Larson did a ''[[The Far Side (Comic Strip)|The Far Side]]'' cartoon in which a hulking individual is being given the test, and all the blots look like a silhouette of him strangling the tester.▼
* A Gahan Wilson cartoon has the patient addressing a weird blobby shape-- "No, doctor, the resemblance is ''amazing!''"▼
* A cartoon in ''Reader's Digest'' had an insect interpreting a big splotch: "Windshield."▼
== [[Film]] ==
* Parodied in ''[[
{{quote|
'''AJ Frost''': This is Harry giving me a hard time. This is Harry telling me it's not good enough. This is Harry telling me I can't marry his daughter. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. }}
* Subverted in ''[[
{{quote|
'''Johnny 5''': No shit. Where see shit? }}
* In ''[[
** This troper found it strange that somebody as smart as Batman would be dumb enough to actually mention that he sees bats in any painting, and wouldn't know he was looking at a Rorschach.
*** It is incredibly difficult to see the 'inkblot' as being something other than a bat.
Line 49 ⟶ 45:
* In ''[[Problem Child]]'', the prison psychiatrist is giving a Rorschach test to the Bow Tie Killer, only the "inkblots" are actually bloodstains left by his victims. While the warden is in the room he lies, saying he sees things like butterflies and bunnies hopping across fields. This enrages the warden, and the psychiatrist forces him to leave. Once the warden leaves, the psychiatrist continues the test, and the Bow Tie Killer says he sees blood, and kills the psychiatrist, puts on his clothes and drives out of prison. Why no one was watching what was going on from behind a two-way mirror [[Fridge Logic|is anyone's guess.]]
* In ''Take The Money And Run,'' Woody Allen's character's troubled youth is highlighted when he interprets an inkblot drawing as "Two ostriches making love to a glee club."
* Parodied in ''[[Blankman]]'', which injects a upper chest into the set of blots.
== [[Fan Fiction]] ==▼
▲* A Mary Sue, upon being given a Rorschach test for her glorified cutting, or because she has seen her one true love (Draco) fake his own death, will respond with "an inkblot", and is thus deemed not crazy. In reality, she would either be unimaginative or uncooperative.
== [[Literature]] ==
* In Robert Pirsig's novel ''Lila'', Phaedrus claims that the true purpose of the Rorschach test is to gauge the subject's imaginative ability, such that if the person says "I don't see anything," or "I see an inkblot," that's allegedly a potential sign of severe mental illness. It should be noted that there is no evidence to support this claim. At most, such responses would indicate a lack of creativity.
* Played dead straight in ''[[Alex Ride]]'', when Alex is being assessed for suitability as an [[If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten|assassin.]] Most applicants saw a man lying in a pool of blood. Alex saw a guy with a bookbag.
* In ''[[
** It's not that he couldn't see the resemblance of the inkblots to anything else, it's just that he misinterpreted the psychiatrist's question as meaning that he was supposed to find some sort of hidden picture. Makes the same point, though.
▲* In a ''[[
▲* Gary Larson did a ''[[
▲* A Gahan Wilson cartoon has the patient addressing a weird blobby shape-- "No, doctor, the resemblance is ''amazing!''"
▲* A cartoon in ''Reader's Digest'' had an insect interpreting a big splotch: "Windshield."
== [[Radio]] ==
* Parodied in the ''[[Adventures in Odyssey]]'' episode "Eggshells", where Jared, a middle-schooler convinced of his own psychiatric prowess after a health class, becomes convinced that one of the main characters is in denial after a last-minute breakup. He starts with something that is clearly a hand-drawn "broken heart" symbol (interpreted as "a heart-shaped cookie") and they get more... overt from there.
{{quote|
"'Dump'... very interesting. Next?"
"A dead flower... [[Broken Bird|a bird with an injured wing]]... ''(incredulously)'' a chainsaw cutting through a wedding cake... an engagement ring that's been run over by a steamroller -- Jared, what are you doing?" }}
▲== [[Real Life]] ==
* A very old joke involves a man being shown a set of inkblots, and interpreting them all as pictures of people having sex. When the tester announces that he's clearly obsessed with sex, he says, "Me? You're the one with the collection of dirty pictures."▼
** ''[[Get Smart (TV)|Get Smart]]'' did a version of this joke.▼
** Parodied in [http://wondermark.com/395/ this] [[Wondermark]] strip.▼
== [[Stand Up Comedy]] ==
* A classic Emo Philips routine:
{{quote|
'''Patient:''' I see a horrible, ugly blob of pure evil that sucks the souls of men into a vortex of sin and degradation.
'''Doctor:''' No, the inkblot's over here; that's a picture of my wife you're looking at.
'''Patient:''' Was I far off?
'''Doctor:''' No, that's the sad part. }}
== Live Action TV ==
* One episode of ''[[
** Then again, it could just be a joke or an inside reference, as viewers at that time likely wouldn't be too familiar with the Rorschach test.
* The titular character in ''[[Sledge Hammer!]]'' received one, where he identified each picture as some violent scene... except for the last, which he claims is, "A duck handcuffing a naked woman". The psychologist remarks, "Funny, I've never seen the duck."
** To be more accurate, he saw two images of gun violence, "[[Rule of Three|a field]] [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|of pussy willows]]," "a [machine gun] blowing away the pussy willows," and "a duck handcuffing a naked woman."
* On ''[[The Golden Girls]]'', Sophia is taking an inkblot test in an attempt to become a nun. She identifies all the blots as increasingly elaborate religious imagery: an angel, a dove perched upon the throne of God, the Blessed Virgin smiling as she pours love upon the hearts of the righteous, until Dorothy interrupts exasperatedly that the blot is obviously "[[Dynasty|John Forsythe]] lying naked in a pool of honey." The nun administering the test agrees.
* During TNA's Paparazzi Championship Series, when the X-division guys were made to jump through all sorts of comedic hoops, Kevin Nash administered an inkblot test, browbeating Sonjay Dutt by suggesting the images reminded him of steroids, and reacting with incredulity when [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|resident obsessed martial artist]] Senshi saw ever blot as being a warrior.
* A doctor attempts to give Vala one on ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', but abandons it when she keeps claiming to see abstract concepts like courage in the blots.
* On ''[[Empty Nest]]'' the Lothario Charley finds Carol's inkblots and asks why she has pictures of naked women, (before putting them in his pocket for later.)
* ''[[Stephen Colbert]]'' blames his therapist for giving him inkblots that all look like the same thing - either a butterfly in bondage, or a mushroom cloud. He sees the same things in the outlines of countries (except for Italy, which doesn't look like anything at all, and Canada, which is [[Shaped Like Itself]]).
* In one ''[[
** And during the abstract credits of ''[[
{{quote|
'''Mike:''' I see a lot of spilled ink, congealing in random patterns.
'''Servo:''' That means you're a sexual predator. }}
* Parodied and then some in ''[[
* ''[[The Drew Carey Show]]'': Drew sees a psychologist ("Bring out the inkblots but I can tell you right now, they're all gonna be vaginas.") who tells him that he has low self-esteem.
{{quote|
* Parodied in ''[[Spaced]]''; as part of his psychological evaluation to re-enter the Territorial Army, Mike is administered an inkblot test... and identifies everything (including a card that clearly represents two people having sex) as being related to war, killing, guts and / or guns. Except for the last one, which he associates with a butterfly, until the disapproving look he gets from the panel inspires him to amend it to "Butterfly with a ''bomb''!" Needless to say, this demonstration of psychological maladjustment makes him perfect material for the TA, and he is re-admitted.
* ''[[Big Wolf
{{quote|
'''Giger:''' Oh, sorry, that one was upside down.
'''Merton:'''...Bat.... }}
* Parodied in an episode of ''[[The Detectives]]''
{{quote|
* An episode of ''[[F Troop]]'' had an Indian acting as a psychiatrist give Corporal Agarn the "Roaring Chicken" or "[[Incredibly Lame Pun|Roar-Chick]]" test.
{{quote|
'''Roaring Chicken:''' (grabbing the paper and staring at it) Where?! Where?!
'''Agarn:''' (who'd looked ''past'' the paper, points) Right over there.
'''Roaring Chicken:''' I like your ink blot better than my ink blot. }}
* In ''[[Peep Show]]'', Mark is subjected to an inkblot test after being sent to therapy for [[Don't Ask|pissing on his employer's desk.]]
{{quote|
'''Mark (thinking):''' A hairy twat. A hungry, devouring twat.
'''Mark:''' A kitten. }}
Line 117 ⟶ 111:
* In the adventure game ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police|Sam and Max]]: Culture Shock'', Sam can get an inkblot test from Sybil Pandemik. Depending on the answers he gives, Sybil will diagnose him with an obsession with money, fame, violence, cars, or animals. This later forms part of a puzzle, where you have to get Sam diagnosed with the fictional psychosis Artificial Personality Disorder.
* [[Heavy Rain]] has Ethan see 4 blots. During each blot, you get to choose what image out of 3 option you choose. The first 3 are innocent, while the last one is all death related options.
* In the tutorial/character creation part of ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', inkblots are one of the tests Doc Mitchell gives the player character in order to determine your tag skills, along with a word association test.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20120118033205/http://newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=36850 A humorous mod] to the game adds an additional, rather obvious answer to one of the ink blots. Once you see it, it can't be unseen...
* In ''[[Batman:
{{quote|
* A variation occurs in one of the psych tests in [[Silent Hill: Shattered Memories]]. The player is given a selection of ink blots and asked to sort them into two piles: sexual images and non-sexual images. After this is done, the psychiatrist reveals that each image has a second meaning: {{spoiler|death.}}
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Comicstrip/Perry Bible Fellowship|Perry Bible Fellowship]]'' has a [http://pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF233-Psychoanalyst.jpg twisted take.]
* In ''[[
* Done for [[Sonic the Hedgehog|Dr. Eggman]] in [[Level 30 Psychiatry]]. All he sees is Sonic and friends being injured or a good evil scheme. For bonus points the [http://lvl30psy.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/184268 title] and the rant refer to Watchmen.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* ''[[Bastard Operator From Hell|BOFH]]'' and his assistant got some ''[[Acceptable Target|analyst]]'' estimating them for ''security'' purpose. Naturally, they [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/11/07/bofh_and_the_government_contract/ could not leave this insult unmocked].
{{quote|
[[Shaped Like Itself|A symmetrical ink blot card, as designed by Rorschach]]?
Yes, but what does that Ink Blot LOOK like?
[[Exactly What It Says
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Parodied in ''[[Drawn Together]]'', where a test of this kind is applied to Xandir. All the things he says he sees are homosexual innuendo, but all the "blots" of ink are also figurative representations of those [[Double Entendre
* Parodied on the ''[[
* Used in ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'' several times: a villainous robot sees several types of explosives (including a fluffy bunny- holding a ticking bomb); his mildly sex-crazed brother sees various types of exotic dancers, including his only female teammate as an exotic dancer.
** In another episode, the titular character sees [[Big Bad]] Zurg in every ink blot, then at the end of the test the administrator of it holds up a picture of a teammate, leading to one of the best lines of the series:
{{quote|
* ''[[
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uijVczimX-w Dot's Test]
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVO43rgi9o Yakko's Test]
** Later in the series, Dr. Scratchensniff again gives the test to Yakko, to whom every picture looks like "girls." ("Well, you're the one with all the sexy pictures!")
* Captain Black of ''[[
* This happens on ''[[The Simpsons (
* In the ''[[
* In an episode of ''[[Duckman]]'', the titular detective accidentally gets a Rorschach-like stain on his chest:
{{quote|
"..Synchronized swimmers crocheting mittens in a pool filled with truffles.."
"..A drag queen on a Shetland pony licking a flaming banjo.."
"..Me, a rabbi, and six drunken longshoreman rolling around on a rubber bed.." }}
* One episode of ''[[
* Parodied/[[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] on ''[[
{{quote|
'''Ms. Bitters:''' Oh you poor, doomed child. }}
* In the pilot episode of ''[[
* An episode of ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]'' had the boys looking at some inkblots and constantly hinting that it looked like a guy masturbating. When shown a photo of a male singer holding a microphone in a suggestive manner, Butt-Head says "Uh...that's like, just a bunch of shapes."
* ''[[
* Used briefly in ''[[Hey Arnold
* Used in an episode of ''[[Doug]]'' where Skeeter is given one after scoring very high on one of those Myers-Briggs type tests. He is given the option to skip ahead to college, but {{spoiler|chooses not to, because he doesn't fit in with the college crowd, who smoke and aren't fond of his air guitar.}}
▲* A very old joke involves a man being shown a set of inkblots, and interpreting them all as pictures of people having sex. When the tester announces that he's clearly obsessed with sex, he says, "Me? You're the one with the collection of dirty pictures."
▲** Parodied in [http://wondermark.com/395/ this] [[Wondermark]] strip.
{{reflist}}
Line 167 ⟶ 166:
[[Category:Psychology Tropes]]
[[Category:Crime and Punishment Tropes]]
[[Category:
|