Theoretical Value of Psychological Testing

Abstract

Apart from their diagnostic value, psychological tests, especially the Rorschach test, have an important theoretical value for understanding psychopathology. They present a picture of a living person, in contrast to a picture of forces and agencies within the person. This rests on 2 advantages of tests over the usual psychiatric and psychoanalytic interviews: Tests are ahistorical and they present information primarily of a formal kind.

Acknowledgments

Editor's Note: This is a version of the award talk given at the 2012 annual meeting of the Society for Personality Assessment. Articles based on award addresses are not sent for peer review, as they reflect the recipient's perspective on their work and the field. A selected bibliography of the author's work follows the article itself.