Edwin E. Wagner

Stability of unusual verbalizations on the Rorschach for outpatients with schizophrenia.

Rorschach protocols of 50 outpatients with schizophrenia who had been tested twice with an average interval of 6.4 years between administrations were scored blind by graduate students trained to detect Unusual Verbalizations (UVs). Scoring reliabilities were excellent and ranged from .93 to .99 for the WSUM6. There were no significant differences between mean group UV scores obtained at the first testing (T1) and the second testing (T2), which attests to the persistence of thought disorder in schizophrenia. The correlations between T1 and T2 testings were, however, modest at best. Deviant Verbalizations, the least pathological of the UV categories, showed the highest test-retest relationship at .50. Tentative explanations for these findings were advanced.

Behavioral specificity in the rorschach human movement response: A comparison of strippers and models

The presence of exhibitionism in actively exhibitionistic strippers and passively exhibitionistic models was confirmed when it was discovered that 40 out of 43 subjects produced at least one exhibitionistic (EXH) response on the Hand Test, which purportedly measures behavior. Subsequently, based on highly reliable ratings, it was found that the strippers produced significantly more active exhibitionistic human movement (M) responses on the Rorschach and the models more passive exhibitionistic M. This finding was interpreted as confirming Piotrowskis position that M represents reasonably specific overt behaviors. Implications were discussed, and an attempt was made to integrate past research on the Rorschach M score within the context of these findings.

A Logical Analysis of Projective Techniques Based on Independence of Items and Latitude of Response

Projective personality tests can be differentiated from objective personality tests on purely logical and technical grounds. Objective personality tests are derived from and are therefore dependent upon a discrete set of items with an a priori rationale, while projective techniques are superordinate to item construction and any scoring is imposed a posteriori. Further, projective techniques provide more response latitude, although this characteristic lies on a continuum.

A proposed classification scheme for Rorschach autisms.

Exners WSUM6 score includes only a select few of the Rorschach “autisms” (i.e., perceptual-cognitive distortions) observed by various authors over the years. A logical and clinically relevant classification scheme was presented which is inclusive enough to capture most types of Rorschach autisms. These include relationship errors (RELERs), hyperattentional errors (HYPERs), and errors of underattention (HYPOs). Empirical comparisons among diagnostic groups on these three categories of autisms were recommended.

An Empirical Demonstration of the Stability of the Maximized Correlation as an Internal-Consistency Reliability Estimate for Tests of Small Item Size.

Heterogeneity and negative skew often result in an underestimate of internal reliability when the usual split-half or alpha coefficients are computed for tests with a small number of items. A maximized correlation, although it may be positively biased, appears to be a more rational alternative. It was shown that r max is a stable statistic as well as a higher estimate of test reliability than alpha or r1l. Its use as a standard procedure was recommended.

A comparison of the lacks and Pascal-Suttell Bender-Gestalt scoring methods for diagnosing brain damage in an outpatient sample

The Pascal-Suttell method of scoring the Bender-Gestalt Test, which is molecular and seemingly homogeneous, and the Lacks method, which is molar and apparently heterogeneous, were compared for efficacy in diagnosing brain-damaged (n = 52) vs. non-brain-damaged (n = 52) outpatients. Both methods were superior to the FS WAIS IQ in making this distinction, and adding the WAIS in a discriminant analysis did not contribute much in terms of overall differentiation. The two scoring systems were correlated highly, and, although the predictive power of the Pascal-Suttell procedure was a little better than that of the Lacks, the latter has some practical advantages in terms of applicability and ease of scoring.

Maximized Reliability Estimates for Some Research Scales of The MMPI

Distributions of all possible split-half correlations for the Harris and Lingoes, Wiggins, and Serkownek Scales of the MMPI that contained twelve items or fewer revealed significant negative skewness that resulted in spuriously lowered estimates of reliability. Corrections based on the optimized r11 increased the average Subscale split-half correlation from an alpha of .409 (or the average odd-even split of .411) to a maximized r11 of .604. Generally, reliability of scales, with the maximized r11 increased to levels acceptable for research purposes. It was concluded that research scales of the MMPI show split-half distributional anomalies which should dictate the use of maximized r11 to estimate internal consistency. It is suggested that these findings might be taken into consideration in the evaluation of the new MMPI.

Differences on the Projective Hand Test Among Chronic Pain Patients Reporting Three Different Pain Experiences

This study examined personality differences among individuals experiencing 3 different types of pain. The projective Hand Test was administered to 90 individuals who were seeking treatment at a pain clinic in an urban area of the southeast United States. These people were seeking treatment for either arthritis (n = 31), fibromyalgia (n = 29), or migraine headaches (n = 30). A 2 (gender) ×3 (pain group) ×Age Group multivariate analysis of variance was conducted using the quantitative Hand Test scoring variables as dependent measures. Results indicated that individuals who were seeking treatment for migraine headaches had a higher production rate of responses involving exhibitionistic displays (EXH) than individuals in the other 2 groups. Individuals who were seeking treatment for fibromyalgia had a higher production rate of responses indicating fear and phobic concerns (FEAR) than individuals in the other 2 groups. Individuals who were seeking treatment for arthritis had a higher production rate of Active (ACT) responses than individuals in the other 2 groups. Possible causes and consequences of these effects are discussed.

REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM: A FORMAL ANALYSIS OF RORSCHACH AUTISMS '

Generalizing from the rationales underlying the scoring of the three types of Rorschach autisms included in the TRAUT system, it was shown that all perceptual autisms can be subsumed under a single, all-encompassing principle based upon a reductio ad absurdum argument. Therefore, in a way, autisms can be viewed as “cheating,” i.e., getting around the explicit and implicit rules governing the evaluation of Rorschach percepts.

Maximized Split-Half Reliabilities and Distributional Characteristics for Harris-Lingoes Subscales with Few Items: A Reevaluation for the MMPI-2

100 MMPI-2 protocols were obtained from the files of an outpatient clinic. Distributions of all possible split-half combinations were computed for selected Harris-Lingoes subscales with few items. As expected, max r reliability estimates were significantly greater than alpha estimates and distributions of correlations were negatively skewed. Inspection of the distributions suggested that the Amorality scale contains an ambiguous item which does not appear to belong in this grouping. Serious problems were noted with the Hy5 subscale. Alpha reliabilities were comparable to previously reported estimates, and max r reliability estimates closely resembled reported test-retest estimates.