Discriminating Schizophrenics from Borderline Patients: Study with the Holtzman Inkblot Technique

Abstract: In this study, the influence of chromatic and achromatic color on emotions in the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) was tested empirically. Samples of normals (n = 30), patients with neurotic disorders (n = 30), borderline patients (n = 30), and both acute (n = 25) and chronic schizophrenics (n = 25) were studied with the HIT. A computerized investigation of verbally expressed emotions was performed by means of the “Affective Dictionary Ulm” (ADU; Dahl, Hölzer, & Berry, 1992 ), which was applied to the responses in the HIT. The effect of color was tested separately for cards containing red vs. non-red colors. According to the results, normals, patients with neurotic disorders, and borderline patients expressed love and anger significantly more often in response to cards containing red colors. For the non-red color cards neither an effect on love and anger, nor on anxiety and depression could be demonstrated. Furthermore, the chromatic cards of the HIT elicited significantly more different words given in response to a card than the achromatic cards. Again, this was true for normals, patients with neurotic disorders, and borderline patients, but not for schizophrenics. Structural ambiguity of the HIT cards correlated significantly negatively with the number of emotion words given in response to a card, again with the exception of schizophrenics. The latter result is discussed referring to the “almost axiomatic rule” ( Gunderson & Singer, 1975, p. 6 ) that borderline patients function adequately on structured tests but appear more seriously disturbed on less structured tests.

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The Role of Structure in the Assessment of Psychopathology

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759.20.4.275 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 275-282 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Falk Leichsenring

Keyword(s):

Negative Correlation ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Diagnostic Group ◽

Personality Functioning ◽

Neurotic Disorders ◽

Chronic Schizophrenics ◽

Structural Ambiguity ◽

Borderline Patients ◽

Holtzman Inkblot Technique

Summary: This study investigated the role that the structure of a diagnostic instrument plays in the assessment of personality functioning. Empirical studies have shown that the cards of the Rorschach and Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) vary significantly with regard to their structure. Thus, it was possible to investigate if cards of high vs. low structure tend to elicit specific diagnostically useful responses. For this purpose, samples of normals (n = 30), patients with neurotic disorders (n = 30), borderline patients (n = 30), acute schizophrenics (n = 25), and chronic schizophrenics (n = 25) were studied with the HIT. For each diagnostic group it was examined if cards of high vs. low structure tended to elicit more thought disordered responses, hostility, and anxiety according to the HIT scoring system. With regard to structure, two aspects were differentiated, structural vs. interpretative ambiguity of the HIT cards. In all nonschizophrenic groups, cards of high structural ambiguity elicited significantly less thought disordered responses. By contrast, cards of high interpretative ambiguity elicited more thought disordered responses, anxiety, and hostility in all groups except the chronic schizophrenics. The measures of structural vs. interpretative ambiguity of the HIT cards showed a negative correlation in all diagnostic groups. According to these results, both aspects of ambiguity and their interplay play an important role in the assessment of psychopathology, at least within the range of ambiguity represented by the inkblots of the HIT.

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