What you see in this strange optical illusion indicates whether you’re stuck in the past, and it’s a terrifying sign if you don’t see anything. A symmetrical inkblot designed by a famous Swiss psychiatrist can help demonstrate whether a war veteran is still suffering from previous trauma, according to an expert.
According to Psychology Today, the “Rorschach test” is a psychological test developed by psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in the early 20th century. “The test involves showing the subject images of ink blots; then the person describes what they see in these blots,” according to the website. “[It] claims to be able to assess personality, emotional functioning, or specific mental disorders.”
Tik Tok
While studying for her master’s degree at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, TikTok user Cecilia gave insight into the puzzling use of these inkblot shapes. “What do you see when I show you this photo?” Cecilia questioned the audience.
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- This is what people saw on the Internet:
- What war veterans saw
This is what people saw on the Internet:
“I saw two old men yelling at each other,” one said, while another joked: “Two brothers sitting in a hot tub.” Others saw aliens, a uterus, “two people yelling at each other” and even “two old women with humps.”
In the video, he explains: “If you see two people dancing in that image, there is no standard answer or interpretation of what that says about you, your experiences, or your diagnosis.”
Cecilia then talked about a helpful book her students had been reading, written by trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk, who delved into the famous Rorschach inkblot test.
What war veterans saw
Van der Kolk, he added, alluded to “war veterans, people with post-traumatic stress disorder and people with trauma, and how the… test can say a lot about those people.”
“Whereas someone who hasn’t had a particularly traumatic experience might say, ‘I see two people dancing, or I see a cat, or I just see ink on paper.'” [the trauma researcher] I noticed that many of the veterans would see these images and suddenly relive their trauma; “The researcher basically stated that veterans who have experienced military trauma can seem “stuck in the past,” he continued.
“While our imagination allows us to escape our daily routines (fantasizing about food or traveling), trauma takes these things away from us.”
“It’s simply a deck of cards with images of inkblots folded back on themselves to create a mirror image,” Drayton explained. When a person is shown an ambiguous and meaningless image (the inkblot), the mind will work hard to impose meaning on the image.
“By asking the person to tell you what they see in the inkblot, they are actually telling you about themselves and how they project meaning into the real world,” the psychologist continued. “However, the test’s creator, Hermann Rorschach, never intended it to be a personality test.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn