Geriatric normative data for the Rorschach for a community-living sample

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Authors
Paul, Myrene Ellen, 1948-
Advisor
Duckworth, Jane C.
Issue Date
1987
Keyword
Degree
Thesis (Ph. D.)
Department
Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services
Other Identifiers
Abstract

The purpose of the present investigation was to gather data on the performance of nonpatient elderly subjects on the Rorschach Psychodiagnostic Test. The Comprehensive System (Exner, 1985, 1986) was used for administering, scoring, and interpreting the Rorschach because it is a research-based form with demonstrated reliability and validity and it has become the most widely used approach to the Rorschach in the past 13 years. However, the norms were based upon an adult sample, ages 18 to 64. Therefore, the present study addressed the following problems: What are the normative data for the Rorschach of a nonpatient group of elderly? How do these normative data of the elderly compare with the normative data for younger adults?Method The study used 60 men and women, ages 65 to 94, all active, nonpatient volunteers with no psychiatric history. They lived independently of any institutional supervision or care.Results Means of Rorschach variables for elderly subjects were compared with the means for a younger adult population. The elderly had significantly lower means for R, P, W, D, S, DQ+, DQ v/+, FQo, M, Ma, Mp, a (active), FC, CF, Wgt Sum C, FC'+C'F+C', FY+YF+Y, Sum Shading, (2), FD, Zd, EA, D score, ADJ D, Blends, Col-Sh B1, X+%, F+%, Pure H, ALL H Cont, DV, DR, INCOM, SUM6 SP SC, and SUM 6 SP SC.The aged subjects produced significantly higher means for the following indices: Dd, FQ-, M-, FM, C+Cn, Lambda, Z-%, S-Constell, SCZI, DEPRI, PER, and PSV.The older adults performed neither significantly higher or lower for these variables: DQo, DQv, FQ+, FQu, m, p (passive), FT+TF+T, FV+VF+V, Fr + rF, F, Zf, es, 3r+(2)/R, FABCOM, ALOG, CONTAM, AG, CONFAB, CP, and MOR.These results indicate that the elderly in this study give responses which are less embellished, complex, synthesized, and conventional and to have percepts that are of poorer quality and are more distorted than those of younger adults.The following nine percentages for the elderly group were significantly higher than for the younger adult group with whom they were compared: M - WSUM C = +1.5 to -1.5, D SCORE < 0, ADJ D SCORE < 0, Zd SCORE < -3.0, X+% < .70, F+% < .70, X-% > .15, Afr < .55, and Pure H < 2.These percentages show that the aged had no preferred problem-solving style, had more stressors than skills to cope with them, are somewhat negligent and less accurate in processing information, avoid emotion, and have less interest in the social environment.