BARRY DAUPHIN, PH.D. HAROLD GREENE, PH.D. MINDEE JUVE, M.A. Cognitive Mediation and Information Processing on the Rorschach

Perceptual Processing of Visual Stimulus Rorschach: visual images Processing of stimulus integral to response Stimulus Characteristics Individual Differences

Eye Movements Moment-to-moment spatial and temporal processing Difficult to censor Simple RT not reflect sequence or process of attending EM - as (Behavioral) Responses to Rorschach

Eye Movement Variables Number of Fixations Fixation Duration Saccade Amplitude Initial Saccade Latency Initial Saccade Amplitude

Stimulus Characteristics Differences Among the Blots Number of Fixations

Stimulus Characteristics Fixation Duration

Stimulus Characteristics Saccade Amplitude

Stimulus Characteristics Initial Saccade Latency

Stimulus Characteristics Initial Saccade Amplitude

Card Sequence or Test Gestalt Cards are presented in predetermined order Assumption of Gestalt of the test Would changing the order affect the Gestalt? Compare EM index (Number of fixations) by manipulating sequence (Standard vs. Reversed)

Sequence Effects

Individual Differences Afr Afr = # of Responses Cards VIII - X # of Responses Cards I – VII Afr EM = Average EM Index for Cards VIII - X Average EM Index for Cards I – VII

Afr & EM Variables Statistically significant positive correlation between Afr and Fixation Duration R =.39, p<.01 Statistically significant inverse correlation between Afr and Saccade Amplitude R = -.34, p <.03

Current Study Cognitive Mediation Variables Perception and translation of Rorschach Images Processing Blot Features and matching with memory for object prototypes or representations How consistent is response to contours of the image Questions related to reality testing

Method 44 Participants (N = 10 Males / 34 Females) Free Association phase with Eye Tracker 60 seconds to respond or indicate finish Inquiry done using standard format of the Comprehensive System Participants were given the card Protocols scored by research assistant and Dr. Dauphin

Demonstration of Eye Tracking

Results R was not correlated with any EM variables Number of Fixations (NF), Saccade Amplitude (SA), Initial Saccade Amplitude (ISA) not correlated with XA%, WDA%, X-%, P, X+%, Xu%, Zd Nonsignificant trends for (inverse) correlation with Initial Saccade Latency (ISL), XA%, P (ps<.07) Significant correlations for Fixation Duration (FD) with XA% (-.31, p<.05) and Xu% (-.418, p<.005)

Results Stepwise Multiple Regression: IVs (XA%, WDA%, X-%, P, X+%, Xu%, ZD) | DV: Fixation Duration Xu% contributed significantly to Fixation Duration (R 2 =.175, p<.01) and P added significantly to Xu% (combined R 2 =.287, p<.02)

Discussion Both Xu% and P inversely related to FD P not significantly correlated alone but adds significantly when Xu% is controlled for (XA% correlated with FD but does not significantly add to Xu% in accounting for FD variance) Shorter FDs associated with higher Xu% & P Longer FDs tend to be associated with acquisition of information from a location

Xu% and P Xu- response easily seen by scorer but not occur with high enough frequency for o. Good form quality, object seen fits blot contours utilized by subject despite being more idiosyncratic P- high frequency response see by large number of respondents

Discussion More success finding objects that can be readily seen may lead to shorter FDs Less time needed before each saccade E.g., Henderson, Weeks, & Hollingworth (1999): During scanning of a complex scene for memorization of the scene, "scene-consistent" objects (e.g., a cocktail glass in a bar) were fixated for shorter periods than "scene-inconsistent" objects (e.g., a microscope in a bar)

Discussion (c0nt.) During scanning towards acquiring info about a scene (or in the Rorschach case, acquiring info embedded in the image), it appears that some observers readily find semantic consistency in the images (and have shorter Fixation Duration values) The greater the availability of semantic consistency in the image (i.e., high Xu% and high P), the lower the need to spend time picking up additional information (hence, shorter Fixation Duration values) Although XA% did not add significantly to variance explained, it is also (inversely) correlated with FD