Physiological Response Associated With Select Rorschach Codes

The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of Rorschach codes that have been theoretically and empirically linked to the experience of affect in the Comprehensive System (Exner, 2003) through the use of skin conductance and heart rate data. Twenty-four university undergraduates (18 females and 6 males) were administered the Rorschach while physiological data were recorded in an adjacent room. It was anticipated that responses yielding particular codes (C, C’, m, T, V, Y, minus form quality, or cognitive special scores) would evidence higher levels of affective arousal as compared to all other responses. Several within-subjects analyses failed to support this hypothesis. It was concluded that these codes might not be as useful as previously described in indicating the presence of affect, particularly from the standpoint of sequence analysis strategies.