Exner’s Comprehensive System: what is it and what parts does it have?

A system for interpreting the information obtained by applying the Rorschach test.

The Rorschach test is probably the best known projective test of all. The black or colored ink spots that make it up may seem arbitrary and totally subjective interpretation, and in fact it is indeed a test that without proper training is very complex to evaluate, but the truth is that it is an evaluation tool that can reflect information of great interest regarding the subject evaluated.

Interpreting it is, as we have said, complex, and although initially there was a great variety of ways of doing it, nowadays there is a very elaborated systematization that allows us to obtain unified criteria when evaluating and interpreting results. This is Exner's Comprehensive System.which we are going to talk about in this article.

What is the Exner Comprehensive System?

It receives the name of Exner's Comprehensive System an interpretative model and methodology of the Rorschach testIt is currently used as the main system for interpreting this projective test and makes this process much less subjective, to the point of practically eliminating its subjectivity.

The system in question focuses on a quantitative and operationalizable interpretation of the information reflected by the test in question, and is based on criteria obtained empirically and on the basis of research generated from the application of Rorschach by both patients and systematizers.

Exner's Comprehensive System emerged in the 1980s, at a time when the Rorschach test had multiple possible interpretations. had multiple possible interpretations which, although not always conflicting, often did not coincide with each other, yielding inconsistent data depending on who interpreted it.

In view of this problem, which generated great concern at the Rorschach Research Foundation (founded in 1968), John Exner and other professionals conducted in-depth research on the different interpretations of the Rorschach test existing at the time, making comparisons between the five main methodologies used at that time in North America: those of Klopfer, Beck, Piotrowski, Rapaport and Hertz.

Exner generated from all of these a comprehensive system that could be used to codify and interpret the results obtained. to code and interpret the results obtained by the Rorschach test.The Exner Comprehensive System was born. Although the system was born to help interpret this test, the truth is that some authors have ended up validating it to do the same with other projective tests, such as the Zulliger Test.

What aspects to assess?

Exner's system can come into play once the test in question has been applied, and provides firstly a common framework in which to set up broad categories of items to be assessed (which will later be interpreted). (which will later be interpreted).

In this sense, Exner integrates the elements that Rorschach himself and some of the later interpretative systems generated to propose that before passing this test the professional should look at the following elements.

1. Location

One of the factors to evaluate is which parts of the stain make up the subject's response.. That is, if the element that the subject claims to see is found in the whole of the stain, in a detail that others also frequently find, in parts of the stains that are infrequently identified as such in most cases, or even if the subject's interpretation is based on or uses part of the blank spaces of the sheet (i.e. outside the stain).

2. Determinants

These are the type of elements or aspects of the stain that determined the response given. One of these determinants to be evaluated is shape, which is the most relevant determinant and the one that most and the one most often explained by the subject when he/she tells what he/she sees.

Another of these is movementunderstood as the action that the subject imagines is being carried out (whether by a person, animal or object, and whether it is an active or passive movement). Color should also be assessed, either chromatic (in color plates, often used in conjunction with the shape to identify what is being viewed) or achromatic (in black and white plates).

Another determinant is shading (which can give the idea of texture, insubstantiality or depth). In addition to this we can find the form dimension, according to which something is identified because in a specific position in space it has that form. Also the pairs and reflections, which occur when a person sees two equal elements or when the existence of one is interpreted as a reflection of the other.

3. Content

This aspect, fundamental in the valuation, is based on the identification of the type of content that the subject claims to see in the stain.. In general, the most common responses or types of content are considered to include human figures, plants, animals, anatomy or parts of people or animals, objects, sexual organs or elements, or artistic elements, among others.

4. Evolutionary quality

This aspect may seem difficult to determine, but it is based on assessing the level of concreteness and use of the various parts of the stain to form a stimulus when giving a response.

5. Formal quality

To evaluate formal quality requires the use of concrete tables in which we can check whether the patient's responses are justifiable on the basis of the elements and shapes of the stain.

6. Organizational activity

Mainly, this aspect to be assessed refers to whether the set of elements that the subject may have seen in the stain are related to each other.

7. Frequency

Finally, it is necessary to assess whether the patient's responses are relatively common in the reference population or, on the contrary, are original and unusual.

8. Special phenomena

In addition, it is also important to assess whether there are any so-called special phenomena, i.e, unusual elements that make the responses unusual..

These phenomena include failures (when the subject fails to respond), the existence of shocks or anomalous behavioral alterations in response to a stimulus, perseverations, self-references, confabulations, criticisms or contaminations (several interpretations of the stain are combined).

It is also necessary to assess if there are personalizations or if they observe aggressive movements (for example they see a stabbing), morbid (corpses, wounded...) or cooperative (an embrace), or even if they say they see some abstract concept. This aspect is not always assessed, but is usually added if there are unusual alterations.

Interpreting with the system

We have discussed the main elements to be taken into account when assessing the patient's responses to the application of the Rorschach plates. But knowing what to look at is not enough to be able to interpret it once it has been corrected. In order to achieve this, the Exner's comprehensive system proposes to evaluate the data globallyThe data cannot be interpreted in isolation.

All previous information has a meaning: time, number of responses, locations, contents (for example human figures are usually related to this type of relationship, anatomy to concerns and narcissism, sexual to repressions... but it also depends on the proportion and frequency with which they appear), determinants such as movement or the level of frequency of responses.

But in order to be able to summarize or summarize the structure of the subject's personality, Exner's comprehensive system configures a series of groupings or sets of data which, when linked together, theoretically give an idea of the type of functioning of that part of the subject's personality. give an idea of the type of functioning of that part of the subject's personality..

These groupings allow us to make a structural summary of the subject's personality. In this sense there are a total of seven groupings.

1. Main core or Controls

The set of variables that make up this grouping are all those that allow us to analyze whether the evaluee is able to organize himself and stay focused, in such a way that he controls his thought and emotional processes. This is the most relevant element of the structure, since it establishes the ability to make decisions and act.

One of the most relevant indexes in this sense is LambdaThe type of response in affective situations can be assessed from the ratio between the pure form responses and the total number of responses given.

The experiential type (whether we are introversive, extratensive, ambiguous, restrained or dilated), the accessible experience (resources), the base experience (the internal elements that are activated without control) or the stimulations undergone can also be evaluated.

2. Affects

This set of variables allows us to to evaluate the emotional and affective sphere of the subjectIt provides information on how emotional discharges are regulated, the presence of emotional constriction, the interest and value given to the emotional sphere and the proportion of affective, mental resources to cope with complex situations or the presence of superficiality or oppositionism. It also allows to see the existence of depressive tendencies.

Shape-color ratio, affective ratio, blank space responses or multiple determinants can be calculated.

3. Information processing

In this case we assess the existence of organizational effort on the part of the subject, as well as the way in which he/she processes and integrates the information. It is also linked to cognitive (specifically to the presence or absence of resources) and motivational aspects. It is assessed whether they pay attention to detail or if they make an effort to process the information. In this sense, the number of organizational activities or the frequency of locations used are evaluated.

4. Mediation

Mediation may be more complex to understand than other facets to be assessed, but it mainly refers to the way in which the subject perceives reality in an adequate way and ascribes to conventional responses.

The interpretation of this point has to take into account for example the percentage of answers of original and conventional formal qualities, the degree to which the answers are popular, or the use of strange locations, such as the use of blank areas.

5. Ideation

This item explores the way the person thinks and knows. The cognitive and intellectual part.

Here aspects such as intellectualization, the presence of Snow White syndrome (avoidance of responsibilities), rigidity, clarity of thought, orientation and rationality can be evaluated.

It can be seen through various indexes, and aspects such as the use of abstract/artistic contents, contaminations, incongruities or passive and active human movements (and their proportion) among others are used.

6. Interpersonal

This domain obviously refers to the way in which the subject relates to others, valuing his or her interpersonal interest on the basis of self-image, the tendency to visualize cooperative or aggressive scenes.. It can also be interpreted on the basis of determinants such as textures, which may indicate a need for closeness, or the use or non-use of certain contents in the responses.

7. Self-perception

In this case, the subject's perception of self is assessed, based on the egocentrism index (high would imply high self-esteem, low could indicate low self-esteem) and can be seen in the presence of reflexes, morbid contents, anatomical or uses of the form-dimension dependent.

Bibliographical references:

• Exner, J. (1994) The Rorschach. A Comprehensive System. Vol 1: Basic Fundamentals. Rorschach Workshops. Psimática. Madrid, Spain.
• Exner, J. (1996) Manual de codificación del Rorschach. Edit. Psimática.
• Sanz, L.J., Álvarez, C. (2012). Evaluation in Clinical Psychology. Manual CEDE de Preparacion PIR, 05. CEDE: Madrid.
• Zdunic, A. (2002). The Comprehensive System coding model in the Zulliger Test. Essay for the use of the test as an assessment instrument in personnel selection: the influence of the administration context by Angelica Zdunic. Doctoral Thesis. University of Palermo. Argentina.