CHAPTER VI

METHOD FOLLOWED

Four tests were administered to each of the 161

college students of the Inter Arts and Inter .Science courses

at St. Xavier's College, Ahmedahad, viz.,the group Rorschach

test as popularized by Harrower and Steiner, the Sacks

Sentence Completions Test, the Raven Test (adult form), and

a Sociometric Test designed after the pattern of Mary L.

Worthway and Lindsay Weld's sociometric methods.

The investigator followed the testing procedure

prescribed by the manuals. The few deviations from the

approved procedure were intended to adapt the test to

the situation.

Group Rorschach. The Rorschach slides were shown to

groups of twenty five or thirty at a time. Arts and Science

had to be tested separately. The groups had to be split up,

with the result that a good number of the students failed to

do all the four tests and had to be called later, some of them

individually, to complete the remaining tests.

Previous to the scoring of the tests, a serial number

was assigned to every individual throughout the four tests

in order to facilitate the comparative work. A number of

records had to be discarded due to the failure of some

subjects in the group Rorschach which was taken as the

 63
"basic test. This "brought the number of subjects tested down

to 161, and the total number of tests to 644*

The Pears Institute (Ahmedabad) Rorschach blank was

used for the group Rorschach. The instructions are printed

in Gujarati on the booklet cover. More detailed instructions

were given orally in English. A copy of the booklet will be

attached.

In the procedure, we departed somewhat from the standard

procedure set up by Harrower-Steiner, to suit our special

circumstances. The authors of the group Rorschach forsee that

special circumstances may call for a change in the procedure:

If an examiner finds himself forced, for instance,

to alter, add, or omit some part of the following
procedure or instructions, he is probably doing what is
right for his own set-up and group of subjects and need
not be disturbed. 79

Detailed instructions were given, demonstrating how

to use the booklet,.how to mark thelocation, how to bring

out the determinants, etc. A r§su&e of the instructions

given is as follows;:

We are going to show you ten slides, some of them

are coloured and some black and white. They were made
by dropping ink blots on a paper and folding it. They
do not represent any special thing, but people see in
them various objects, animals, human beings, etc. Write

^ M.- R. Harrower and M. 1. Steiner,- Large Scale

Rorschach Techniques (Springfield, 111.: Charles C Thomas,
Publisher, 1951)* P» 27•
 ‘ 64

down what you see in them on what they make you think
of. Mark in the diagrams of your booklet the various areas
corresponding to what you see in the slides, and number
them*
Once the test is over I would like to see the same
interesting things you have seen in the slides and in
exactly the same way you have seen them. You are going
to help me to see with your own eyes by describing
for me the things you have seen. For instance, it is
not enough to write that you have seen a horse, and
where you have seen it, but I must know how you saw it.
Did you see it moging or was it only the shape that
made you think of a horse? You may have seen a butter­
fly, but I want to know why you saw a butterfly.
Was it because of the shape, or because of the colour?
Try to give me the why and the how of the things you see.
Try to add a because to all your answers. That because
will help me see what you have seen and the way you
have seen it. It may be the shape, it may be the colour
or the shading, it may be a combination of colour and
shape or various other combinations that have caused
you to see the beautiful things you see. Try and
describe for me the things you see with as much
detail as you can.

After the instructions were given a little time was

allowed to clarify difficulties and to explain in practice

how they should go about their task. Then the slides were

projected, each slide being shown for four minutes. The

reduced number of subjects permitted individual attention to

be given to those who needed some further clarification, even

while the show was in progress.

Our procedure coincides in essentials with Harrower's

procedure, but it departs from it in several ways. Harrower

projects the slides twice, keeping them on the screen for

three minutes each during the first, show, and two minutes

during the second. She gives part of the instructions before

 6$

•the first show and part of them before the second.

We gave all the instructions once, projected the slides

80
only once and kept each slide on for four minutes. <

The whole session lasted about an hour.

Ih scoring the Rorschach protocols, the investigator.

has followed the standard procedure. W. Mons, and Klopfer

and Kelley have been used as principal guides in the matter.

81 '
"A Rorschach Workbook" has been of invaluable help in the'

scoring of the Rorschach protocols. Though the scoring of

location becomes.automatic after a while, in doubtful cases I

have made use of M; narrower's diagrams showing the areas

into which the Rorschach blots have been divided.82

Classification of protocols. After scoring all the

Rorschach protocols and working out ratios and percentages,

the investigator grouped the records into three classes, rich,

medium and poor, corresponding to rich personalities, medium

personalities and poor personalities. Instances of the three

80
The present worker profited by the experience of
Mr. P. Garg, of the Pearw Institute, Ahmedabad, who has
experimented with these techniques for several years and has
concluded that this procedure is the one which obtains the
best results.

81 .L. H. Blum, H.H.Davidson and N.D.Pieldsteel,

A Rorsdhaoh Workbook (Hew York: International Universities
Press, Inc, 1 ^ P T »
Op
M. R. Harrower and M. E. Steiner, op. cit., pp* 57-69.
groups will be given later. The criteria followed in

determining the class to which each record belonged, were:

a) the number and quality of the determinants, b) the

evaluation of content. According to these two criteria, a

rich record, and accordingly a rich personality, will be

one that shows a wide range of determinants and a rich

content. The richness of content is again measured by the

variety of topics and by the detailed elaboration of these

topics. ,

Rich and poor are universal concepts (a sort of

"conceptus universales" in the philosophical sense) which

are obtained by abstraction of the characteristics which

Rorschach*, workers find in the Rorschach protocols. The

term rich' is a comprehensive one which stands for all those

personal characteristics belonging to a certain group.

Another term which stands for a different set of

characteristics, or may be, for the same characteristics

but in a different degree is the word poor. Medium stands

for a set of charasteristics which occupies a kind of

middle point between rich and poor. Hence the "fundamentum

in re" for these three different concepts are the different

f

personality characteristics possessed by the subjects

and/or the different degrees in which some of those

characteristics are present in them.

 6?

In ascertaining the richness of the protocol from

the number and variety of the determinants, I have

paid special attention to those determinants which

indicate a delicate sensitivity, an artistic leeway and

well controlled impulses (Fc, FK, FC). It goes without

saying that richness of personality is not to be determined

by the absolute number of determinants. For instance,

a disproportionately high number of FM and m will be a

sign of inmaturity and anxiety; a high number of pure C

will manifest uncontrolled impulses, and so forth. It is

the area covered by the determinants and their proportion,

or relative numbers, rather than the absolute numbers, that

reflect the psychological aquipment of the subject. Then

i

again, in evaluating the content, the selection and

elaboration o f topics is more important than a mere variety

of topics.

Since the Rorschach test is a qualitative test,

to determine in which category an individual record should be

classified, I attended to a quantitative appraisal as far as I

could and to the delicate balance of determinants rather than

to ratios and percentages. It is true that a record may be

considered rich when it covers all the range of determinants

and shows such ratios and proportions as M > FM +m, M being

high; FC > OR + C; F around 40% of the total number of

answers; if there is a relatively high number of good originals

 68
(0+) and so.on. But there might he other indicators which -

do not fit* in or fulfil all these prerequisites and still

!

a careful assessment of such indicators will go to demonstrate

that the personality under consideration is a rich personality.

Hence, even at the risk of giving too subjective an appreciation

of the records, the present writer has preferred to get a

global impression (in which the quantitative aspect is one

of the elements taken into account) rather than classify

the records according to rigid statistical norms.

The present investigator has followed the opinion of many

psychologists who affirm that the Rorschach test should not

be submitted to rigid statistical treatment:

Interpretation of responses is "global” ; that .is,

the significance of responses is determined by the total
pattern, where as analysis into parts and part-scores
for the purpose of statistical treatment does violence
to the principle underlying the test and to the
meanings of the responses. As yet there are no statistical
methods M r dealing with integrated, "global", patterns
of responses. 83

Lest my assessment be too subjective, the Rorschach .

protocols have been assessed independently by another

psychologist using the same criteria for classification.

The present writer has not seen the classification

into rich, medium and poor Rorschach personalities in any

Rorschach worker. Yet the division and grouping into the

\

^ P. S. Freeman, o p . cit., pp. 517-518

 69
said categories are an inference from statements made by

Rorschach, experts. Klopfer asserts that a subject who

gives virtually nothing but popular or crude form

responses (P), is "impersonal" because his personality is

too colourless, his inner life too meagre, his emotional

responsiveness too poor to enable him to do anything but

84
that. In fact, it is an impoverished personality.

"Where the form responses (P) cross the 50 percent mark,

there is a diminution of spontaneity, there is "constriction"

85
or "coarctation" of the personality. ^

On the other hand, where P is below 50 persent there

is a good measure of spontaneity, the person allows life

to enter into intimate contact with him and in turn reaches

86
out for experience intellectually and mentally.

According to Rorschach interpreters, an abundance

of M indicates a rich inner life. The colour responses

manifest the degree and quality of the emotional contact

with the outer world. The shading responses will manifest

how the subject meets his affectional needs.

84
B. Klopfer and D. M. Kelley, 0 £. cit., p. 232.
85 W* Mons, oj>. cit., p. 92.
86 Loc. cit.
 70

Where the responses cover all these areas of personality

symbolized by the various determinants, the concepts' expressed

above are assembled together, and from thecombination of

abundant inner life, contact with the outer world and the

play of affectional needs, a new concept emerges, the concept

of richness of personality, that is, a personality equipped

with the full armour of personal resources. It will be a

personality in which all the keys of a broad personality

• \

keyboard can be pressed and sounded. But it may so happen

that some of the keys may sound too loud, and drown the

others, upsetting the harmony and fine balance of the

personality; this happens when some .of the determinants

grow out of proportion or get out of control, where,

for instance, emotional contact with the outer world is

of the crude type, or where inner life becomes an

anxiety-ridden one. Then we shall still have a rich per­

sonality with all its potentialities, but this rich

personality ,will be further qualified as a disturbed

personality.

On the other hand, there are records in which the form

responses monopolize or absorb all the other possibilities,

there are few determinants, that is, there are few signs of

inner life, contact with the outer world is reduced to a

minimum, and signs of affectional needs may be altogether

 71

absent. These characteristics may be aptly summarized

under the term poor personality.

■ Between these two extremes there is a wide range

of records which naturally fall into the medium personality

group.

Of course, there are no clear cut boundaries

separating one group from another. Personality measurements

cannot be rigid.

Disturbed personalities. There is an aspect of personality

which is thrown into bold relief by the Rorschach test, viz.,

the element of disturbance, the hostile inner forces and the

uncontrolled impulses which produce anxiety, guilt feelings

and other unhealthy complexes. It is only natural that a

clinical test, born out of a long experience with disturbed

mental patients should be specially fitted to bring to light

deep-lying disturbing elements. Anxiety is reflected in the

Rorschach test by the determinants m, K, KP; by the crude

colour responses C'and C, and by the various shocks, colour

shock, movement shock, sexual shock; rejection of cards

is generally a sign of shock, and a clear indicator of

disturbance. The content shows at times manifest signs

of disturbance. We qualified as "disturbed" the protocols

which show a relative high number of those determinants and

indicators of disturbance mentioned above.

!
 72

Disturbance, as may be gathered from what has been

said above, may be present in any of the three groups ment­

ioned.

The Sentence Completion Test. The sentence completion

test has been used in two ways: a) as an independent source

of information, and b) as an instrument of comparison.

To begin with the second acceptation, the link which

relates it to the Rorschach test is the element of "disturb­

ance.” These two projective tests, according to Sacks and Levy,

are two different ways of personality description which

together give us a more rounded picture of the personality.The

Rorschach test mirrors the subject's basic personality

structure, the Sacks Sentence Completion Test may reflect

conscious, preconscious, or unconscious thinking and

feeling.®'7

Though there are variab&es in both tests which are

mutually comparable, the objective measurements are few and

difficult to apply. But one thing seems to be clear: if a

subject suffers from acute anxiety, this anxiety will

\
manifest itself in his attitudes towards fife. If the Rorschach

<J. M. Sacks and S. Levy, The Sentence Completion

Test. L. E. Abt and L. Beliak, editors, Projective Psychology
(New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1959 ) , P* 575
 t

73
test reveals anxiety, this anxiety will he reflected in

the various attitudes described in the SSCT.

The SSCT is designed, and we take it now in its first

accept^Lon, to obtain significant clinical material in four

representative areas of adjustment, viz., family, sex,

interpersonal relationships and self-concept. The test

consists of 60 incomplete sentences organized in 15

attitudes. The investigator has introduced a few modifications

to make the test fit his special setting. Ten new items

have been substituted for the original nine items. "Attitude

toward religion" and "Attitude toward siblings" have taken

the place of "Attitude towards superiors at work and

school" and "Attitude toward people supervised". We

hope that the attitudes introduced present richer possibilities

for investigation in this special setting. The item "If I

had sex relations” was cancelled, as it did not seem proper

in the restricted group to which the test was administered,

and because it was thought it would elicit very few responses.

In its place an item was introduced, which, it was believed,

was likely to elicit characteristic.completions: "I think

talking with girls" (with members of the opposite sex, as

the case may be).

 ?4

Here are the original and the adapted lists of incomplete

sentences:

1. I feel that my father seldom

2. Ihern the odds are against me
3* I always wanted to
4. If I were in charge
5. To me the future looks
6. The men over me
7* I know it is silly hut I am afraid of
8. I feel that a real friend
9. TiJhen I was a child
10. My idea of a perfect woman
11. When I see a man and a woman together
12. Compared with most families, mine
13. At work, I get along best with
14. My mother
1$*. I would do anything to forget the time I
16. If my father would only
17 * I believe that I have the ability to
18. I could be perfectly happy if
19. If people work for me
,20. I look forward to
21. In school, my teachers
22. Most of my friends don't know that I am afraid of
23• I don't like people who
24. Before the war, I
25 • I think most girls
26. My feeling about married life is
27. My family treats me like
28. Those I work with are .
29* My mother and I
30. My greatest mistake was
31. I wish my father
32. My greatest weakness is
33* My secret ambition in life
34. The people who work for me
35* Some day I
36. fhen I see the boss coming
37* I wish I could lose the fear of
38. The people I like best
39* If I were young-again
40. I believe most women
41, If I had sex relations
 75
42. Most families I know
43. I like working with1people who
44. I think that most mothers
4$. When I was younger, I felt guilty about
46. I feel that my father is
47* When luck turns against me
48* In giving orders to others I
49* lhat I want most out of life
50. When I am older
51. People whom I consider my superiors
52. My fears sometimes force me to
53* When I'm not around, my friends
54. My most vivid childhood memory
55* What I like least about women
56. My sex life
57 * When I m s a child, my family
58. People who work with me usually
59* I like my mother but
60. The worst thing I ever did 88

88
J. M. Sacks and S. Levy, 0 £. cit., pp. 377-78
 SENTENCE COMPLETION JEST ADAPTED FROM THE SACKS SGT.
NAME: DATE: 'SEX: CASTE: AGE: ' ■ Time began.
time finished.
INSTRUCTIONS; Below are 61 partly completed sentences. Read
each one and finish it by writing the first thing that comes
to your. mind. Work as quickly as you can. If you cannot
complete an item, circle the number .and return to it later.

1. I feel that my father seldom

2. When the odds are against me

3. I always wanted to

4. I think God ,

3. To me the future looks

6. When I go home and meet my sister

7. I know it is silly but I am afraid of

8 . 1 feel that a real friend

9. When I was a child

10. Ifiy idea of a perfect woman

11. When I see a man and a woman together

12. Compared with most families,, mine

13. - At work, I get along best with

14. ' My mother

15. I would do anything to forget the time I

1

16. If my father would only

17. I believe that I have the ability to

18. I could be perfectly happy if

19. I feel.that religion

20. I look forward to

21. If my elder brothers were

22. Most of my friends don't know that I am afraid of

2J. I don't like people who.

24. Before I came to college, I

25. I think most girls

26. lily feeling about married life is

27. My family treat® me like

28. Chose I work with are

29* My mother and I

30. ly greatest mistake was

31. I wish my father

3 2 . .My greatest weakness is

33 •' My secret ambition in life

34. I believe that prayer

35• Some day I

36. I don't know whether my sisters

37. I wish I could lose the fear of

38. Che people I like best

39. If I were- a child again

40. I believe most women

41. I think talking with girls is

42. Most families I know

43. I like working with people who

44. I think that most mothers ,

45. When I was younger, I felt guilty about

46. I feel that my father is

47. When luck turns against me

48. My ideas about religion

49. What I want most out of life

50. When I am older

51. I think that my brothers and sisters

52. My fears sometimes force me to
53. When I'm not around, my friends
\

54. My most vivid childhood memory

55. What I like least about women

56. My sex life '

57. When I was a child, my family

58. People who work with me usually

59* I like my mother but

60. The worst thing I ever did

61. I would take part in religious ceremonies and functions

 \

79
■ Though the subjects have answered the full test

(consisting of 15 attitudes) the investigator selected the

seven attitudes which, in his opinion, reflected "best the

real life of a college student in Ahmedabad, viz.,

a) attitude toward mother, b) attitude toward father,

c) attitude toward women (or toward men in the case of women),

d) attitude toward heterosexual relationships, e) attitude

\ % f
toward religion, f) fears, g) attitude toward own abilities. 1

Scoring the Attitudes. The attitudes were scored as

positive, negative and ambivalent according to the feeling

tone expressed. Here follow three cases, as an illustration

of the same attitude scored in three different ways:

(Case No. 8)

ATTITUDE TOWARD MOTHER

14. My mother — AND I DO NOT AGREE

2 9 4 My mother and I — DO NOT AGREE
44. I think that most mothers — DO NOT UNDERSTAND
THEIR DAUGHTERS
59. I like my mother but — SHE HAS NOT GOT THE SLIGHTEST
UNDERSTANDING

The interpretative summary is: Negative feelings.

(Case No. 9)

14. My mother— M S A VERY GENEROUS AND CHILDLIKE.'SOUL

29. My mother and I — S M R 1 MANY THINGS IN COMMON
44. I think that most mothers — LOVE THEIR CHILDREN
TREMENDOUSLY
59. I like my mother but — I WISH I COULD BE AS THOUGHT+
FUL AS HER

The interpretative summary is : Positive feelings.

 80
(Case No. 13)

,14. My mother — JUST LIKES ME

26. My mother and I — OFTEN HAVE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION
44. I think that most mothers — LOVE THEIR CHILEREN
59. I like my mother but — BUT I DON'T LOVE HER AS U AUNT

The interpretative summary is: Ambivalent feelings.

If the SSCT is taken as a comparative technique to

shed light on the aspect of adjustment, the final score

of the record is used. If the number of positive attitudes

is higher than the number of negative attitudes, the indiv­

idual is considered well-adjusted. If vice versa, the record

is labelled “poorly adjusted”. Ambivalent attitudes are

scored as neutral. If the" number of positive and negative

scores is equal, the case is decided from the emotional

tone of the unselected attitudes, as guilt feelings,

attitude towards colleagues, etc.

Though the Rorschach test gives a deeper insight

into the individual's inner life, the SSCT is the one which

tells best the story of the individual as a member of a

definite group and of the group as such. It tells us in

clear terms what the young College boy of Ahmedabad things

of. Religion, what his attitudes are towards the opposite

s'

sex, what he expects of marriage, and so forth.

Then again, this test opens for us a vast field for

comparative studies. To mention only a few of the many

possibilities, we may examine the correlation between

disturbance and religion, Religion and high or low

sociometric status, the attitudes towards own abilities

in subjects with a high and low sociometric status,

attitude towards parents among boys and girls, attitude

towards the opposite sex in boys and girls.

The Sociometric Test. The investigator designed

the sociometric test after the pattern of Mary Northway

and Lindsay Weld.

The following sociometric situations have been

selected: 1) Going together on a class-picnic. 2) Sitting

together in class. 3 ) Going together to a party. 4) Spend­

ing an afternoon together at a small card party.

lach subject, "socius," was allowed four choices on

each criterion. Hence each subject can give a maximum of

sixteen choices.

The subjects, "socii," are classified into four

groups according to their sociometric status: two groups

above the mean and two groups below the mean. The subjects

who belong to the "significantly-above-chance group," i.e.,

the highest quarter, are individuals who have got a dispro­

portionately high number of choices. Those who belong to

the "significantly-below-chance" group, i.e., the lowest

quarter, are subjects who have obtained few or no choices

at all. The subjects who belong to the higher or lower middle

quarters are placed under the "above chance" and "below

chance" denomination. This is the middle belt, which

embraces by far the greater number of students, viz., all

those who have received the average number of choices.

The writer regrets to have been forced to

give up the use of the classical names of star and isolates,

which stand for two well differentiated sociometric groups.

If these two names had been employed in the sense defined

by Moreno, a comparison between the groups represented

by them would have been impossible. Moreno defines a

star as the individual who receives the expected number

or more than the expected number of choices on the same -

criterion. Isolate means not choosing and being unchosen

89
on any crxtenon. If this were the case our sociogram

would show a high number of stars and no isolates.

The nomenclature used by other sociometrists is

better fitted to describe the top and bottom sociometric

groups. Some sociometrists use the name overchosen to

89 J. L. Moreno, op. cit., p. 719 et seq.

 83

denote the individual who reeieves a disproportionately

large number of choices. Underchosen'and unchosen would

describe best those who have received a disporportionately

low number of choices or no choices at all.^®

Some sociometrists provide choices with a double Valencia,

that is, the subjects are asked with whom they would like

to associate and with whom they would not like to associate

in certain situations. For instance G. Lindzey and F.

Borgatta define a sociometric measure as "A means of

assessing the attractions, or attractions and repulsions,

91
within a given group.”

In &our test the choices have been given only one

valence. The choices indicate the attractions existing

among individuals of the group under investigation,

and this sufficiently serves the purpose of sociometric

techniques which ”Are designed specifically to provide

a sensitive and objective picture of the interpersonal

92
relations existing within a group."

Pandharinath H. Prabhu, "Sociometry", The Indian

Journal of Social Work. Vol. XIX, Ho. 1, p. 9 June, l95$* ~

^ Gardner Lindzey and Edgar P. Borgatta, "Socio­

metric measurement," Gardner Lindzey, editor, Handbook of
Social Psychology (Cambridge, Massi Addison-Wesiey
Publishing Company, Inc, 1956), I, 407*

Ibid., p. 405*
 84
-

The Progressive Matrices Test. The investigator has

used the Progressive Matrices Test because of the advantages

already pointed out earlier in this study.

This test has been standardized by R. Hath in Utkal

University, Cuttack, Orissa. Hath administered the Haven

test to 325 undergraduate college students and 2?5 graduate

students, making a total of 600 subjects.

!

Hath concludes that there is no significant difference

in the scores of the two samples. The percentile points of

the samples come very close to those of Raven. From the

evidence of his study he concludes that the Progressive

Matrices as non-verbal tests of intelligence are not

9-5
affected by cultural or linguistic differences. ^

Rath's norms for undergraduate students practically

coincide with those of Raven, age group 20.

It is believed that the purpose of this study is

well served by Raven's own norms. Since the intelligence

test is important only as a control instrument, the writer

R. Rath, "Standardization of Progressive Matrices

Among College Students," Journal of Vocational and Educational
Guidance, Vol. 5, Ho. 4-, M a y 1959, pp. 167-71.
was interested not so much, in obtaining the exact

percentile of every individual as in finding out the

relative position of the subject in the sample.

The testees were classified into four groups according

to t'heir intellectual level as measured by the Progressive

?

Matrices. The top group is made up of students who were placed

at the.75th percentile and above. The other three groups

consisted of students who were .placed respectively between

the 50th and the 75th percentiles, the 25th and the 50th

percentiles, and below the 25th percentile.