Rorschach test

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɔːʃɑːk tɛst/, /ˈɹɔːʃæk tɛst/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɔɹˌʃæk tɛst/, /ˈɹɔɹʃək tɛst/

Rorschach test (plural Rorschach tests)

1. (psychology) A method of psychological evaluation that uses a person's interpretations of inkblots or similar images to discover information concerning his or her personality, emotional functioning, or unconscious mind.
   • 2001 May, Scott O. Lilienfeld, James M. Wood, Howard Garb, “What's Wrong with This Picture?”, in Scientific American‎, →DOI, →PMID, page 85:

     Psychologists have dozens of projective methods to choose from beyond the Rorschach Test, the TAT and figure drawings.

2. (by extension) Any test of an individual's perception of phenomena.
   • 1996, Roger Warner, Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos‎, Steerforth Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 84:

     She demurely took out a piece of paper with an ink blot on it , a Rorschach test . ... Poe said he had been saved by Desmond FitzGerald , the patron saint of knuckledraggers , who sent him away from headquarters to keep him from getting ...

3. (figurative, derogatory) Something which reveals the intent of the person using it rather than fulfilling its designed purpose.
   • 2004, Scott A. Huscher, Appellant, v. Wells Fargo Bank, as Trustee, etc., Respondents (Huscher v. Wells Fargo Bank)‎, Court of Appeal of California, Second District, Division Eight, Docket #B168103:

     Because Irvine asserts that the earlier case law interpreting section 2280 was incorporated into Probate Code section 15401, but offers inconsistent interpretations of the law, it has become a Rorschach test for the parties.

• (method of evaluation): blot test, inkblot test, Rorschach, Rorschach inkblot test