Corresponding Author Information: Donald J. Viglione
Session Abstract: These five, diverse, international studies demonstrate the growth of the research base to R-PAS.
- Complexity as a Moderator of the Relationship of Rorschach Measures with Psychosis and Severity of Disturbance: Research has demonstrated that the R-PAS Perception and Thinking problems variables are valid measures of psychotic phenomena and level of severity of disturbance. In a related way, part of the reason for including Complexity variable was based on the expectation that it would moderate this relationship. Using multiple comparisons and multiple datasets, this study investigates whether this might be true.
- A Multimethod Assessment of the Links Between Narcissism, Psychological Mindedness, and the Observability of Personality Traits: Sholander and colleagues use the Rorschach Grandiosity and Narcissism Variables (GNVs) and the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI) to predict potential manifestations of narcissistic behavior, including over-reporting success on a maximal performance task, and over-reporting psychological mindedness relative to informant-reports. They also examined whether more interpersonal GNV criteria versus imagery-based criteria would correlate more with an Informant FFNI and whether a self-reported Entitlement-Arrogance composite would predict poor performance on a measure of personal intelligence. Finally, they determined if self-and informant-reports of narcissism and psychological mindedness would correlate more highly for more observable characteristics than less observable characteristics and whether composite score of performance-assessed psychological mindedness would moderate the convergence self-ratings and informant-ratings. The authors found partial support for these relationships.
- An R-PAS Study on Bariatric Surgery Candidates: Forty obese women seeking bariatric surgery were compared to 29 non obese controls regarding psychological functioning using Rorschach, DERS, PHQ-9, SRQ, BAI and Trail Making Test. Bariatric patients showed lower levels of complexity scores on the Rorschach compared to non-obese women, and lower levels of emotion dysregulation. The results highlights the important of multi-methods assessment bariatric patients as they might be less aware of emotional functioning and biased when assessed through self-report.
- Can R-PAS Improve the Association between Rorschach and TAT Methods of Object Relations: The Rorschach is a projective or performance-based test that is used to assess object relations and thought disorder. The TAT (Murray, 1943) is another performance-based measure that has shown great utility in assessing object relations when using Westen's SCORS-G (1995) scoring system for assessing object relations; however, expected correlations between the two tests were lacking. The current study looked at the R-PAS R-Optimized administration system and concordance with the SCORS-G for the TAT. The R-Optimized Method of Rorschach administration was hypothesized to establish correlations between the two measures not found in previous studies. Findings did not indicate improvements with R-PAS.
- Factors Associated with Variability in R-PAS Form Quality Interrater Reliability: Previous studies have shown that interrater reliability for coding Rorschach Form Quality (FQ) is good but sometimes variable. FQ codes are established by finding objects in the FQ table, examiner extrapolation from the tables, or examiner "judgment of fit" when the FQ tables are not helpful. However, no studies have examined interrater reliability as a function these alternative paths and available research suggests that it is not reliable. To address these issues, independent raters scored more than 800 archived Rorschach responses. Initial results suggest that raters agreed about 75% of the time on FQ but that examiner judgment is unreliable.
Chair Information: Donald J. Viglione, PhD | Alliant International University, San Diego, CA
Presentation 1 Title: Complexity as a Moderator of the Relationship of Rorschach Measures with Psychosis and Severity of Disturbance
Presenters:
Caterina Elisa Pasquali, | Alliant International University, San Diego, CA
Donald J. Viglione, PhD | Alliant International University, San Diego, CA
Gregory J. Meyer, PhD | University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
Wen-So Su | Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Philipe Vieira | Universidade Presidente Antonio Carlos, Brazil
Raeanne Moore | University of California, San Diego, CA
Brent Mausbach | University of California, San Diego, USA
Presentation 2 Title: A Multimethod Assessment of the Links Between Narcissism, Psychological Mindedness, and the Observability of Personality Traits
Presenters:
Larson E. Sholander | Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, OH
Gregory J. Meyer, PhD | Department of Psychology, University of Toledo. OH
Emily T. O'Gorman, | Department of Psychology, University of Toledo. OH
Benjamin A. Berry | Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Manali Roy | Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, OH
Joni L. Mihura, PhD | Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, OH
Presentation 3 Title: An R-PAS Study on Bariatric Surgery Candidates
Presenters:
Maira Stivaleti Colombarolli | University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sharon Carfora | University of Turin, Italy
Emanuela Brusadelli, PhD | University of Wollongong, Australia
Sara Pasqualini | University of Turin, Italy
Alessandra Tomasich | ASST Rhodense Hospital, Garbagnate Milanese, Milan, Italy
Alessandro Zennaro | University of Turin, Italy
Luciano Giromini, PhD | University of Turin, Italy
Sonia Regina Pasian | University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Presentation 4 Title: Can R-PAS Improve the Association between Rorschach and TAT Methods of Object Relations
Presenters:
Gregory L. Converse, | Alliant International University, San Diego
Donald J. Viglione, PhD | Alliant International University, San Diego
Ronald A. Stolberg, PhD | Alliant International University, San Diego, CA
Robert F. Bornstein | Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY
Presentation 5 Title: Factors Associated with Variability in R-PAS Form Quality Interrater Reliability
Presenters:
Christa N. Call | Alliant International University, San Diego, CA
Meagan Mckenna, MA | Alliant International University, San Diego, CA
Donald J, Viglione, PhD | Alliant International University, San Diego, CA
Dr. Donald J. Viglione
Donald J. Viglione, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Professor at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in San Diego. He is a co-author of the two international measures, the Inventory of Problems, a malingering test, and the Rorschach Performance Assessment System, a widely used Rorschach system. At Alliant in San Diego, he was the founding Director of the Doctor of Psychology degree program and later the Director of Doctor Philosophy degree. He trained with Dr. John Exner at Long Island University, where he was awarded his Ph.D and served an internship in the United States Navy. He has focused his teaching, research, and clinical/forensic practice on assessment and has published more than 100 professional papers. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Assessment Psychology and a Fellow of the Society for Personality Assessment.
Caterina E. Pasquali
Caterina E. Pasquali is a post-graduate clinical psychologist, recently graduated from the Clinical Psychology program with emphasis in forensic psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology (C.S.P.P.), in San Diego. She received her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree with major in Psychology from University of Padua, Italy, in 2011 and 2013 respectively. She participated in an exchange program with Umeå Universitet, Sweden, where she completed he Master’s thesis. Her research interests include post-graduate violence risk assessment, sexual offending, personality assessment, and clinical applications of the Rorschach.
Dr. Gregory J. Meyer
Gregory J. Meyer, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toledo, where he has been since 2003. Before this, he was at the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was the director of the inpatient and outpatient Psychological Assessment Service. He was the Editor of the Journal of Personality Assessment from 2002 to 2013. His research focuses on psychological assessment, with an emphasis on the integration of personality assessment methods. Much of his work has addressed performance-based measures of psychological processes, most notably with the Rorschach. With more than 90 peer-reviewed publications, he has made many contributions to the published literature in this area, as well as in psychometrics and assessment more generally. He regularly provides invited lectures and trainings internationally. On four occasions, the Society for Personality Assessment recognized him with Distinguished Contribution Awards for articles in the published literature. He also received the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Assessment Psychology by the Assessment Section of Clinical Psychology (American Psychological Association, Section IX, Division 12). He is a Fellow of Division 5 (Evaluation, Measurement, & Statistics) of the American Psychological Association and of the Society for Personality Assessment. In addition to co-authoring the manual for the Rorschach Performance Assessment System, he co-edited a casebook entitled Using the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS).
Larson Sholander
Larson Sholander is in the middle of his internship at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and he is completing his final year at the University of Toledo clinical psychology doctoral program. His research interests include the response process of different methods of assessment, personality disorders, and serious mental illness. When he isn't "psychologizing," Larson enjoys making pizza, reading, hiking, and traveling.
Emily O’Gorman
Emily O’Gorman is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in clinical psychology, with a minor in quantitative psychology, at the University of Toledo, where she is mentored by Dr. Gregory Meyer. Broadly, Emily’s research interests include developmental psychopathology, personality development, and assessment of transdiagnostic factors and processes underlying psychopathology. She is currently involved in two lines of research, one focusing on dimensional assessment of psychotic thought processes and the other on developmental pathways to self and interpersonal dysfunction across childhood and adolescence. She is also completing her clinical placement at the University of Toledo Medical Center working in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Benjamin Berry
Benjamin Berry graduated from the University of Toledo in 2020. His research has focused on basic visual processes underlying Rorschach performance, particularly visual attention. Multimethod psychological assessment is a central component of his clinical activities in his current role as a postdoctoral fellow at The Menninger Clinic.
Dr. Joni L. Mihura
Joni L. Mihura, PhD, ABAP is a Professor of Psychology in the Clinical Psychology PhD Program at the University of Toledo where she teaches graduate courses in Assessment, supervises Assessment Practicum, and undergraduate Psychological Testing and Abnormal Psychology. She is Board Certified in Assessment Psychology (ABAP). Dr. Mihura received early career awards from Society for Personality Assessment (SPA) and the American Psychoanalytic Association as well as an SPA award for contributions to the literature. She is a Fellow of SPA, and currently serving as its President-Elect. She has published numerous articles and chapters on psychological assessment, and best known for her groundbreaking work with the Rorschach inkblot test—including systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the test’s validity. She is the co-editor of two recent books—Using the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) and the Handbook of Gender and Sexuality in Psychological Assessment—and editor of a handbook in progress: The Oxford Handbook of Personality and Psychopathology Assessment. She is the co-developer of a new Rorschach system, the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS), for which she presents invited lectures and trainings internationally. In the past few years, Dr. Mihura has been developing a new area of expertise in psychosis for which she currently has articles and chapters in press and presented at the Schizophrenia International Research Society in 2020. Her new area of expertise is designed to inform the development of the new Thought and Perception Assessment System, a Rorschach system designed to specifically assess psychosis.
Maíra Colombarolli
Psychologist, Graduate degree in Psychological Assessment and Neuropsychology. Currently Ph.D. student at University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) in co-tutorship with University of Turin (Italy).
Dr. Emanuela Brusadelli
Dr. Emanuela Brusadelli is Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Wollongong Australia, and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process, and Outcome (RIPPPO). Individual & Group Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and Consultant of the 2nd ed. of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM-2) edited by Vittorio Lingiardi and Nancy McWilliams, she's member of the Society for Personality Assessment (SPA), of the Italian Group for the Advancement of Psychodynamic Diagnosis (IGAPSYD), of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR), and of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (APA Div. 39).
Dr. Luciano Giromini
Luciano Giromini, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, and core faculty member for the Ph.D. program in Psychological, Anthropological and Educational Sciences of the University of Turin, Italy. He has taught psychological assessment and psychometrics at two Italian and one Californian universities, and is currently the coordinator of the Evidence-Based Psychological Assessment research team of University of Turin. He is one of the authors of the Inventory of Problems (IOP-29 and IOP-M) and Assessment Section Head for the journal Psychological Injury and Law.