Failure of Location Recognition in the Rorschach: An Eye-Tracking Investigation

Eye movements during the Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM) were monitored to investigate the existence of location recognition failures that were accompanied by clients' explanations in the inquiry phase. We hypothesized that perceived locations may have differed from actual explained locations if fixations did not occur - and visual attention was diverted to other locations - just before the response in the free association phase. The eye movement data of 29 participants under a Rorschach administration were collected, and 688 responses were obtained. Of these, 195 responses that involved perception of small, specific locations were used to investigate the association between pre-response eye movements and queried locations. Six responses of three participants showed fixations within 3 s before the time of response at locations different from the locations provided in the explanation. Responses made to similar but different locations were indicative of potential failures of location recognition.