Almost every student of psychology is familiar with Rorschach tests and psychological associationism. Over the past few months, I have been processing hundreds of images taken through the microscope and I have come to realize that I can readily associate certain moods and attitudes with particular kinds of images and I strongly suspect that such associations will statistically pattern out when administered to non-microscopists as well. My preliminary results with microscopists have been splendid. However, I don’t want to bog you down in complex theoretical detail, technical jargon, or statistical analysis, so I’ll just present examples, brief descriptions, and percentage correlations between the description and those who agree that it is a significantly accurate description.
1) This image is an indicator that one is irritable, in fact, prickly, as the image suggests. –98% (Composition: Spicule from the glass sponge Hyalonema)
2) Here we have what is, as it were, an upgrade of the previous image. It conveys irascibility, strong annoyance. –97% (Composition: Spicules from the glass sponge Hyalonema)
3) Here it seems that things are in disorder, that they are beginning to fall apart. –93% (Composition: Lattice from the glass sponge Hyalonema)
4) Now, we encounter something completely different; bureaucracy exemplified, stolid regimented, tedious, repetitive. –99% (Composition: Cross section of a slide of wood–from a 19th Century slide)
5) Most of us find it pleasing when things coalesce; this is the psychological principle of coming together which is brilliantly demonstrated in this image. –97% (Composition: Spicules isolated from Hyalonema)
6) That, however, is very different from things squishily congregating–yuck! –99% (Composition: A cluster of the large ciliate Spirostomum which has the fast contraction rate of any animal known)
7) All of us have experienced those days, weeks, sometimes months of being on the ragged edge and that’s unquestionably what this image is about. --100% (Composition: A small section of the radula or “snail tongue with the teeth)
8) WARNING! Graphically explicit! At times most of us have had thoughts about chucking it all in and although hanging is by no means the most popular way of attempting suicide, nonetheless, the
imagery is unmistakable. –92% (Compostion: Another snail radula which has looped. The radula can in some instances exceed the length of the body of the snail.)
9) Sometimes we wish to convey to others–Don’t Mess With Me! Here all the armor and barbs on the edge convey that message very clearly.
–96% (Composition: Another radula, this time from a whelk)
10) A step further up the I.I.I. (Irascibility Irritation Index) is the insert up your nose parasite. –99% (Composition: This is the scolex of a tapeworm–nasty what?)
11) At this point, we need to quietly de-escalate and nothing does that quite as well as a nice symmetrical floral image. –96% (Composition: A cross section of a flower–from a 19th Century slide)
12) Occasionally we have a day when everything is in lovely harmony and all the bits and pieces hold together. This is an image which conveys quiet, yet, powerful joy. –100% (Composition: A beautiful 19th Century diatom arrangement)
13) This image conveys in no uncertain terms that one is ready to go on the attack and that anybody who stands in the way should prepare for the worst. --94% (Composition: A mosquito–one of the most annoying, deadly, useless creatures on planet Earth)
14) At the opposite end of the scale, there are those times when we just wish to retreat inside ourselves. –98% (Composition: A specimen of Keratella, a rotifer, which has contracted within its lorica)
15) Sometimes we just feel like being silly and this image conveys a kind of lassitude and lack of energy or commitment to anything. –91% (Composition: An ostracod)
16) Everyone experiences little bursts of joy like some king of fireworks going off and visually it’s colorful and multi-dimensional like this image. –97% (Composition: Unknown–There are a few images here which were recorded in notebooks which got lost in the process of our moving to another house last year)
17) Other days, everything seems to be going off in every direction at once, leaving one with a sense of chaos and confusion. –97% (Composition: Unknown)
18) All of us have wrestled with projects of enormous complexity where our task is to produce a seamless, smooth, coherent result, but the further we proceed, the more holes we discover. –99% (Composition: Plant cross section from a 19th Century slide)
19) Tension is an inescapable part of being human and it must be dealt with. Ideally we try to approach it positively whether through yoga or yogurt, but when we achieve a calming state, this is what it might look like. –98% (Composition: Unknown)
20) If we can’t resolve tension, then we may feel that we’re being pulled apart in opposite directions which may look something like this. –92% (Composition: A freshwater diatom–computer-enhanced)
21) Many individuals become over-committed and begin to feel that they are going in too many directions at once. This image embodies that sense of being trapped on a Merry-Go-Round. --94% (Another freshwater diatom–not computer-enhanced. The color in this case is due to refraction since the diatom “shell” is essentially composed of glass)
22) A fascinating thing about the human spirit is its willingness to struggle against insuperable odds when things are coming at one from all directions. –98% (Composition: A mixture of Ascorbic acid and Rochelle salts)
23) Another intriguing thing about the human psyche is its strong attraction to the ideal of alien beings, incomprehensible extra–terrestrials which we either want to destroy of lean on and profit from. Either way we are intimidated. –100% (Composition: A mixture of Acetaminophen and Elmer’s Gel Glue)
24) Sometimes we feel incredibly insignificant; tiny specks in an unimaginably vast cosmos. –97% (Composition: 5 specimens of euglenoid flagellates)
25) However, ultimately we seek a oneness with the universe and everything in it, a sort of lovely swirling homogeneity. –100% (Composition: Unknown)
Analysis
Clearly, this is one of the most important psychological evaluative tools ever devised. What other test do you know of where the degree of agreement is over 90% in every case? If you can show me such an instance, I will show you how the whole thing was rigged and no rigorous standards were deployed as is the case with our exam. The rigor here is unprecedented and the standard deviation is 10 schizophrenics.
All comments to the author Richard Howey are welcomed.
Editor's note: Visit Richard Howey's new website at http://rhowey.googlepages.com/home where he plans to share aspects of his wide interests.
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