The tester and subject typically sit next to each other at a table, with the tester slightly

behind the subject.[23] This is to facilitate a "relaxed but controlled atmosphere". There are
ten official inkblots, each printed on a separate white card, approximately 18x24 cm in size.
[24]
 Each of the blots has near perfect bilateral symmetry. Five inkblots are of black ink, two
are of black and red ink and three are multicolored, on a white background. [25][26][27] After the
test subject has seen and responded to all of the inkblots (free association phase), the
tester then presents them again one at a time in a set sequence for the subject to study: the
subject is asked to note where he sees what he originally saw and what makes it look like
that (inquiry phase). the subject is usually asked to hold the cards and may rotate them.
Whether the cards are rotated, and other related factors such as whether permission to
rotate them is asked, may expose personality traits and normally contributes to the
assessment.[28] As the subject is examining the inkblots, the psychologist writes down
everything the subject says or does, no matter how trivial. Analysis of responses is recorded
by the test administrator using a tabulation and scoring sheet and, if required, a separate
location chart.

The general goal of the test is to provide data about cognition and personality variables

such as motivations, response tendencies, cognitive operations, affectivity, and
personal/interpersonal perceptions. The underlying assumption is that an individual will
class external stimuli based on person-specific perceptual sets, and including needs, base
motives, conflicts, and that this clustering process is representative of the process used in
real-life situations.[29] Methods of interpretation differ. Rorschach scoring systems have been
described as a system of pegs on which to hang one's knowledge of personality. [30] The
most widely used method in the United States is based on the work of Exner.

Administration of the test to a group of subjects, by means of projected images, has also
occasionally been performed, but mainly for research rather than diagnostic purposes. [23]

Test administration is not to be confused with test interpretation:

"The interpretation of a Rorschach record is a complex process. It requires a wealth of

knowledge concerning personality dynamics generally as well as considerable experience
with the Rorschach method specifically. Proficiency as a Rorschach administrator can be
gained within a few months. However, even those who are able and qualified to become
Rorschach interpreters usually remain in a "learning stage" for a number of years." [23]

Features or categories
The interpretation of the Rorschach test is not based primarily on the contents of the
response, i.e., what the individual sees in the inkblot (the content). In fact, the contents of
the response are only a comparatively small portion of a broader cluster of variables that
are used to interpret the Rorschach data: for instance, information is provided by the time
taken before providing a response for a card can be significant (taking a long time can
indicate "shock" on the card).[31] as well as by any comments the subject may make in
addition to providing a direct response.[32]

In particular, information about determinants (the aspects of the inkblots that triggered the

response, such as form and color) and location (which details of the inkblots triggered the
response) is often considered more important than content, although there is contrasting
evidence.[33][34] "Popularity" and "originality" of responses [35] can also be considered as basic
dimensions in the analysis.[36]

Content
This section requires expansion.

Content is classified in terms of "human", "nature", "animal", "abstract", etc., as well as for
statistical popularity (or, conversely, originality). [37]

More than any other feature in the test, content response can be controlled consciously by
the subject, and may be elicited by very disparate factors, which makes it difficult to use
content alone to draw any conclusions about the subject's personality; with certain
individuals, content responses may potentially be interpreted directly, and some information
can at times be obtained by analyzing thematic trends in the whole set of content responses
(which is only feasible when several responses are available), but in general content cannot
be analyzed outside of the context of the entire test record. [38]

Location

Determinants
Systems for Rorschach scoring generally include a concept of "determinants": these are the
factors that contribute to establish the similarity between the inkblot and the subject's
content response about it, and they can represent certain basic experiential-perceptual
attitudes, showing aspects of the way a subject perceives the world. Rorschach's original
work used only form, color and movement; currently, another major determinant considered
is shading,[39] which was inadvertently introduced by poor printing of the inkblots (which
originally featured uniform saturation), and subsequently recognized as significant by
Rorschach himself.[40][41][42]

Form is the most common determinant, and is related to intellectual processes; color
responses often provide direct insight into emotional life. Shading and movement have been
considered more ambiguously, both in definition and interpretation: Rorschach originally
disregarded shading (which was originally not even present on the cards, being a result of
the print process),[43] and he considered movement as only actual experiencing of motion,
while others have widened the scope of this determinant, taking it to mean that the subject
sees something "going on".[44]

More than one determinant can contribute to the formation of the subject's percept, and
fusion of two determinants is taken into account, while also assessing which of the two
constituted the primary contributor (e.g. "form-color" implies a more refined control of
impulse than "color-form"). It is, indeed, from the relation and balance among determinants
that personality can be most readily inferred.