The Ink Blots

Hermann 1884-1922) was a Swiss Freudian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst best known for developing a projective test known from his name as the inkblot test.

The test consists of ten cards, each with a different inkblot design. The cards (or plates) are numbered 1 through 10, and that is the order in which the psychologist always gives them to you.

Plate IV

“Black. Form and movement both comparatively difficult. More difficult to interpret as a whole than in details. The figure is generally considered ‘beautiful’ but the interpretation is difficult.”

-Hermann ; Psychodiagnostics; 1921

A card with only black ink formed in a triangle-shaped blot. The two lower corners are often described as shoes or boots. This card may also be seen as viewing a person from below or a male figure with an enormous sex organ.

Possible Sexual Imagery: A pair of male sex organs, typically seen at the top of the image. Some subjects may instead visualize a vagina in the upper center of the blot.