Initial validity of the logical Rorschach in the assessment of trauma

Wagner's (2001) Logical Rorschach (LR) was designed to be a simple but reliable and valid system for assessing psychological distress and cognitive slippage using the Rorschach Inkblot Method (Exner, 2003). In this investigation, we administered the Rorschach to 50 adults with and without trauma histories. Scoring of the test followed both the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003) and the LR guidelines. Results indicate that the Perceptual Thinking Index (Exner, 2000, 2003), the CS-derived Trauma Content Index (Armstrong & Loewenstein, 1990) and Aggressive Past (Gacono & Meloy, 1994), and the LR Perceptual Accuracy Score (Wagner, 2001) scores were able to differentiate the 2 groups. Despite largely equivocal findings, it appears that some aspects of the LR may have some validity in the assessment of trauma-related phenomena.