8/11/2019 Article Reviews, 3-14-2011

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Article Reviews

Making a Good ImpressionThe research was conducted by Soloman Asch. Asch realized that individuals generally have

several characteristics that form an impression of a person. He understood that an individual does notdifferentiate another person as being composed of numerous distinct traits or characteristics, but as aunified impression of an entire individual. Asch's research was instrumental in discovering how one"mentally and cognitively organizes these various discrete characteristics to produce this single unifiedimpression", and, additionally, proving that a sole word change in the description of an individual willform a variation of the entire impression formed. The general results of these two experimentssupported Asch's theory that one does not recognize a person as being made up of several traits, butinstead one has a "general unified impression of the whole person".

I found the article to be interesting because it shows that it is not just one specific trait thatmakes us have an impression on someone, it is a combination of traits and presentation the person putsforward that causes us to this form an image of them in our minds. Overall, I agree with the conclusionsof the article and believe that the methodology was sound. The article did not have any ethicalconsiderations since no one was harmed.

ProjectionsThe research was conducted by Herman Rorschach and relates to the inkblot test. Rorschachs

rationalization behind the inkblot test is that each inkblot is vague to such a degree that it can beinterpreted in many different ways. These interpretations made about the inkblots can then be used bypsychologists to understand a patient. It was found that certain groups of individuals formed patterns inhow they interpreted the meaning of each inkblot. Generally, depressed people gave fewer answers,and happier people gave more in-depth answers.

I found the research to be intriguing because the inkblot test is a widely known and practicedtest. Finally, understanding the rationalization behind the tests was very interesting. Overall, however, Ido not believe that the test is completely reliable. The interpretations by psychologists could be highly

subjective and the responses do not necessarily guarantee that an individual is depressed or happy.There were no real ethical considerations since no one was harmed.

Picture ThisThe research was conducted by Murray Henry. The article dealt with the Thematic Apperception

Test, which was created by Henry. The test is similar to the inkblot test, but uses dots that simulateimages of people as opposed to random dots in the Rorschach inkblot test. In the test, the subject is toldto create a story for the image at hand. The story created by the subject is then interpreted to possiblediscover some aspect that is bothering the subject. It was found that most of the stories came fromeither books and movies, real life events with other people, or experiences of his/her own life. Overall,participants clearly projected their own existence into stories.

I found the research to be interesting because it shows how people tend to use their own frameof reference interpretation, which questions whether what we see is actual reality or a product ofskewed perception. As with the Rorschach test, I do not believe, however, that the test can be used totruly diagnose an individual. It may be a contributing factor to a diagnosis but alone it seems insufficient.There were no real ethical considerations since no one was harmed.