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1293 01063 202 28

 

UBRARY _
Michigan State
University

 

 

 

This is to certify that the

dissertation entitled

THE RELATION BETWEEN "PAIHocmESIs'm PARENTS
AND RORSCHACH INDICES OF EGO FUNCI'IONING
IN PREADOIESCEM‘ DAUGHTERS

presented by
LINDA DIANE LEIGH

has been accepted towards fulfillment
- of the requirements for

Ph. D. degree in Psychology

 

k/L

Major professor
Bertram Karon
Date 4‘ ’ /{/’d06

MSU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0-12771

 

 

 

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be charged if book is
returned after the date
stamped below.

 

 

 

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lotiumzwglooa

 

 

THE RELAITONIBETWEEN "PflEHCGENESIS" IN PARENTS
AND RORSCHACH INDICES OF EGOIFUNCTIONING
IN PREADOEESCENT’DAUGHTERS

BY

Linda Diane Leigh

AIDISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

m or Panosam
Department of Psychology

1986

ABSTRACT

'IHE RELATION BEIWEDJ "PA'I'HGSENESIS" IN PARENIS
AND RORSZHPCH INDICES CF EEO FUICTIQ‘JIM;
IN WENT DAUGHTERS

By
Linda Diane Leigh

The purpose of this investigation was to clarify the relationship
between the ”pathogenesis" of parents and the ego functioning of their
preadolescent daughters. Ego functioning was assessed in a nonclinical
group of 20 lZ-year-old females, whose parents ranged from low to high
in ”pathogenesis." The pathogenic parent is one who is psychologically
destructive when in the dominant position in a relationship in which
needs of the individuals conflict, and will satisfy his/her needs
without regard for the needs of the dependent person.

Pathogenesis was determined by the Pathogenesis Index (PI)

(Meyer & Karon, 1967) used on the TAT stories given by each parent.
The following Rorschach factors reflect aspects of the daughters' ego
functioning: disordered thinking (12D, proportion of disorganized to
organized coping resources @1135) . number of responses (8) , human
movement (H). proportion of appropriate pure form (m3 , proportion of
good developmental quality (119.) (Exner, 1974), anxious content (AL)
and hostile content (EL) (mizer, 1949). An observational measure was
provided by teachers' ratings of the daughters' behavior.

Correlations were computed between the daughters' Rorschach

scores and the mothers' PI, fathers' PI, and average parental PI.

'Peachers' ratings were correlated with all of the above factors.
Parental pathogenesis correlated positively with indices of poor ego
functioning in the daughters. Significant correlations, in the
expected direction, were found between mothers' PI and 1>'_I‘_. EL, AL,
£9138. B. and m; fathers' PI and 121, EL, AL, m, and m; and average
parental PI and 121:, EL, AL, @155, B, E, and m. 'Ihe teachers'
ratings correlated significantly in the expected direction with
mothers‘ PI, fathers' PI, average PI, and fran the daughters' Rorschach
protocols: 121, EL, AL. 3, and £13,.

As predicted maternal pathogenecity correlated positively with
daughters' ego disturbance. Paternal pathogenecity produced stronger
correlations than predicted with several indices of daughters' ego
functioning. Significant correlations in the expected direction
increased when the index of pathogenesis was the average of both

parents.

mm

'Ihere are a nuxrber of persons who have been instrumental in the
development and completion of my dissertation. My thanks go to Drs.
Joseph Reyher, Albert Rabin, and Dozier Thornton for serving so
capably on my cannittee, and to my friend and colleague, Lisa Cohen,
for her assistance in scoring the Rorschach protocols and TAT stories.
A special acknowledgment is extended to Dr. Bertram Karon, my

conmittee chairman, for his supervision of my research.

ii

WWW

LIST m mm. 0 O O O O O O 0
LIST (I FIGURES . . . . . . . .
WW . . . . . . . . .

RINIEWW'IHELITERA'IURE. . . .

Parental Pathogenesis. . .

Ego Functioning in the Child

Projective Tests . . . . .

Interpretation of the Rorschach Variables.
StatementofPurpose...........

S'IWIWI‘CFHYPUIEESES. . . .
mwooooooooooooo

SUbjmtS O O O I O O O I 0
Procedure. . . . . . . .

Influence of Extraneous Variables. .

mm 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Analysis of the Relationship between

Interscorer Reliability and Internal Consistency

'IIeachers '

Ratingsand Other Variables . . . . . . . .

Analysis of the Relationship between Parents
Pathogenesis Scores and Daughters' Rorschach

$01.83..oooooooooooooooooo
9.mmaryofResults...............

DImSSIm O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O I 0

Relationship between Parents' PI, Daughters'
Rorschach Scores and Teachers' Ratings.

Support for Mahler's. Masterson's, and

Lidz's'lheories. . . . . . . . . . .
Parental Pathogenesis. . . . . . . . . . .

Signs of Disturbed Ego Functioning in Four

Rorschach Protocols . . . . . . . . .

WANDCCI‘UMSICNS............

mm A. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

iii

Page

vi

16
18
35
37
39
39

44
44

49
51
52

58
59

60

63
64

69
74
7'7

mm B.

APPENDIX C.

APPENDIX D.

APPEN'JIX E.

APPENDH F.

APPENDIX G.

APPENDIX H.

iv

79
82
83
84
86

88
89

LIST (F MES

Table

1 Rorschach Indices of Ego Functioning and

Hypothesized Relationships to Parental Pathogenesis.

2 Correlations between Rorschach R and 21:, my AL;
Mlfllnlmooooooooooooooooo

3 Correlations between Parental PI Scores and
Daughters' Intelligence Test Scores. . . . . . . .

4 Correlations between 'Ibachers' Ratings and Rorschach

Variables, PI, Intelligence Scores, SES. . . . . .
5 Correlations between PI Scores and SES . . . . . .

6 Correlations between Daughters' Rorschach Scores
and Parents' Pathogenesis Score. . . . . . . . . .

7 Test of Difference between Mothers' and Fathers'
Pathogenesis...................

8 Descriptive Data on the Subject Population . . . .
A1 The Thorndike Vocabulary Test. . . . . . . . . . .

A2 Daughters' Rorschach Scores Correlated
with Pathogenesis Scores (SIB controlled). . . . .

Page

38

46

47

47
48

52

54

86

87

LIST CF FIGURES

Figure Page

1 The relationship between daughters' human movement
response and average parental pathogenesis score. . . . . . 55

vi

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this investigation is to clarify the relationship
between the "pathogenesis" of parents and the ego functioning of their
preadolescent daughters. ”Pathogenesis" is defined as the destructive
attitude of the dominant.member of a pair toward the dependent member.
By destructive attitude we mean that the lack of consideration to the
needs and wishes of the dependent individual interferes with that
individual's normal ego development. In some cases interference may
be so severe that schizophrenia results.

This investigation is directed toward determining the level of
ego functioning in twelve-year-old daughters that correspond to
various levels of pathogenesis in their parents. The nature of the
problem upon which the present study is focused is whether higher
levels of parental pathogenesis are associated with poorer ego
functioning and lower levels of parental pathogenesis are associated
with more adequate ego functioning in the daughters. It is a.question
ofIWhether there is a positive correlation between parental
pathogenesis and indices of poor ego functioning in the daughters.

Parental pathogenesis is revealed by the Pathogenesis Index (PI)
(Meyer & Karon, 1967), a scale used for scoring Thematic Apperception
Test (TAT) (Mnrray, 1943) stories. Rorschach (Rorschach, 1921)
performance has been selected as the means to evaluate the daughters'
level of ego functioning. Rorschach measures of reality testing (Fifi),
mature cognition (DQ), adaptiveness and productivity (8), ability to

1

delay impulse discharge and utilize fantasy for the expression of inner
drives (31) , the proportion of disorganized to organized coping
resources Leg/EA), disordered thinking (In) (Ether, 1974), anxiety
level (AL), and hostility level (m0 (Elizur, 1949) point to various
aspects of the daughters' current ego functioning.

An observational measure provides a validity check on the
projective instruments and a further test of the relationship between
pathogenesis of the parents and their daughters' ego functioning.

Each daughter is assessed by her teachers regarding how closely her

performance matches her estimated abilities.

REVIEW (F THE LITERATURE

W

The pathogenic parent concept has developed from the psychodynamic
view of schizophrenia as a reaction to disturbed family relations which
result in the experience of overwhelming anxiety during childhood
(Arieti, 1955) . Ebrperiences with the mother are the most important
influence on the infant, and these experiences diminish in importance
only gradually through infancy and childhood as the child is able to
separate and individuate. In support of this concept, Framr—Reiclmann
(1960) uncovered feelings of distrust and resentment of other people in
her schizophrenic patients. She contended that schizophrenia was
due to the severe early destructive experiences including rejection
which the patient encountered in the important peOple during infancy
and childhood. Often it was due to the mother's influences.

The pathogenic mother interferes with normal object relations for
the child on whom her pathology is focused (Alanen, 1960) . This
interference is apparent in a study by Wynne and Singer (1963), in
which families of adolescent and young adult schizophrenics were
assessed with the TAT and Rorschach. It was found that parents of
schizophrenics were vindictive toward their offspring when s/he tried
to establish a relationship with someone other than them. This
research also points to the connection between the schizophrenic
offspring's style of thinking and that of the parents, especially the
mother. The pathogenic mother is overtly benign; however there is

3

a destructive attitude that is difficult to clarify, and the
schizophrenic's feelings toward the mother figure seem to be very
ambivalent (Lu, 1961).

Lidz (1965) contends that the early family environment is a
critical force in personality development both normal and abnormal.
Few factors can affect personality development as much as intrafamilial
relationships. Here the basic attitudes toward later interpersonal
relationships are established: the formation of the projective systems
by which the individual perceives the world is begun. The child
receives his basic training in the meaning of words and in ways of
communicating, reasoning, and thinking within his/her family of origin.

The individual's reaction in all subsequent group and
interpersonal situations rest upon the foundations provided within the
family. Yet the family has its own needs, which may take precedence
over its educational functions. It may be deviant from the remainder
of society, set conflicting demands upon the child, provide
inconsistent emotional experiences, teach paralogical ways, and in
many other areas provide faulty schooling. Although the family is
not the only influence upon theIdeveloping ego, it provides the most
important set of influences impinging on the child (Lidz et a1., 1965).

The earliest mother-child relationships during the oral phase of
development seem to have critical significance for the development of
severe psychopathology. However, the cardinal symptomatology of
schizophrenia seem to indicate that later developmental periods also
have critical significance. The symbolic distortions, the
interpenetration of reality by fantasy, the confusion of sexual
identity, the concerns over incestuous impulses, the attribution of
omniscience and omnipotence to parental figures are all significant

4

problems of the early oedipal or late preoedipal phases of development.
Although disturbances in the oral phase may establish a potential for
schizophrenia, studies by Lidz and his colleagues (1965) of the
families that produce schizophrenic offspring show that family
relationships had been abnormal from birth through adolescence (Lidz et
a1., 1965).

Lidz (1973) contends that any attempt to study the child‘s ego
development as an autonomous process independent of the family matrix
distorts as much as it simplifies for such abstractions can be made
only by eliminating the essential factors in the process. The child
does not grow up to attain a mature workable personality simply
through the nurturance of inborn directives and potentialities, but
requires positive direction and guidance in a suitable interpersonal
environment and social system. S/he does not develop into a
well-integrated, adaptable adult simply because fixations have not
occurred due to some innate tendency, some traumatic event, or some
flow in maternal nurturance during the preoedipal phases of
development. The positive molding forces have been largely overlooked
because they are built into the institutions and mores of all
societies, and into the family which has carried out the task of
directing the child's potential into an integrated structure. The
family must foster and direct the child's development through its
nurturant functions, the influence of the family organization, the
ways it functions as a social system, and through its transmission of
the instrumented techniques of culture, particularly its language with
its systems of meanings and logic.

As an example of some of the qualities found in a pathogenic
parent, Lidz (1973) describes a.mother of a schizophrenic whose

5

difficulties in communicating appeared clearly on her projective
tests. She gave extremely vague responses, blurred meanings
constantly, and became even more elusive when questioned about her
responses. The responses she gave when she first saw a Rorschach
card changed or disappeared when she was asked about them on the
"inquiry." She conveyed that meanings were scarcely worth seeking
because she did not like anything she saw on the test cards. She
created an aura of being a nice person, but managed to make the tester
feel guilty for not understanding, and caught in a morass of vagueness
and contradiction. Her responses to the TAT seemed to express the
basic attitude that all interactions were nonsensical and illogical and
"things can be a mess if you don't have your own way.” She became
even more disorganized than usual by sexual topics, and she did not
seem to differentiate between male and female on the TAT cards.

Lidz (1973) contends that the offspring of pathogenic parents is
badly prepared for life within the family, and because s/he remains
tied to the problems of the prior generation, the child who will become
schizophrenic enters adolescence unable to cope with the developmental
tasks of achieving independence from his/her parents and gaining an ego
identity.

Karon and Rosberg (1958) have reconstructed a pathological
relationship from material presented in therapy sessions and direct
observation of a mother and son's interaction. The mother, who seemed
intelligent, likeable, and concerned about her paranoid schizophrenic
son when she spoke of him, was nonetheless very damaging to his ego
functioning when she interacted with him. On the basis of this and
other cases, Karon and Rosberg further clarified the concept of
pathogenesis. Karon asserts that the pathogenic mother feels

6

inadequate and compensates for her inadequacy by making demands on the
child in terms of her own pathological needs without regard for the
welfare of the child, whenever her needs conflict with his. In many
respects, the underlying problems of the pathogenic mother of a
schizophrenic are similar to those of the schizophrenic offspring, but
her defense against her anxieties is damaging to the child (Meyer &
Karon, 1967).

The pathogenic individual is defined as one who is psychologically
destructive when in the dominant position in a dependence relationship
in which the needs of the two individuals conflict. The pathogenic
individual will indirectly satisfy his/her needs without regard for the
needs of the dependent person. For example, this may be accomplished
by (1) manipulating (without acknowledging the manipulation) the
dependent person to satisfy one's own needs rather than the other's
needs, (2) ignoring the expressed needs and wishes of the other, (3)
not allowing the other to express his/her negative feelings when those
needs are frustrated, (4) or implying that the other is evil for having
negative feelings at all. The motivations behind such interactions may
be conscious or unconscious; often they are unconscious and accompanied
by overt statements expressing a concern about the well-being of the
dependent individual (VandenBos & Karon, 1971) .

The Pathogenesis Index (PI), a scale used for scoring TAT themes,
was derived from the above concept of the pathogenic mother of a
schizophrenic patient. The index of pathogenesis has significantly
differentiated mothers of schizophrenic children from mothers of normal
children (Karon, 1963; Meyer & Karon, 1967; Mitchell, 1968, 1969a).
Fathers of schizophrenics scored higher in pathogenesis than fathers of
normals; however, the difference did not reach statistical significance

7

(Mitchell, 1969a) . The PI has also been shown to differentiate mothers
of severely disturbed schizophrenics from mothers of less disturbed
schizophrenics (Nicoles, 1970).

Ebrploratory research has found that parents of delinquents have
pathogenesis ratings which fall between the ratings of parents of
normals and parents of schizophrenics (Mitchell, 1971). Furthermore,
mothers who physically abuse their children score significantly higher
on the PI than controls (Melnick & Hurley, 1969), and research has
suggested that there is somewhat less responsivity to children's needs
among working-class mothers of schizophrenic children than among
upper- or middle-class mothers of equally disturbed children (Mitchell,
1969b) .

Unlike previous research on pathogenesis, the present study uses
a nonclinical sample at an earlier stage of development. It is
theorized that parental pathogenesis or lack of it is a fairly stable
characteristic, unless some structural reorganization of the
personality takes place. The present research postulates that children
of pathogenic parents will show signs of poor ego functioning which
will be evident on the Rorschach. Research (Albee et a1., 1963; Albee
et a1., 1964) indicates that those who will become schizophrenic
perform much below average while school children. Albee relates this
premorbid intellectual deficit to a long-term schizophrenic process
present during the childhood of adult schizophrenics, many years before
these individuals are recognized and certainly before they are
diagnosed as schizophrenic. Intellectual functioning is one aspect of
the child's ego functioning which the present study will relate to

parental pathogenesis.

E E I' . . ll £1.13

This investigation relates parental pathogenesis as determined by
the PI to the offspring's ego functioning. Perhaps the clearest
definition of ego is that of Guntrip. ”The team 'ego' stands for the
'whole' of the individual's nature and self-knowledge as a 'person,‘
an 'I' in personal relations with other 'I's', whose wholeness can be
'split' by t00>disturbing experiences" (Guntrip, 1969). He further
contends that the achievement of a solid ego formation, or the feeling
that one is a real person, can only be done in the medium of personal
object-relationships. ‘When parents work off their own fears and
tensions on the children, the children grow up frightened at heart;
the ego remains undeveloped and weak, and deep maturing of personality
comes to a standstill.

The basic dilemma of the child of “pathogenic" parents is that
s/he was born into a situation in which s/he was unable to lay the
foundation of a strong ego development, and the child grows up feeling
inadequate to the demands of living, being ineffective interpersonally,
and full of fear. This early interference in ego development persists
because once the initial failure has occurred in laying the foundations
of a nonanxious and active self in infancy, a mental organization seems
to come into being which blocks the possibility of further deep—level
emotional growth. The baby must grow up to become a capable adult,
strong enough to look after him/herself and make his/her own
contribution to life among other people, but feeling inadequate, gets
involved in the process of developing a facade to face life. As time
goes by, fears of egoebreakdown may come to be even greater than the

original fears of outer reality (Guntrip, 1969).

Guntrip contends that a profound sense of weakness and inadequacy
does break through into consciousness, but when this occurs, it is
because the defenses have cracked, defenses which have been built up
against the underlying sense of weakness, to prevent its invasion of
consciousness. The obsessional character is an example of a rigid and
unyielding pattern of absolute self-control organized with no weakness
shown; though the "false self” may hide the infantile nature within.
It is the basically infantile nature of the self, which seeks
gratification and when frustrated has the capacity to fight yet is
fear-ridden, which interferes with further ego development, and this
is a deeper problen than that portion of the feeling of weakness that
seeps through at various times into everyday consciousness.

Poor ego development is basic and causal for all kinds of
personality disorder (Guntrip, 1969). ace the child is badly
disturbed, and developed enough to realize that s/he is too weak to
alter the environment, s/he feels driven to attempt the only other
thing possible, namely to alter him/herself in such a way that s/he is
no longer conscious of feeling so frightened and weak. The child
comes to dislike the infantile part of him/herself and directs a
hostile part of the self to crush out the frightened, needy, and
therefore, dependent child. However, the crushed child is the primary,
natural self and repression of this progressively leads to
self-exhaustion and personality disorder.

Both repression of, and withdrawal by, the poorly developed ego
prevent further normal development of the basic natural self. But
schizoid withdrawal into an inner world seems ultimately a more
important cause of ego weakness than repression, since it may be a
more radical process. That is, the fear-dictated retreat of which

10

Winnicott speaks (Guntrip, 1969) may be continued into an attempt even
to escape from internal bad objects.

Mahler's (1975) observational studies of mothers and young
children suggest pathogenic styles of relating to the child begin
early and that there may be crucial periods of vulnerability for the
child. Mahler contends that much of our understanding of health and
pathology depend on developmental aspects, the most important of
which, may be the qualitative assessment of residues of the symbiotic
as well as of the separation—individuation periods. She suggests that
an old, partially unresolved sense of self-identity and of body
boundaries, or old conflicts over separation and separateness, can be
reactivated (or can remain peripherally or even centrally active) at
any stage of life.

Freud asserted that a lifelong although diminishing, emotional
dependence on the mother is a universal truth of human existence. The
biological unpreparedness of the human infant to maintain life
separately makes necessary the prolonged phase of closeness which has
been designated "the mother-infant symbiosis" (Mahler, 1975). Mahler's
observations suggest that it is from the symbiotic phase of the
mother-infant dual unity that those experiential precursors of
individual beginnings are derived, which together with inborn
constitutional factors, determine every individual's unique somatic
and psychological makeup. Thus, mental health, as well as pathology,
may be determined by (1) the individual's endowment, (2) the early
mother-child interaction and relationship, and (3) crucial events in
the child's growing up process--in other words, by positive and
negative experiential factors, which impinge upon the pliable makeup
of the child's individuating psyche (Mahler, 1975).

ll

E.J. Anthony (1971) recognized the pertinence of Kierkegaard's
insights into the human child's need for his/her mother's emotional
support at points when the child experiences maturational spurts. He
cites the following passages to illustrate that "the influence of a
disturbed and disturbing mother on the individuation of her child is in
sharp contrast to that of the ordinary 'good enough' mother" (p. 262):

The loving mother teaches her child to walk alone. She is

far enough from him so that she cannot actually support him,

but she holds out her arms to him. . . .And yet, she does

more. Her face beckons like a reward, an encouragement.

Thus, the child walks alone with his eyes fixed on his

mother's face, not on the difficulties in his way. He

supports himself by the arms that do not hold him and

constantly strives towards the refuge in his mother's

embrace, little suspecting that in the very same moment that

he is emphasizing his need of her, he is proving that he can

do without her, because he is walking alone (Kierkegaard,

1846, p. 85).

But in the other mother it is very different:

There is no beckoning encouragement, no blessing at the end of

the walk. There is the same wish to teach the child to walk

alone, but not as a loving mother does it. For now there is fear
that envelopes the child. It weighs him down so that he cannot
move forward. There is the same wish to lead him to the goal,

but the goal becomes suddenly terrifying (Kierkegaard, 1846, p.

85).

This passage suggests the pathogenic mother's fearfulness, ambivalence,
unconscious hostility, and need to encapsulate and hinder the child
12

from stepping off on his own. Thus, the pathogenic mother fills these
moments of development, when the child feels a pull for separation and
a need to assert individuation, with apprehension, so that the child
not only has nowhere to go, but s/he is afraid to get anywhere
(Anthony, 1971).

Mahler (1975) refers to her 1958 publications in which she
hypothesizes that normal separation-individuation is the first crucial
prerequisite for the development and maintenance of the "sense of
identity.“ Concern with the problem of identity arose from observing a
puzzling clinical phenomenon, namely, that the psychotic child never
attains a feeling of wholeness, of individual entity, let alone "a
sense of human identity." It was thought that something had gone
astray in the very earliest interactions within the mother-infant unit,
leading to either a deanimated, frozen wall between the subject and the
human object, or a fusion, melting, and lack of differentiation between
the self and the nonself-a corplete blurring of boundaries.

Mahler (1975) found, in observational studies, that those infants
whose mothers enjoyed the symbiotic phase without too much conflict,
those infants who were saturated, but not oversaturated, during this
period of important oneness with the mother, seemed to start at the
average time to show signs of active differentiation by distancing
slightly from the mother's body. (laservations suggested that it is
important that the mother as protective shield gradually recede, so as
not to hinder the individuating ego's gradual exercise of autonomy.

Mahler (1975) reports that some parents could not accept the
child's demandingness; others, by contrast, were unable to face the
child's gradual separation—the fact that the child was becoming

13

increasingly independent of and separate from the parent. In some
cases in which the mother acted clearly out of her own
symbiotic-parasitic need, rather than out of regard for the infant,
differentiation set in almost vehemently. This happened, for example,
in the case of a little boy, as early as 4 or 5 months of age because
his mother was symbiotically too enveloping. A strikingly different
transition from the symbiotic to the separation-individuation phase was
observed in another little boy who had a close and prolonged symbiotic
relationship with the mother. Both of this child's parents had
symbiotic-parasitic needs and overvalued their child as a vegetative
being, prolonging the symbiotic dependency (Parens & Saul, 1971). This
clearly slowed down the child's libidinal investment in his motor
functions.

Those children, in Mahler's (1975) investigation, who had the
greatest difficulty establishing a workable distance between themselves
and their mothers were those whose mothers became ambivalent toward
them as soon as they ceased to be part of them—their symbiotic child.
At times the mothers seemed to avoid close body contact; at other
times, they might interrupt their child in his/her autonomous
activities to pick up, hug, or hold their child. The mothers did this
when they needed it, not when the child did. This lack of empathy on
the mothers part seered to make it difficult for the child to functioi
at a distance from her.

Mahler's observations indicate that the child's desire for
expanded autonomy leads to an active extension of the mother-child
world: primarily to include father. Father, as a love object, from
very early on, belongs to an entirely different category of love
objects from mother, that is, although he is not fully outside the

14

symbiotic union, neither is he ever fully part of it (Abelin, 1971).
Significant for this study is the observation (Mahler, 1975) that in
certain cases the effects of a child's less than optimal relationship
with the mother were ameliorated by a good relationship and subsequent
identification with the father.

Masterson's (1976) case studies, however, suggest that more
typically the child whose growth is already heavily burdened by the
mother's regressive pull does not get "the average expectable father"
who influences him/her toward growth and reality, and who forms a
"bridge" out of the symbiotic mother-infant unit. Although the
specifics vary with each case, the father's influence almost always is
toward a reinforcement of the mother-child exclusive or clinging
relationship, rather than either opposing or making efforts to lead
the child away from it. The main feature is that he is typically not
available to the child as an uncontaminated object to support the
forces of individuation and mastery of reality.

Mahler (1975) stresses the importance of separation, individuation
and mastery of reality during the early years of childhood. Similarly,
Masterson (1976) points out that at prepuberty, a challenge to the
child's defensive system usually occurs, when a second marked
develOpmental maturation of the ego occurs, creating a period of
special vulnerability. This growth spurt, manifested by a thrust
toward activity colbined with a turn toward reality, is similar in
scope to the maturation of the ego that occurred in the
separation-individuation phase. This maturation, together with the
need to separate further from the mother, produces a recapitulation of
that early phase of development, that is, a second
separation—individuation phase (Masterson, 1976) .

15

Deutsch (1944) suggests that prepuberty is a phase in which
sexual instincts are weakest and development of the ego is most
intense, and that the phase is characterized by a thrust of activity
and turning toward growth and independence; thus, it is an intensive
process of adaptation to reality and mastery of the environment. The
adolescent is caught between the past and the future, between childhood
and adulthood, just as the infant is caught between a symbiotic
relationship and autonomy. Deutsch emphasizes that the struggle for
independence in this period is strongly reminiscent of the processes
that take place approximately between the age 18 months and 3 years,
that is, the transition from the symbiotic stage to autonomy.
Masterson (1976) has found that the borderline syndrome often makes
its clinical appearance during this time; whereas, somewhat later, at
age 15, the high-risk period for schizophrenia begins (Mednick &
Schulsinger, 1970).

E . | . I |

The present study relates parental pathogenesis to the daughter's
ego functioning by means of their scores on projective tests (see
Appendix A for an explanation of the term projection). Projectives
offer the advantage of providing data which consist not only of the
conscious attitudes or what the individuals feel ought to be their
conscious attitudes, but data which reflect a motivational pattern,
conscious or unconscious. This is particularly important for an
investigation of these variables, since parental pathogenesis may
involve subtle destructive behaviors with an overt display of concern,
and poor ego development may be camouflaged by a "false self.”

Projective testing is generally concerned with an assessment of
the ego, ego strength and defenses, assets and liabilities (Rabin,

16

1960). Bolgar states ". . .that the proper field of investigation of
projective psychology is character, its formation and its
manifestations, and that the theoretical emphasis, insofar as it is
psychoanalytic, should be the psychology of the ego and not the
psychology of the id" (in Klopfer et a1., 1956). However, there is a
difference of opinion regarding the latter part of the statement.
Holt (1956), for instance, is concerned with the “gauging of primary
processes" as well as the secondary processes of the ego. Rabin
(1960) suggests that it may be a matter of emphasis, for it is
difficult to evaluate the ego without reflecting certain implications
with respect to the id.

Paradoxically, in order to penetrate the depths of character
formation, of the ego and its defenses, in projective testing, an
important prerequisite is the relaxation of some of the controls and
the partial, voluntary surrender of the ego's secondary process
(Rabin, 1960). That is, in the projective test situation, as in
states of artistic creativity, a person is expected to "make believe"
or imagine, to tell what a stimulus looks like or to tell a story,
rather than to give a factual description of the picture or some other
stimulus to which s/he is reacting. Naturally, people vary to the
extent that they are able to “regress in the service of the ego"
(Schafer, 1954) in cooperation with the examiner's request. Rabin
(1960) contends that the degree of freedom with which this operation
is accorplished is, in itself, an important index of the ego's freedom
from threat, that is, the freedom of the individual to allow some
regression to becote manifest during the testing situation. The above

argument suggests that Rorschach R is a sign of good ego functioning.

17

The Rorschach has been used successfully to assess ego
functioning. In a longitudinal study, Glatt and Karon (1974) found
that as schizophrenic patients were rated as improved, Rorschach
appropriate pure form responses w , human moveient responses (LI) ,
and number of responses (3), increased, while Perseveration decreased.
Clinically improved subjects became more adaptable (increased 3) ,
flexible (decreased Perseveration) , showed better reality testing
(increased E13), and were better able to delay impulse discharge and
to utilize fantasy for the expression of inner drives (increased )1) .
I! ll' EllE lllL'lJ

W. The 2+3. represents the proportion of Pure
Form responses which have been scored either superior (+) or ordinary
(0) regarding the use of form. In the Exner system (1974) form is
graded on a four point scale to differentiate levels of form adequacy.
Superior (+) form quality refers to the unusually well developed and
articulated use of form that enriches the quality of the percept
without sacrificing the appropriateness of form involved. The ordinary
(0) form quality answer involves the obvious, easily developed use of
form, wherein the content and blot areas are congruent. The two
categories of poor form quality involve the use of form where the
percept is not easily perceived and the situation where the answer is
imposed on the blot area with total, or near total disregard for the
structure of the area.

Form quality is one of the most important elements among the
structural data of the Rorschach (Exner, 1974). Generally, the
inclusion of form in a response has been considered as an "ego" or
thinking operation. According to Rapaport (1946), the use of form
appears to represent the operations of perception and reasoning. It

18

reflects the ability of the subject to direct his/her attention ard
ideation to the elelents of control, discriminating judgment, and
regard for the standards of the environment. Beck (1945) holds that,
where the quality of the form use is "good" (+ or o), the subject
demonstrates a respect for reality, whereas the frequent use of "poor"
form quality manifests a disregard for this element.

The work of Ames (1971) indicates that while the £13 is generally
low for the very young child, it typically exceeds 80% by the sixth
year, and her adolescent groups routinely yield mean Eflls in excess of
90. The most striking data concerning form quality, however, have
developed in studies of the more seriously disturbed psychiatric
patients, schizophrenics in particular. As Weiner points out,
"Virtually all studies of iii. in schizophrenia and control groups have
replicated the findings presented by Beck and Rickers-Ovsiankina in
their historically significant 1938 contributions." In each of those
studies, schizophrenics showed a mean £11 in the 60's while controls
yielded a mean :33 significantly higher, 87.3 for the Rickers group,
83.9 for the Beck group (Weiner, 1966).

In addition, the m reasonably indicates the subject's capacity
to deal more effectively with stresses. Goldberger (1961), using an
isolation study design, found that subjects manifesting a greater
“reality testing strength," as indicated by the adequacy of good form
quality, were more capable of handling ”the primary process intrusions
of sensory deprivations" than were subjects yielding a lower quality
of form answers. There was, however, one caution regarding the use
of Eli in this study. Ordinarily, some "bending" of the reality
features of the cards is expected. Thus if the E31 were very high
(near 100%), the interpreter would have to consider the possibility of

19

an ”undue" preoccupation with reality that may cause the subject sore
sacrifice of uniqueness (Earner, 1974).

In the extremely high ranges, B and M, as well as £31, may be
associated with psychopathology. The study of Glatt and Karon (1974)
suggests a monotonic relationship exists, with increases in £13, 3,
and M being associated with improvement in their schizophrenic
patients. However in a population which is not specifically
schizophrenic, variance is likely to be greater for the offspring with
poorer ego functioning, representing various pathological adaptations
to the parental pathogenesis.

W. As an indication of
productivity level, the total number of Rorschach responses, 3 reflects
ability to respond to a task (taking the Rorschach) which requires a
measure of ingenuity in a novel situation, a flexibility of attitudes,
tolerance of ambiguity, and an expenditure of effort (Neiger, Sleman, &
Quirk, 1965). Mastery and cotpetence and adaptive regression in the
service of the ego are the principal ego functions expressed in 3.
Studies have consistently shown an increase in B from early childhood
to early adulthood (Ames, 1966; Beck, Beck, Levitt, & Molish, 1961;
Hermendinger, 1953; Ledwith, 1959; Meile-Dworetzki, 1956; Rabin & Beck,
1950; Thetford et a1., 1951).

Through faulty design, previous research has, at times, confused
a change in productivity (B) with a change in the value of other
scores (Glatt, 1971). Piotrowski and Schreiber (1952) offer an
example of this problem. Patients getting psychoanalytic therapy
demonstrated considerable Rorschach change upon retest, especially in
human movement and color. No significant changes occurred among
individuals getting a more superficial, supportive therapy. Moreover,

20

the psychoanalytic therapy group averaged a nearly two—fold increase
in 3 on the posttherapy Rorschach, while the other group's average
productivity did not change. Since 3 correlates with most other
scores (Cronbach, 1949; Fiske & Baughman, 1953), the increases made by
the psychoanalytic therapy subjects may have been the result of
becoming more productive.

Fiske and Baughman (1953) published a table of the average values
observed for each common Rorschach score at varying levels of B. When
each mean score value in Piotrowski and Schreiber's psychoanalytic
therapy group was corpared to its "expected" value at the corresponding
level of R (an admittedly crude procedure necessitated by the
availability of group, and not of individual, data) it can be seen
that the statistically significant increase in C-sum upon retest (from
4.8 to 7.5) was of the magnitude to be expected when 3 increases to
the extent that it did (from 41.6 to 76.8) . Not all the score
increases, however, could be explained as mere artifacts of increases
in B. Gains in EC and M were disproportionately high when cotpared to
their predicted values at the higher 3 level (Glatt, 1971) . The
present study partials out the effects of B, as explained in the
results section; however, by using Exner's system, which does not
encourage additional responses, the R was not expected to vary to the
extent that it has in research using other systems.

W. The human movetent response (M) is
scored when human activity, of a passive or active nature, is perceived
and the movetent has been articulated for a response. Probably M has
been the subject of more investigation than any other Rorschach
determinant. The primary problem in the researching of M is that the
category of M includes several different kinds of responses. For

21

example, M's occurring to tiny areas appear to be different from M's
occurring to the whole blot (K) or commonly used detail ()2) areas in
the type of psychological activity involved (Exner, 1974). There
are probably also differences in psychological activity when M's
include only one human figure than when they involve»more than one
human figure. The Mfs involving aggressive content are somewhat
different than M's which convey a sense of cooperativeness, and so on.
In spite of this, the large quantity of research which has been
corpleted concerning M does establish an understanding of the basic
psychological process involved in the formation of the M answer
(EXner, 1974).

Rorschach offered the postulate that M represents an
"internalization" phenomenon. He believed that M manifests the more
deliberate inner experience in a.manner which is also affectively
adaptive. Beck (1945, 1967) has used this Rorschach postulate as a
reflection of emotions which are in some way concealed from an overt
display. The nucleus of his position is that M answers indicate an
awareness of the external world, where the vestiture of energy is used
to develop a private fantasy through which a displacement of pent-up
needs is permitted. Klopfer (1954) and Hertz (1951) have both
suggested that M should be interpreted as a psychological process in
which a functional relationship exists between the fantasy life of the
individual and the external orientations to reality and object
relations. Thus Beck, Klopfer, and Hertz all tend to agree that M
does represent some form of internalization. Rapaport (1946) admits
to only a partial acceptance of Rorschach's positim on M. He agrees
with Beck that M does represent a readiness to make a response,

maintaining that in sore instances this readiness will result in

22

internalization, while in other instances the product will be an overt
gesture. Thus, Rapaport rejects the notion of introversion as such.
For him, the M answer is more indicative of a type of delay of response
than a tendency toward internalization, the delay being provoked by
the more sophisticated cognitive functions so as to permit a more
consciously determined response to occur. That is, Rapaport's position
is that M reflects a control of spontaneous behavior, which may
result in either internalization or externalization.

Piotrowski's position concerning the interpretation of M responses
differs most from the previously mentioned positions. He contends
that the correlation between M and overt behavior is positive: "The M
indicates prototypal roles in life, i.e., definite tendencies, deeply
erbedded in the subject and not easily modified, to assume repeatedly
the same attitude or attitudes in dealing with others when matters
felt to be important and personal are involved" (Exner, 1974). While
this position is different from the other systematizers, there is at
least a segment of agreement between Klopfer, Hertz, and Piotrowski in
that all regard M as bridging the inner resources with the external
reality. There is also some segment of agreerent between the
Piotrowski and Rapaport positions in that both concede, Rapaport
directly and Piotrowski indirectly, that M may represent an
internalization action by the subject, and both agree that the type of
internal reasoning manifest in the M response is a form of inhibition
of impulse, which may be transient (Exner, 1974).

Numerous studies (Paulsen, 1941; Abrams, 1955; Altus, 1958;
Somer, 1958; Tanaka, 1958; Ogdon & Allee, 1959) have established that
M has a direct relationship to intellectual operations, by
demonstrating a positive correlation between 1.0., or some other

23

direct measure of intelligence, and the frequency and/or quality of M
responses. Ames (1971) reports that the frequency of M is very low in
the young child, and that a steady increase in M frequency occurs to
about the 10th year, and Kallstedt (1952) found significantly less M
in the protocols of adolescents than in those of adults. However,
according to one study (Hertz, 1943) more of the prepubescent 12 year
old girls scored higher in M than girls who were more physically
mature (pubescent 12—year-olds) . The Hertz data may reflect an
intensification of inner living during the year before the pubertal
crisis, which is followed by a decrease with the onset of pubescence.
Schulman (1953) reports that M is positively correlated with abstract
thinking and has demonstrated that the activity involved in both
functions requires some delaying operations. Levine, Glass, and
Melzoff (1959) have also demonstrated that M and the higher levels of
intellectual operation require delaying activities.

Piotrowski (1939), Halpern (1940), and Stotsky (1952) have
reported significant increases in the frequency of M among patients
who show improvement versus those who are unimproved. In a relapse
study, Exner (1974) found that the admission and postdischarge
Rorschachs of 71 schizophrenics did not reveal a significant increase
in M frequency although the quality of the M's was better. However,
when the protocols of the 19 subjects who relapsed during the first
year after discharge were corpared with those of the 52 nonrelapsers,
it was found that the nonrelapsers had given significantly more M's in
both their admission and postdischarge records.

It is difficult to summarize the full psychological meaning of M
responses since complex activities seem to be involved. The
intellectual base includes a sort of reasoning, the corponents of

24

imagination, and a form of higher level conceptualization (Exner,
1974) . Exner further describes M as a form of delay from yielding to
more spontaneous impulses, which depends on an active kind of ideation.
It seems to reflect a "deliberate” inner experience which manifests
fantasies that are related to the external world. The inner
experiences, or fantasies, seem to play an important role in
formulating the response selected for a given stimulus. That is, the
M response reflects the ability to thwart and/or displace response
tendencies into a continuing ideational activity, or to externalize,
either directly or indirectly in behaviors which are interpersonally
related. Exner (1974) contends that the process does not appear to be
conscious, but rather a form of cautious defensiveness through which
responses to the world are sorted through.

According to Exner (1974) M cannot be interpreted very accurately
without also reviewing other variables, especially the responsiveness
to color. Rorschach recognized this in his development of the
Experience Balance which represents the ratio of the total number of
human movement determinants to the weighted sum of the color
determinants. The present study also considers M in relation to other
Rorschach variables in the epAEA ratio.

W The experience
potential (22) is a derivation obtained by adding together all the
animal movetent (EM), inanimated movement (m), shading (I). texture
(I), vista (2), and achromatic color (g1) determinants. The experience
actual (EA) represents the sum of the human movement responses (M) and
weighted sum of color ((2) responses. The sort of experience or
activity expressed in the EA is organized, that is, available to the
individual. The painful affects and the more unorganized needs, as

25

represented in the grey-black features of the blots and in EM and m
answers, are not organized. On the contrary, these features of the .ep
work on the individual rather than for him/her. The data support the
notion that the EA and :9 are relatively stable over time unless some
dramatic alteration of the basic organization of affects and inner
experience takes place (Exner, 1974).

Exner indicates that the EA reflects the full volume of the
organized activity available to the individual. Three studies were
corpleted to test this concept. In the first, two groups of 30
each, patients and nonpatients, were retested after an 18 month
interval. The mean BA for the 30 controls at the first administration
of the test was 6.25, and 6.75 at the retest. The patient group was
subdivided into two groups on the basis of independent ratings from
both professionals, in the blind, and relatives regarding the
effectiveness of treatment. Eighteen subjects were judged as improved
and 12 as unimproved. The mean BA for the improved group was 3.75 at
pretreatment and 7.25 at posttreatrent. The mean He‘s for the
unimproved group were 3.50 at pretreatment and 4.25 at posttreatment.
The difference between the groups at posttreatment is significant at
the .05 level.

The second study investigated reliability and used three groups
of 15 subjects, each selected from a nonpatient sample and retested
twice at 9 and 18 month intervals. Correlations from the m's of the
three groups calculated between the first and second testings are .88,
.91, and .81, and between the first and third testings are .92, .89,
and .78.

In the third study, two groups of 12 patients each were tested
prior to and after the termination of treatient. One group was

26

treated with a dynamic, uncovering form of psychotherapy, whereas the
second group was treated using supportive and directive methods plus
various forms of environmental manipulation. Both groups were retested
10 weeks after treatient had terminated. The mean EA's were
essentially the same at the pretreatment testing, 4.50 for the
uncovering treatment group, and 4.75 for the supportive group. The
posttreatment EA's were significantly different, showing a mean for
the dynamic treatment group of 8.25, and 5.50 for the supportive
group. These results suggest that when some reconstructive impact
occurs to the individual, s/he is able to organize more resources.

The data also support the notion that the EA is relatively stable over
time unless some alteration of the basic organization of affects and
inner experience takes place (Exner, 1974) .

When 30 controls were corpared to improved and unimproved
patients, 22 of the 30 controls had 22's that were less than the EA in
the first testing. In the 18 month retest, the :2 was less than the
EA for 23 of these 30 subjects. The ep;EA difference for the 30
psychiatric subjects at the first testing showed that 21 of the 30
had gp's which were greater than the EA. In the 18 month posttesting
the egEA difference had shifted for 15 subjects from a greater ep
than EA to a greater EA than :32. It was found that 14 of the 18
subjects rated as improved have ep's greater than the EA in the first
test and less than the EA in the retest. In another study, the
posttreatrent records show that all of the subjects treated with
dynamic therapy had EA's greater than ep's. In fact, in half of those
cases the EA exceeded the ep by at least three times the frequency.

The above research suggests that as subjects "improve" the ezEA
difference shifts from a greater :2 than EA to a greater EA than ep,

27

while those subjects rated as unimproved, show no essential change in
either ep or E after treatment. Exner (1974) draws the conclusion
that some, or all of the unorganized or uncontrolled activity, may
have become organized and made available to those subjects rated as
improved, as the EA's increased significantly and the 32's decreased
significantly. On the other hand, he notes that a more conservative
conclusion is that many of those stresses giving rise to EM, m, and
shading answers were alleviated, thus causing either a reduction in
ep, or an increase in EA, or both.

The way in which the psychological resources are utilized appears
to become altered. For exarple, in some cases where Pure 2 increases
with improvement, tactics of delay and affective control have been
used so that resources may be expended more conservatively. In other
instances, increases in EA may be due to greater control and
organization of resources at the higher levels of operation. However,
in either event, Exner (1974) contends it is an alteration of the
activities reflected in the 22 that permits these changes to occur.
That is, greater controls are developed to contend with the forces
that act on the individual, either neutralizing them to a reasonable
extent, or reorganizing them in such a way that they act for the
individual.

W Exner's (1974) Special
Scorings for disordered thinking reflect impairment to the cognitive
operations. Perservation (25y) reflects a kind of cognitive
inflexibility. Deviant verbalizations (121) are characterized by
distorted language usage which impede the subject's ability to
communicate clearly. Incongruous cotbinations (M) consist of the
condensation of separate blot details into a single incongruous

28

percept. Fabulized cotbinations (ream) are scored when an
implausible relationship is posited between two or more blot details.
Contamination (52mm refers to two or more impressions of a single
blot area which are fused into a single percept that clearly violates
reality. Autistic logic (AIME) reflects a form of loose or
circumstantial thinking. These scorings occur most commonly among
schizophrenic subjects, although they have been shown to occur in
other disorders and nonpatients to a lesser degree (Exner & Weiner,
1978) . The thinking and reasoning difficulties reflected in the
special scorings is best considered in a developmental context.
Responses containing features that would be assigned a special score
are quite common among preschool children and are not considered
indicative of psychological disorders. Such responses gradually
decrease as cognitive maturation gradually approaches its adult level
(Exner, Weiner, s. Schuyler, 1978).

In a normative study of 1,570 Rorschach protocols, the nonpatient
adolescents were significantly more likely than the nonpatient adults
to include one or more Aim, mm. and Em responses in their
protocols. 121 showed a nonsignificant trend in this direction,
whereas comm did not appear in either group. Despite the relative
frequency of these indices of disordered thinking in the records of
the nonpatient adolescents as coipared to the nonpatient adults, the
nonpatient adolescents were still significantly less likely than the
behavior problem and the withdrawn adolescents to give m, Aux-1,
m, and m responses. The latter two groups were about
equally likely to give such responses. m showed a nonsignificant
tendency to discriminate among the groups and was given only by the
withdrawn adolescents. The nonpatient adult, outpatient adult, and

29

inpatient schizophrenic adult groups showed a respectively increasing
frequency of giving or. mm. mm. mecca. and roman responses. and
the differences among the groups were statistically significant for
each of the five indices (Exner & Weiner, 1978).

All of these special scorings reflect patterns of responding in
which subjects fail to maintain a legical or realistic way of dealing
with their experiences. When they occur, they may offer an important
clue to impaired functioning which may be a transient phenomenon, or
may be a manifestation of a more subtle or incipient disturbance, or
may represent a gross psychological disarray. Generally, Exner, et
a1. (1978) consider 9mm and AME answers to be a reflection of more
extreme distortions of reality than 21, m EABCSM, and Efl (see
Appendix B for scoring criteria).

WW. Developmental quality (129) refers
to the quality of responses to the various locations of the blots. In
particular, 29 refers to the level of organization, integration,
imagination, and accuracy of perception. A synthesized response (+)
is scored when "unitary or discrete portions of the blot are
perceptually articulated and integrated or cotbined into a single
percept." The ordinary response (0) is scored when "a discrete area
of the blot is selected and articulated so as to eiphasize the gross
outline and obvious structural features of the area selected." A
response is scored vague (1) when "a diffuse or general impression is
offered to the blot or blot area in a manner which avoids the necessity
of articulation of specific outlines or structural features." An
arbitrary (-) response is scored when ”articulation of the blot or
blot area is inconsistent with the structural limitations of the blot”
(Earner, 1974).

30

Developmental quality scores represent an area of the Rorschach
which has been researched with considerable success in that the
findings are very consistent. Goldfried, Stricker, and Weiner (1971)
conclude that this approach differentiates children at the various age
levels, and also provides a basis from which normal, neurotics,
brain-damaged, and schizophrenics can be differentiated. Generally,
the higher m scores (+ and o) are found among the brighter and/or
more psychologically "effective" subjects, while the lower 129. scores
(v and —) are noted among very young children, intellectually limited
subjects, brain-damaged, and the severely disturbed. In addition,
studies (Earner, 1974) have shown that lower 1;} scores are related to
tendencies toward motoric expression of affect, and that subjects
manifesting such scores have less "capacity" for delay of impulse.

Becker (1956) found process schizophrenics yielding greater
numbers of lower m scores than reactive schizophrenics. 'Exner (1974)
describes the similar findings of Wilensky when he compared
”closed-ward" to "open-ward” schizophrenics. And Friedman (1952)
demonstrated that hebephrenic and catatonic schizophrenics manifest
substantial quantities of lower 29 scores and suggested that this may
be interpreted as characterizing a primative, rigid, diffuse sort of
cognition. The reports of Siegal (1953) suggest that the paranoid
schizophrenic, while still manifesting high frequencies of low :33
scores, tends to function cognitively at a higher level than do
catatonics or hebephrenics.

Exner points out that protocols of nonpsychiatric subjects
frequently contain 129 location selections which have scores of y, and
in some instances, even ;. However, where low m scores are
proportionally abundant, the interpreter must consider the possibility

31

of a rigid, concrete, and somewhat immature kind of cognition, which
may be confirmed by other data in the record. At the other extreme,
when a record contains a large number of high 29 scores, the
flexibility and seeming higher maturational level of the cognitive
operations are suggested (Exner, 1974).

W. The present study utilized Elizur's content
scoring for hostility, which has been used more often than other
Rorschach approaches and, by and large, these other scorings represent
modifications or elaborations of Elizur's system (Goldfried et a1.,
1971) . In his description of what the content scoring of the Rorschach
purports to measure, Elizur (1949) uses the term hostility to refer to
"feelings of resentment and enmity, which are often repressed in our
culture, but almost inevitably show up in the individual's distorted
attitudes toward people, either being too antagonistic or too
submissive" (see Appendix C for Elizur's Hostility Scoring System).

Interscorer agreement on total hostility level is high (Cummings,
1954; Elizur, 1949; Forsyth, 1959; Sanders & Cleveland, 1953; Siegel,
1956; Smith & Coleman, 1956) . The correlations between two scorers
were .98 (Sanders 8 Cleveland, 1953), .92 (Cummings, 1954), and .78
(Siegel, 1956). Smith and Coleman (1956) obtained an intraclass
correlation of .90 for three scorers. Based on their analysis of
research using the system, Goldfried and his colleagues (1971) coiclude
that the interscorer agreerent is good with the average correlation
coefficient being sorewhere in the neighborhood of .90.

The data available for delinquent and nondelinquent adolescents
(60er et a1., 1952), and nailbiting children (Cummings, 1954) are
relevant. The Rorschach records of 13 adolescent delinquents were
cotpared with those of 13 nondelinquents matched on the basis of age,

32

I.Q., and socio—economic background. The delinquents were randomly
selected from court files on the basis of the “antisocial" acts which
they had committed. The results indicated that despite the lower
total B, the delinquents obtained significantly higher 1m scores. The
mean for the delinquent group was 10.0 and the mean for the
noidelinquent group was 4.0. The group of nailbiters described by
Cummings (1954) had a mean EL score of 11.93.

recent research using Elizur's Hostility Scoring (Crain & Smoke,
1981) suggests that greater emphasis should be placed on specific
forms of aggressive content. Using a group of 42 children who had
been referred for psychological evaluation, matched with 42 children
who were considered well-aijusted, they found that the normal children
more frequently focused on aggression in the context of direct
interactions (fights); whereas the problematic children talked as if
the figures were at the mercy of unknown or unreal attackers. In the
normal children's aggressive responses combatants usually seeied
fairly equal in power and the outcome seeied at least partly under the
figure's control. In cmtrast, the problematic children's responses
were marked by an objectless overwhelming quality. They frequently
talked about the victims of violence without saying who the aggressor
was, and when they did specify the aggressor, it often was a
frightening overpowering moister or a creature that might eat one up.
(Elizur's Hostility Scoring presented in Appendix C is modified
according to this research.)

W. Similar to Elizur's system of scoring for
hostility, his system of content scoring for anxiety has been the most
popular Rorschach measure of anxiety with researchers (Goldfried, et
a1., 1971). Elizur's definition of the construct his system purports

33

to measure falls more in line with what is usually termed "anxiety“
rather than “fear" or "guilt." He implied that this condition of high
drive or arousal has an internal rather than an external basis.
Further, the conceptualization of anxiety reflected in the scoring
system refers to experienced anxiety, rather than "unconscious
anxiety," that is, the anxiety which has been successfully reduced or
avoided by means of defensive maneuvers (Elizur, 1949) . (See Appendix
D for Elizur's Anxiety Scoring System.)

Just as the scoring criteria for Rorschach anxiety level parallel
the hostility scoring system, so is there a cotparably high interscorer
agreement for this system as well (Cummings, 1954; Elizur, 1949;
Forsyth, 1959; Mogar, 1962; Sanders & Cleveland, 1953). Elizur (1949)
using a group of neurotic subjects comparable to normal subjects on
the basis of age, sex, and I.Q., found that the mean AL score for the
neurotic grwp was 12.5 and the mean AL score for the normal group was
5.2. High and low anxiety college students, determined by their
scores on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, scored 9.88 and 6.42,
respectively, on Anxiety Level (Westrope, 1953) . Delinquent and
nondelinquent adolescents, referred to earlier in the section on
hostility level scoring, produced AL scores of 11.38 and 8.15, in that
order (Gorlow et a1., 1952); whereas grade-school nailbiters scored
11.93 (Cummings, 1954). In an overview of research in this area,
Goldfried and his colleagues (1971) point to some hints of a
developmental trend in the salples of normal subjects, with AL scores
decreasing from the adolescents to the college students to the adults.

More recent research (Aron, 1982) adds further support to the
construct validity of Elizur's anxiety score. The study corpared the
Rorschach protocols of subjects experiencing high and low life—stress

34

conditions, determined on the basis of their extreme scores on a
measure of stressful life events, the College Schedule of Recent
Experience (Anderson, 1972). Subjects in the high stress condition
responded to the Rorschach with significantly more anxious content
(p < .05) than did subjects in the low stress condition.
W

The purpose of the present investigation is to examine the
relationship between parental pathogenesis and the daughters' ego
functioning. Theories have been proposed (Mahler, 1975; Masterson,
1976; Lidz, 1965, 1973) which posit a causal relationship between
parental pathogenecity and poor ego functioning in the offspring that
ranges from difficulties in separating from the parent to schizophrenic
breakdown.

Previous research with the Rorschach factors adequate form
quality (131-3), human movement (M), disordered thinking (DI), proportion
of disorganized to organized coping resources (epfiA), proportion of
mature developrental quality (21), number of responses (3), anxiety
level (AL) , and hostility level (ML) indicate that these factors can
provide important information regarding the subjects' ego functioning.
The present study investigates the relationship between these Rorschach
indices of ego functioning and parental pathogenecity. The
observational measure which is the teachers' ratings of the daughters'
school performance, in relation to their estimated abilities, provides
a further measure of some aspects of the daughters' ego functioning.

Signs of poor ego functioning may indicate that these individuals
are at greater risk for future severe psychopathology. If future
studies confirm that this speculation is valid, then assessment
techniques, such as the TAT and Rorschach, which might be able to

35

single out individuals who are highly pathogenic and/or have poor ego
functioning, could play a useful part in the prevention of serious
psychopathology.

Another purpose of the present study is to extend the research on
pathogenesis. Previous research on pathogenesis has compared normal
to clinical groups and groups with different degrees of
psychopathology. The present study extends the research on
pathogenesis by investigating pathogenesis within a "normal" sarple,
and determining how it relates to several relatively subtle signs of

ego functioning.

36

STRHENENT'OF HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1: There is a negative relationship between level of

pathogenesis of parents and ego functioning in the daughters.

Cperational predictions:

A.

There is a positive correlation between the pathogenesis
score for the parents and (l) anxiety level score, (2)
hostility level score, (3) ratio of epAEA, and (4) the
indices of disordered thinking for the daughters.

There is a negative correlation between the pathogenesis
score for the parents and 131, M, m, and B for the daughters.
There is a negative correlation between pathogenesis (PI) for
the parents and teachers ratings of the daughters' school
performance.

The teacher ratings of better school performance correlate
positively with the Rorschach indices of better ego

functioning for the daughters.

Hypothesis 2: The negative relationship of pathogenesis in the

'mothers to the daughters' level of ego functioning is greater

than that of the fathers'.

Operational prediction:

A.

The pathogenesis scores for the mothers, in contrast to the
fathers, correlate more highly with the indices of ego

functioning in the daughters.

37

 

 

 

Low High
Banners;
W
Exner ' s Ind ices
29 High Low
313. High (below 95%) Low (possible
variability)
2’1 High Low (possible
variability)
3 Medium Low (possible
variability or
no change)
are Low High
122 Low High
Elizur's Indices
AL Low High
EL Low High
W
Thachers' Ratings High Low

 

38

lflififlll

Sibjscta

The subjects were 20 sets of parents and their prepubescent
12-year-old seventh grade daughters. In using a salple of children
who attend the same school, are the sate age, sex, have the same
pubertal status, and have attained the expected grade level for their
age, the study controlled for differences due to normal development
and sex, and minimized differences due to social class and
intelligence. Socioeconomic status (SIB) was determined by the
Hollingshead Index of Social Position (Hollingshead & Redlich, 1958)
which is based on a weighted coibination of the father's level of
occupation and of education. The daughter's intelligence was assessed
by the Thorndike Vocabulary Test (Miner, 1957) a 20-item multiple
choice test (see Appendix F). The number answered correctly was
the score used in the statistical analysis.
Prmedurs

The parents were recruited by telephone from the C.E. MacDonald
Middle School telephone directory in approximately the following
manner:

"I am a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology conducting

a research project that relates parents' and daughters' scores

on projective tests. The projective tests to be used are the

Rorschach ink blot test and the Thematic Apperception Test. For

this research project, I am looking for biological parents, who

39

both live in the home, and their lZ—year-old prepubertal

daughters—prepubertal so that the girls may be as similar as

possible in level of maturity. Does your family meet these
specifications? Are you interested in becoming involved in this
project?”

"This would involve coming to Michigan State University,

Snyder Hall, room 4. You, your husband (or wife), and your

daughter would each be tested individually. This would take

approximately 1 1/2 hours for each person. I would also like you
to bring to the session your child's most recent report card.

The identities of all participants will remain anonymous, and the

results of individual testing will be treated with strict

confidence. At the coipletion of this project, you will receive

a summary of the findings."

Subjects were assessed individually in the following order:
mother, father, daughter. Each subject was seen for approximately 15
minutes prior to testing in order to allay anxiety, establish minimum
rapport, and offer assurances regarding the confidentiality of test
responses. During the first fifteen minutes, the mothers were asked
about any other children living in the home. The fathers were asked
about any other adults living in the home, and the daughters were
asked to name the three most important adults to them. The Thorndike
Vocabulary Test was also administered to the daughters at this time.

The daughters brought with them their most recent report card,
from which the teachers' ratings were recorded. The teachers' ratings
were an observational measure of the daughters' behavior in school
over an extended period of time. The measure was chosen to provide a
further test of the relationship between parental pathogenesis and ego

40

functioning in the daughters and to provide an observational validity
check on the asseserent instruments. Each daughter was rated by her
seven teachers regarding the student's progress in meeting objectives
established for her. Note that these ratings were not measures of
performance against a standard set for all children at that grade
level, but were measures of how closely the students' performances
matched their estimated abilities (see Appendix H).

W- Fathers and mothers were
individually presented with the 20 male and female TAT cards,
respectively, by the investigator. Nofiirective questions were used
sparingly and only when it appeared that the subject had becore
confused in his/her response. Stories were typed on separate sheets
of paper with no identification clues and randomized.

The daughters were assessed with the Rorschach according to
Exner's Comprehensive System (1974). The Rorschach, including free
association and inquiry, was administered. Only those instructions
and questions and encouragetents recomended by Banner (1974) were
used. At no time did the investigator atterpt to facilitate the
scoring by questioning the subject. Personal identification data were
not included on the Rorschach protocols, which were randomized before
being scored.

The questim of possible cmtaminatim, since the investigator
administered the projectives and was aware of the hypotheses, may be
answered as follows. The investigator was not aware of parental
pathogenesis scores at the time of the daughters' Rorschach testing.
Furthermore, all projective testing utilized a side-by-side seating
arrangetent to lessen non-verbal communication, and by using the Exner
system (1974) interaction was minimal and additional respoises were

41

not encouraged. Furthermore, interscorer reliability for the judges
was adequate.

W. The investigator and another doctoral
candidate, who had no knowledge of the hypotheses, scored the
randomized Rorschach protocols in accordance with the Exner system
(1974) and Elizur's content analysis (1949), and the randomized TAT
stories according to Karon's PI (Meyer & Karon, 1967) (see Appendices
B, C, D, E for further information on scoring).

The W was determined from the parents' TAT
stories which were classified as (a) pathogenic, (b) benign, or (c)
unscoreable. Basically, stories were classified as pathogenic if,
when the needs of a dominant individual and a dependent individual
conflicted, the dominant individual indirectly satisfied his/her needs
by manipulating the dependent individual. However, if the dominant
individual acknowledged and/or met the needs of the dependent
individual, the story was scored benign. If there was no interaction,
the story was judged unscoreable. A pathogenic score was tabulated
for each parent using the formula: P/(P-IIB), where P is the number of
stories judged pathogenic and B is the number of stories judged
benign. In addition, an average pathogenic score was determined for
the parents of each child (see Appendix E for the scoring criteria).

The W (Fit). calculated from
the daughters' Rorschach protocols, measures perceptual accuracy. It
is the proportion of pure form answers, which are clearly good in form
fit to the area of the blot, to the total number of pure form
responses.

The W (R) refers to the total number of responses
given in a protocol. The number of responses are simply counted.

42

The W (M) refers to the number of responses

reflecting human movetent of an active or passive nature, where the
moveient has been articulated for the response. The M is scored for
both whole or partial human figures. The total number of such
responses are counted.

The W (29226) is the
proportion of disorganized to organized coping resources. The 22 is
calculated by adding together all of the animal movetent, inanimate
moverent, shading, texture, vista, and achromatic color determinants
(SumEM+M+ Sum of! +I+y +c'). TheEA is calculated by adding
together the sum of human moveient and weighted sum of the chromatic
color determinants (Sum M plus the Sum weighted C) .

The mm (21) scorings refer to responses
manifesting any of the following: perseveration, a cognitive
inflexability; deviant verbalization, distorted language usage or
idiosyncratic modes of expression; incongruous corbination,
condensation of images into an incongruous percept; fabulized
corbination, implausible relationships; autistic logic, strained
unconventional reasoning; or contamination, the fusion of two or more
impressions of a single blot area. The total number of such responses
are counted (see Appendix B for further scoring information).

Win, (In) is the proportion of mature responses
to total number of responses. Mature responses are those in which
portions of the blot area are perceptually articulated and integrated
or coibined into a single percept, or a discrete area of the blot is
selected and articulated so as to erphasize the gross outline and
obvious structural features of the area selected (Exner, Weiner, &
Schuyler, 1978).

43

The W1 (EL) content scoring is calculated by adding
the total number of units, where either one or two units are given for
each hostility-evincing response, depending upon the degree of
hostility expressed. Hostility is scored for (a) hostility expressed
or implied, (b) hostile expressive behavior, (c) responses symbolizing
hostility, and (6) objects of aggression (see Appendix C for further
information on scoring).

The W (AL) content scoring is scored similarly to
that for hostile content. Anxiety is scored for (a) anxiety expressed
or implied, (b) anxious expressive behavior, (c) responses symbolizing
anxiety, and (d) cultural stereotypes of fear (see Appendix D for
further scoring information.

In c

Interscorer reliability for the two judges, regarding the TAT and
Rorschach protocols, was measured by a product-motent correlation.
Scorer reliability was .82 for the pathogenesis scoring of the TAT.
The following correlation coefficients reflect interscorer reliability
computed from the Rorschach protocols: m, = .90, AL = .88, 20. = .80,
m = .89, M = .81, R = 1.0, gpLEA = .73, and QT = .79. Judgeiental
differences in the scorings were discussed and a consensus was reached
for all such scores.

The internal consistency for the teachers' ratings was determined
by the Rude-Richardson method (Ebel, 1965, pp. 326-330). Coefficient
alpha equalled .62. The average of the teachers' ratings for each
daughter was used in the statistical analysis.
WW

To determine whether the observed correlations between
pathogenesis scores, Rorschach scores, and teachers' ratings might

44

actually be attributable to their sharing a common relationship with a
third factor rather than to a causal relationship between the two
variables of research interest, information was obtained on variables
which might affect the variables of interest.

It was considered that the magnitude of a Rorschach variable
might be greater in protocols with a larger number of total responses
therefore 3 was correlated with other Rorschach variables (see Table
2). The variables :11 and m are positively correlated with A (r s .55
and .56, respectively, p < .05). In further corputations involving Edi
and m, B was partialed out. The variables 21, my and AL were
significantly related to R in the negative direction Since Rorschach
protocols with fewer respmses tended to have more incidences of
QT, EL, and AL (r = -.61 and -.67, p < .01; and r = -.49, p < .05, in
order, the significant correlation cannot be due to productivity. The
association between higher 3 and fewer AL, flu and 121‘. responses seems
to be the result of the sore factor, which is better ego functioning.
Likewise, the tendency for protocols with lower 3 to have higher ET,
AL, and EL may be due to the clients' more disturbed ego functioning.
Thus, 3 was not partialled out from further computations involving AL,

HL, andQT.

45

Table 2

 

 

WW
Score DI BL AL some as M m
3 -.61** -.67** -.49* -.16 .55* -.27 .56*

 

Mote. All p's are two-tailed tests of significance.

* p< .05. ** p< .01.

The Thorndike Vocabulary Test (Miner, 1957) (see Appendix F) was
administered to measure the daughters' intelligence. It provided an
increasing score with increasing "intelligence." When correlated with
pathogenesis scores, negative correlations were obtained (see Table 3)
and when correlated with the teachers' ratings, a positive correlation
was obtained (see Table 4); however, none of these correlations
reached the .05 significance level.

Socio—economic status (SIS) was another variable expected to
influence the variables of interest. The Hollingshead Index of Social
Position (Hollingshead & Redlich, 1958), which is based on a weighted
corbination of the fathers' level of occupation and of education,
produces lower Index ratings for higher social standing. Correlations
between SES and the parents' _P_I scores were not significant; however

the correlation between SES and fathers' 21 score (r = .34) and SEE

46

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.820th my mafiaaoumS consume-8o 383m
.oocmowmecwwm mo mumou poawmu-osu mum mum HH<_ .ouoz

 

 

 

 

:i
.8.- mm. rear *3.- «3.- «on. 8.- tamer-am. 2. «me.- tefir int-Mm
u.
a
E E E on 2 era a some as. .E 8 sm
mum moamwaoomoaa easement .mhmaumm .mumauaz_ -
owmno>e
xwch Home HaH _£omncmhom
emu; amm~samos>

-mwfidom smashes

 

mmm .mopcom moccaeaaoucH .Hm .moanmwum> somnomuom pom mmcaumm .mumcomoH consume mcoeomaouuoo
a.oaome

.Ho>oH no. one on useoewecwwm uoc one mcowumaouuoo one .ouoz

 

 

umoH
8.- 2.- 3.- gasses,
oprEHQSH
Ho Ho Ho oucom
Hmuconnm .mponumm .muonyoz
owmuoa<

 

 

mohoom uon oocwmwaaoucu .wnounwsma tow noncom Hm Hmucwumm consume mocwumaouhoo

m «one.

47

and average parental 2; score (r = .36) were close to the critical .05
level for a one-tailed test (r s .38)1 (see Table 5).

Table 5
WW

 

 

Average
Mothers ' Fathers ' Parental
Score PI PI PI
Holl ing shead
Index of SES . 24 . 34 . 36

 

me. The correlations are not significant at the .05 level.

The correlation between SES and the teachers' rating also did not

reach statistical significance (see Table 4).

 

1Since correlations between SES and both fathers' and average
parental PI scores were close to, but still fell short of, the critical
.05 level of significance, correlations between these pathogenesis
scores and the daughters Rorschach scores were corputed, partialing
out the effects of SES (see Appendix G) . Correlations between these
variables, {vith the effects of SES not partialed out, may be found in
Table 6, in the Results section.

48

REHJLTS

The findings are sunmarized in Tables 6, 7, 8, and Figure 1. The
strength of association between measures was determined by Pearson :2
whenever linearity could be assumed (McNenar, 1962). Otherwise, the
correlation ratio was used (Guilford & Fruchter, 1973) . The first
hypothesis, which stated that there is a positive relationship between
parental pathogenesis and indices of poor ego functioning in the
daughters, was confirmed. More specifically:
Hypothesis 1A: ”There is a positive correlation between the
pathogenesis score for the parents and (a) anxiety level score,
(b) hostility level score, (c) ratio of £9135, and (d) the
indices of disordered thinking for the daughters.“ The above
indices of the daughters' ego functioning correlated significantly
in the expected direction with the average pathogenesis score.
Hypothesis 1B: ”There is a negative correlation between the
pathogenesis score for the parents and m, M, m, and B for the
daughters.” The m, m, and B correlated significantly in the

expected direction with the average pathogenesis score. The u did

 

2It is usually assumed that normality and hanoscedasticity are
required for proper use of 1. However, Pitman (1937) proved, by use
of the randomization criterion, that r_ can be used as the most
efficient nonparametric test for association, and that the resulting
coefficient fran any shape distribution can be tested for significance
by referral to the standard tables for r (the distribution of 1's
generated by randomization closely approximates the distribution of 1's
generated by normal curve theory).

49

not correlate in the expected direction and did not reach the
critical .05 level of significance.

Hypothesis 1C: “There is a negative correlation between the
pathogenesis score for the parents' and teachers' ratings of the
daughters' school performance." The teachers' ratings correlated
significantly in the expected direction with the mothers', the
fathers', and the average pathogenesis score.

Hypothesis 1D: "The teachers' ratings of better school performance
correlate positively with the Rorschach indices of better ego
functioning for the daughters." The following indices of the
daughters' ego functioning correlated in the expected direction:
121. EL, AL, B, m, and 131; however, 132 did not reach the critical
.05 level of significance. The MBA and 1!, did not correlate in
the expected direction and were not significant.

The second hypothesis, which stated that the negative relationship of

pathogenesis in the mothers to the daughters' ego functioning is

greater than that of the fathers', was not confirmed. More
specifically:

Hypothesis 2A: "The pathogenesis scores for the mothers, in contrast
to the fathers, correlate more highly with the indices of ego
functioning in the daughters." The mothers' PI correlated more
highly than fathers' PI with the following Rorschach variables:
DI, epAEb, R, and m. The father's PI correlated more highly than
mothers' PI with the following: EL, AL, and 2'13.- A test of
difference determined that correlations involving mothers' and

fathers' PI were significantly different fran one another only

with respect to E11;-

50

‘ -.- D O - -- ‘ A ' - -
.1-. 0 1 ..,- .1..9A\.La’kt.. i.-.,.°_o._00.9,

We:

Table 4 reveals eight strong correlations in the directions that
support the hypothesis that parental pathogenesis is significantly
associated with poor ego functioning in the daughters. Higher
teachers' ratings, which indicated better performances, were associated
with lower levels of disordered thinking (121:) (r = -.65, p < .01),
hostility (EL) (r = -.74, p < .001), and anxiety (AL) (r = -.48,

p < .05) in the students. The proportion of the daughters'
disorganized to organized coping resources score (gum) and nunber of
human movement responses (L1) did not reach significance (r = .13 and
-.08, respectively). The number of Rorschach responses (3) and
proportion of appropriate pure form responses (23) were positively
correlated with teachers' ratings (r = .58 and .59, in that order,

p < .01) .

The correlations between the teachers' ratings and Fit and
(m) are partial correlations with the effects of 3 controlled.
Controlling for the effects of R lowered the correlation with m fran
(r = .72, p < .001) to (r = .59, p < .01) and lowered the correlation
withm from (r = .57, p < .01) to (r = .36, n.s.).

The teachers' ratings add observational data that contribute to
the validity of the parental pathogenesis indices (PI) as well as
Rorschach DI, EL, AL, 3, and 13.3.- Both mothers' and fathers' £1
correlated negatively with teachers' ratings of the daughters (r =
-.49, in both cases, p < .05); however when the average of the mothers'
and fathers' 2; scores were used in the statistical analysis the

level of significance was increased (r = -.62, p < .01).

51

Table 6 smrmarizes the results of correlations between the
parents' pathogenesis scores on the TAT and the Rorschach indices of
the daughters' ego functioning. Partial correlation coefficients are
presented for those Rorschach variables which correlated positively
with R. All Rorschach variables correlate with 21 scores in the
predicted direction except )1, which was expected to correlate

negatively with pathogenesis scores.

 

Table 6
W
W

Score 1:: EL AL 221% B m 14 m

 

Mother .58*** .62*** .44* .51** -.59*** -.13a .40* -.57a**
Father .44* .68**** .59*** .26 -.29 -.7oa**** .02 -.398*

Parental
Average .65*** .81**** .66*** .49** -.56*** -.60a*** .27 -.6Za***

 

Note. All p‘s are one—tailed tests of significance.
aPartial correlation coefficients (3 controlled).

Mothers' PI significantly correlates with all Rorschach variables
except E13,: 121 (r = .58, p < .01), BL (r = .62, p < .01), AL (r = .44,
p < .05), 312135 (r = .51, p_ < .025), R (r = -.59, p < .01), EB. (r =
—.13, n.s.), n (r = .40, p < .05), and m (r = -.57, p < .025). The
fathers' EL significantly correlates with five of the eight Rorschach
variables: 21: (r = .44, p < .05), m (r = .68, p < .001), AL (r =

52

.59, p < .01), MBA (r = .26, n.s.), R (r = -.29, n.s.), B}. (r =
-.70, p < .001), 111 (r = .02, n.s.), and m (r = -.39, p < .05). The
data suggest that 39121.): R, and 14 correlate with mothers' 2; but not
fathers' 21; whereas :11 correlates with fathers' EL and not with
mothers' 2;. For other variables (m, an, AL, and m) the strength of
the correlations differ between fathers' and mothers' 2;. Mothers' £1
correlates more strongly with 12! and m, and fathers' P; correlates
higher with H]; and AL.

In four instances, when the average parental EL was correlated
with the Rorschach variables, higher correlations were produced than
those found with either mothers' or fathers' EL Average parental EL
produced significant correlations with all variables except :4: 121!

(r = .65, p < .01). an (r = .81, p < .001). AL (r = .66, p < .01),
some (r = .49, p < .025), B (r = -.56, p < .01), m (r = -.60,
p < .01), M (r = .27, n.s.), and m (r = -.62, p < .01).

The hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between
parental pathogenesis and indices of poor ego functioning in the
daughter was essentially confirmed. The data also show that
pathogenesis in the father is a factor that contributes to poor ego
development. Pathogenesis in the mother may be more significantly
influential since mothers' £1, correlates significantly with seven
Rorschach variables; whereas fathers' EL correlates significantly with
five. The data does not confirm hypothesis 2A which states that the
pathogenesis scores for the mothers, in contrast to the fathers,
correlate more highly with indices of the daughters' ego functioning,
since in three instances it is the fathers' pathogenesis scores which
correlate more highly whereas the remaining five indices of ego
functioning correlate more highly with mothers' pathogenesis score.

53

In order to determine if the correlations between the daughters'
Rorschach variables and the mothers' PI were significantly different
from those with the fathers' PI, the r's were transformed to their
corresponding 2 values and the zobs were computed. A non-directional
test at the .05 level requires an observed zobs in excess of 1 1.96.
As can be seen from Table 7, only the correlations with Fit reach

significance, suggesting that the probability is very remote that

these two correlation coefficients could be drawn from a cannon

population purely on the basis of sampling error.

Table 7

 

121 EL AL 39135 B 2+3 2! m

 

Z .55 '030 -060 087 101 -2015 1018 069
obs

 

The other contradiction of the hypotheses involves the Rorschach
variable M which was expected to correlate negatively with EL, with
some possible variability. To help clarify the relationship between a
and 21 the data were plotted (see Figure l) . Average parental 21
scores were grouped and points within the columns were averaged to
produce the line of best fit. To explore the possibility of a
significant nonlinear relationship, the correlation ratio was performed
(n = .40, n.s.). The data were also split at the median average EL
score, and a correlation coefficient was determined for each half.

The lower average 2; scores correlated negatively with u (r = -.25,

ms.) , and the higher average 21 scores correlated positively with M

54

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H3533 owmsog can omcommmu 38966 82!: . 33% :83qu 3595333 och.

pmwmpmté mouoom mammgweumm .mumfimm paw m . .8an

mmfaw. owfon. mmfam. 05:00. mofao. 83.3. mmfam. enfolu. 33.3. 33.3. mm....nm.

 

 

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sq: u; sesigod

55

Table 8

Descriptive Data on the Subject Population1

 

 

Path. Score

Fathers
Path. Score

Mbthers
Average
Path. Score
Teacher's
Rating
Intelligence
Adults in
Home

Parental

GP/EA
Children
in Home

FtZ
11
HQ

 

1.2 18 .76 3 .72

m
w
\J
\D

.81 3.0

.o
~4
U

#40)

2 5 10 11 1.1 17 .78 4 .76 .70 .69 .70 2.3 7 69 2 sis uncle

2.2 6 92 1 bro

2.9 8 73

3.4 7 83

3.0 9 64

2.4 8 55 1 sis

2.3 8 73 J sis grand-

anther

2.8 7 78
Ffinister

lfiather

10

11

.90

.89

20

19

.82

.81

.95

.97

.53

.38

.43

3.2

3.5

74

32

Father
Uhcle

rtnixn:
Father

Grand-
anther

Mother
Father
Neighbor
lumber
Father
Aunt

Mother
Father
TeacherN

Ptmher
Father
Neighbor
Mother
Father
Aunt

Ptmher
Father
Aunt

htnfiex
Father
Uhcle

Pbmher
Father
TeacherM

Mother
Father

Neighbor

12 2 9 10 .97 19 .80 3 .89 .60 .33 .47 2.7 7 55

13 0 5 9 .93 20 .85 2 .85 .44 .43 .44 3.5 8 78

aunt
(18 yrs}

14 2 7 8 .95 18 .83 3 .94 .47 .31 .39 3.5 6 63 1 bro

15 1 6 7 .88 20 .82 2 .90 .35 .39 .37 3.6 7 54 1 sis

16 0 6 5 .92 20 .80 2 .85 .28 .47 .37 2.9 9 69

17 0 5 8 .90 19 .83 3 .95 .33 .35 .34 3.4 10 87

18 1 6 8 .89 18 .84 3 .89 .44 .20 .32 3.2 8 73 1 bro

19 2 3 9 .93 21 .88 2 .90 .35 .29 .32 3.7 11 32

adopted

1 sis

20 0 4 6 .90 21 .86 3 .95 .31 .30 .31 3.8 8 51

Median 1.3 7.5 8.8 .93 19 .80 3 .89 .47 .44 .48 3.1 8 71

 

1Ordered from highest to lowest average narental pathogenesis score.

2Subjects were lZ-year-old fenales.

56

(r = .65, p < .05). That is, in the higher range of average 2;, a
greater 21 score was associated with larger :4.

Since higher correlations were found more often between average
21_scores, rather than either the mothers' or fathers' 21_scores, and
other variables, the data was reordered from highest to lowest average
21 score to reveal any trends in the actual scores and demographic
variables that.may have occurred. Table 8 lists the 20 female seventh
grade subjects beginning with the subject.whose parents' average 21
score was the highest and ending with the subject.whose parents'
average 21 score was the lowest.

Reading across the table it may be observed that the Rorschach of
the subject whose parents produced the highest average 21 score (.81)
produced 4 responses reflecting disordered thinking GQT), 11 responses
reflecting hostile content (HLJ, 11 responses reflecting anxious
content (AL), an en greater than EA (MA = 1.2), 18 total responses
(3), a proportion of adequate pure form responses (Fit = .76), 3 human
movement (M) responses, and a proportion of good developmental quality
location selections (DQ_= .72). Her mother and father each scored high
in pathogenesis (21 = .83 and .79, respectively). The average of her
teachers' ratings was 3 on a scale from 1 to 4. She answered 9 items
correctly out of 20 on the Thorndike Intelligence Test. Her family
socio-economic status was computed to be 73 (note that lower scores
reflect higher SES). Besides herself there were three brothers and one
sister at home, and no other adults except the mother and father. When
asked who the three most important adults to her were, she responded:
her mother, father, and a male neighbor. Thus, the table can be read

across to see the actual data on each subject. Additionally the

57

columns can be scanned downward to see how the actual scores vary in
relation to the decreasing average 21, scores.
Wayne

The Rorschach variables 121‘, EL, AL, 3213A, R, and 129, correlated,
in accord with prediction, with the mothers' 2; scores; whereas EB. did
not reach significance and M correlated in the opposite direction.
The fathers' 2; scores correlated, as expected, with DI, EL, AL, F11,
and 129.- Correlations with the following variables were not
significant: £13138. 8. and 11- Using the average of the mothers' and
the fathers' 21 scores in the statistica1 analysis resulted in an
increase in the nunber of significant correlations, in the expected
direction. Average parental 21 scores correlated with 1211, EL, AL,
EPZEB: .8. £23.. and 112. When the data was split at the median, the 10
higher average parental 21 scores correlated positively with 21;
whereas the 10 lower scores resulted in a nonsignificant correlation.
The teachers' ratings correlated in accord with prediction, with the
mothers', fathers', and average 2; scores, 12:11, EL, AL, 3, and F11.
The variables MBA. 14. and 133 did not reach significance.

58

DIWSSICN

The results provided support for the hypothesis that pathogenesis
in the parents is associated with indices of poor ego functioning in
the daughters. The justification for the above conclusion regarding
the validity of the hypothesis will be apparent once the results are
considered in detail, in particular, the results concerning the
relatively high M, response in daughters of highly pathogenic parents,
which will be considered in a later section of the discussion.

The hypothesis stating that higher positive correlations would be
found between maternal pathogenecity, versus paternal pathogenecity,
and indices of the daughter's poor ego-functioning, were not confirmed.
High correlations were found between several Rorschach factors and
fathers' PI scores. The reason why some Rorschach variables correlated
more highly with mothers' PI and others with fathers' PI cannot be
answered by this study. It is important to note that only mothers' and
fathers' PI scores correlated with Efl were found to be significantly
different from one another. I can only speculate that this difference
may be due to extraneous factors or individual characteristics within
the particular population sampled or to the differential effects of
male versus female parent due to culturally acquired roles and/or
genetic factors.

Information regarding other adults and children in the hane and
the daughters' selection of the three most inportant adults in her
life was obtained to help explain the results. Specifically,

59

nonsignificant findings might have been explained by a large proportion
of the daughters relying on adults other than the mother and father in
important ways. However, in accord with the significant findings, the
data reveal (see Table 8) that the mother and father were routinely
included in the three most important adults selected.

. C '
:7 -. . .0 . 9A‘!.“. .2 ‘ . .0. .9 ‘ '10 l'et.

Wings
W. Tables 4, 6, and 8 show that subjects

A. -_ 9!.

whose parents score low in pathogenesis attain relatively low BL
scores, suggesting that they harbor few feelings of resentment and
enmity. In contrast, the subjects whose parents scored high in
pathogenesis reveal distorted attitudes toward people. They speak of
figures being at the mercy of unknown or unreal attackers, make
critical or derogatory statements, and give synbolic responses
sUggesting hostility. The students giving fewer of these signs of
hostility were rated more favorably by their teachers, suggesting that
these feelings of resentment and enmity interfere with the students'
ability to perform according to their potential.

W. The daughters of parents who
scored low on the PI, were able to maintain a logical or realistic
way of dealing with their experiences, normal for their age group. At
the other extreme, the daughters of high PI parents showed some
impairment to their cognitive operations. There was a tendency for
these subjects to reveal a kind of cognitive inflexibility which
manifested itself as a strong preoccupation with certain themes. They
tended to use distorted language, condensed their impressions and
ideas into percepts that violated realistic considerations, or

explicated a strained reasoning when justifying an answer. These

60

signs of disordered thinking correlated negatively with the teachers'
ratings, that is, students who showed little or no signs of 121 were
rated more highly by their teachers.

MW. Low PI parents had daughters who scored
relatively low in AL, reflecting their levels of internal arousal or
anxiety. These subjects also performed better in school according to
the teachers' ratings. Responses suggesting danger, fear, and
unpleasant emotions, either explicitly or symbolically, were found
more often in the protocols of daughters whose parents scored
relatively high on the PI and who were rated more poorly by their
teachers.

MW. According to the distribution of m
scores, the daughters of low PI parents appear to be brighter and more
psychologically "effective." The more primitive, rigid, diffuse sort
of cognition reflecting the lower cognitive functioning expressed by
low 132 was found more frequently among the daughters of those who
scored relatively high on the PI.

W. Low £11 reflects a disturbance in the
reality testing functions of the ego and is one of the hallmarks of
psychosis. This loss of accuracy in perception was encountered more
frequently in the daughters of parents, particularly fathers, who
scored higher on the PI. 0n the other hand, daughters of lower
scoring parents, by scoring relatively high in Efl, reveal greater
capacity for a critical and objective appraisal of stimuli. These
subjects were more able totdirect their attention and ideation to the
elements of control, discriminating judgement, and regard for the
standards of the environment. It is not surprising to find that

teachers tended to rate the performance of these students better.

61

We. The danghters of parents,

particularly mothers, who scored relatively low on the PI, were more
productive, suggesting a certain flexibility of response and tolerance
of ambiguity that enabled them to utilize their perceptual-cognitive
resources with efficiency. These daughters tended to be more often
rated by their teachers as working closer to their potential.

The B correlates positively with teachers' ratings and negatively
with PI scores, although the fathers' PI does not reach the accepted
level of significance. Pathogenesis in the mother may be more
influential on determining the level of this factor. The average PI
significantly correlates in the negative direction with 3, suggesting
that relatively high PI parents have daughters who are less able to

respond to the task of taking the Rorschach which required a measure of

ingenuity in a novel situation, a flexibility of attitudes, tolerance
of ambiguity, and an expenditure of effort (Neiger, Sleman, & Quirk,
1965) . That is, mastery and canpetence and adaptive regression in the
service of the ego, the principle ego functions expressed in B,
correlate positively with teachers' ratings and negatively with PI.
W The em
correlated positively with PI, although the fathers' PI did not reach
significance; whereas this factor seemed to have little impact on the
teachers' ratings. The data suggest that parents scoring lower on the
PI have daughters whose affects and inner experience are more organized
and available to them. In contrast the daughters of higher scoring
parents have more unorganized needs and painful affects that work on
the individual rather than for her. Since these canponents are
relatively stable over time unless sane reconstructive impact occurs

(Exner, 1974) , there is reason for concern for those subjects whose e2

62

exceeds EA. These subjects are likely to benefit from long-term
psychotherapy in which they would be helped to organize more resources.

W. In this study, the M response seems to
represent diverse psychological activity. The unexpected 1’, results
may be explained in the following manner. The daughters of parents
scoring relatively low on the PI were able to engage in the
"internalization" phenomenon, represented by M, in a way which was
also affectively adaptive (Klopfer, 1954) . For these subjects a delay
in response may be provoked by sophisticated cognitive functions that
permit a more consciously determined response to occur. These M's
tended to occur to whole 01) or carmon detail (Q) areas and convey a
sense of cooperativeness; whereas the 24's of subjects whose parents
scored relatively high on the PI, frequently occurred to unusual
detail (pd) areas and involved aggressive and/or frightening content.

Contrasting the :1 form quality of the four subjects whose parents
produced the highest average PI with the four whose parents had the
lowest average PI, we find that the proportion of good form 21 answers
is .71 for the former and .82 for the latter. This difference is
similiar to the differences in E3. found in these groups.

The low correlation found for nunber of M responses may be due to
the inclusion in the sample of both, subjects whose low number of 3
responses (see subjects 7 and 8, Table 8) and subjects whose higher
nunber of :4 responses, reflect disturbed ego functioning (see subjects
1-4) . These latter subjects will be considered in more detail in a
later section of this discussion.
W

The present study adds support to the theories of Mahler (1975),

Lidz (1965, 1973), and Masterson (1976), which focus on the influence

63

of parents in determining the psychological adjustment of their
offspring. A common theme which runs through all of their descriptions
of faulty parent-child interactions is that when the parents' ego
needs conflict with those of the child, thejparent will try to meet
their own needs regardless of the effects on the child. For example,
this is evident in Mahler's (1975) description of a mother who
interrupts her child in his autonomous activity tO‘piCk him up and hug
him because she needs it, or in Lidz's (1965) description of a father
who derogates the mother, who disagrees with him, and tries to
influence the daughter to take sides with him against the mother,
while he also tries to use the daughter as an emotional replacement
for the wife.

Mahler's studies involve nonclinical samples, Masterson's are
focused on outpatients diagnosed as borderline, and the offspring in
Lidz's studies are schizophrenic. The common theme is the motivational
pattern or attitude of the parent. By scoring for the pathogenic
attitude and correlating it with various signs of the daughters' ego
functioning, this study has shown that parental pathogenesis positively
correlates with signs of disturbed ego functioning, and although this
does not prove the above theorists to be correct, it adds support for
their theories.

We

In essence the pathogenic parent.defends against his or her own
anxieties by taking from the child; whereas the more benign parent
interacts more often in the best interests of the child. Pathogenesis
is conceived of as a set of defenses which the parent is not generally

aware of. By using others in their defense against their own problems,

64

pathogenic parents may be able to ward off more overt signs of
pathology in themselves.

The present study confirms that a range of pathogenesis scores
may be found within a nonclinical population. However, it cannot be
said that the daughters, of the parents who scored high in
pathogenesis, have pathology, since none of them were grossly impaired,
had been hospitalized for a psychological disturbance and each one had
attained the expected grade level for her age. Outwardly, each one
seemed to be performing adequately. A longitudinal study would
indicate whether the daughters of high pathogenesis parents were more
likely to develop serious psychopathology in the future.

The teachers' ratings were not specifically a measure of
pathology. These behavioral observations more accurately assessed the
students' ability to be productive, adapt to the situation, perceive
accurately, and organize and canmunicate ideas effectively - all of
which are aspects of the individuals' ego functioning and are reflected
in several of the Rorschach variables.

One of the Rorschach variables reflects a type of primitive
drive-daninated thinking (Elizur's Hostility Scale), which sane authors
have related to desireable personality characteristics. For example,
Woody (1981) notes Getzels and Jackson's study where among subjects of
above average intelligence, highly creative (and relatively less
intelligent) adolescents expressed more aggression and violence than
less creative (and more intelligent) adolescents. However, Woody also
mentions several other studies in which primitive drive-daninated
thinking was not associated with creativity and Gray's suggestion that
the positive relationship found between creativity and primary process
is the result of a canmon variable, productivity. Woody also notes a

65

study by Rychlack and O'Leary in which more socially inappropriate
drive material came fran lower-SE5 children than higher—SE8 children,
and was related “to the fact that low-SES people are Open, honest,
sincere, and straightforward."

In response to the suggestion that high scores on Elizur's
Hostility Scale are a sign of creativity, honesty, and sincerity,
observe that Elizur's hostility content scoring has been modified to
emphasize particular kinds of hostile content associated with
psychopathology in children (Crain & Smoke, 1981) and does not measure
aggressive drive, per se. The present study considers relatively high
hostility level (11,) scores a sign of poor ego functioning,
particularly when accanpanied by poor form and developmental quality,
elevated g2 in relation to EA, and indices of disordered thinking
because these latter signs indicate that the individual's higher
cognitive functioning is unable to exert adequate control over the
primitive drive-related mentation.

The present study, being correlational, does not confirm that
pathogenic parents cause the disturbances in ego functioning that
their daughters seem to have. The possible contribution of genetic
factors has not been ruled out. Moreover there may be sane influence
fran the daughter which "pulls," to sane degree, the pathogenic style
of relating from the parents. Nonetheless, the most probable
interpretation of the data is that the defenses of the parents cause,
at least to sane degree, the ego disturbance of the daughters.

It is hypothesized that the lZ-year-old daughter is no longer
simply an innocent victim of deprivation and is very much involved in
the quest to satisfy her security needs, bolster her faltering ego and

defend against further onslaught. Her perceptions of the world are

66

defined by the first world she knew, that which existed within her
earliest experience in the family, and her means of dealing with that
world were learned during her development by observing the defenses
used by her parents. If she can survive the pathogenic family
environment by not becaning psychotic, by separating enough to
establish a family of her am, she may be freer to use the defenses
she has learned from her parents and becane the pathogenic parent of
the next generation.

Previous research (Meyer & Karon, 1967; Mitchell, 1968, 1969) has
emphasized the significant connection between the pathogenic mother
and schizophrenia in the offspring. While the present study is in
accord with those studies, it highlights the importance of the father
for adequate ego functioning in adolescent daughters. Theoretically,
the essential role of the father in the development of the child has
been focused on in Lidz's (1965) study of seventeen families with
schi20phrenic offsprings.

The seventeen fathers were found to exert important and often
disturbing influence within the family. Lidz (1965) contends that the
father plays an essential role in the development of the child. He is
the first intruder into the child's feelings of unity with the mother,
and the child should identify and develop a feeling of security with
him. The father also has an inportant influence on the mother's
ability to be secure in her mothering role. Fathers who resented and
became rivals of the child or of the mother were cannon in Lidz's
study. These fathers were often unable to support the mother in her
role and share her with the child.

The mother is the main figure for identification for the daughter,
however the worth of the mother as a love object and a sheltering

67

figure cannot be separated from the father's attitude toward her. In
order for her to be an adequate model for identification for the
daughter, the mother must be appreciated by the father. The father
should also be a suitable early love object, so that the daughter may
seek to gain the love of a man by becaning a woman like the mother;
but at the same time there must be no confusion of the generations
between parents and children. For normal development to occur, the
child must know that s/he cannot take one parent's place with the
other.

Fathers studied by Lidz (1965) whocanpeted as a son of the wife,
or remained a passive child displaced in the wife's affection by his
child, or, at the other extreme, sought to substitute a daughter or
son for his wife, threatened the division between generations which
offered the child security against incestuous and castration anxieties.
For example, the fathers of sane of the female schizophrenic patients
were in constant conflict with their wives, undercutting their
authority and derogating their human worth, while at the same time
favoring the daughter and trying to win her over to their own side of
the controversy. Furthermore, the fathers were highly inconsistent
and their demands were dependent upon their manentary neurotic or
psychotic needs. Lidz (1965) concludes, based on a survey of fifty
families, that ". . .the paternal influences are noxious as frequently
as are the maternal.” In accord with his conclusions, the present
study has revealed several strong correlations between father's, as
well as mother's, PI scores and indices of the daughter's ego

functioning .

68

' n' ' F P oco s

Since the result involving the M score was not as predicted, the
individual Rorschach protocols were examined more closely to shed
light on the meaning of the M result. The four protocols belonging to
subjects 1, 2, 3, and 4 (see Table 8) had relatively high L1 associated
with high parental pathogenesis. A closer look reveals that on these
protocols color is rarely integrated into the responses, animal
movement (EM) is relatively low and inanimate movement (m) is elevated,
as well as achranatic color 51, shading (X), and texture (I) . The
excessive Q is thought to reflect "feelings of rejection often
expressive of true depression" (Francis-Williams, 1968). The excessive
1 (i.e., smoke, clouds) may be an expression of uncertainty and anxiety
which is supported by AL. The low EM may suggest a paucity of
spontaneity and zest, unusual for a person of this age. Color, when it
occurs, is often not incorporated into a scorable response (i.e., "I
like pink"). One subject produced no color responses, which suggests a
failure in normal growth in flexibility and adaptability and perhaps a
retreat fran relations with the outside world and a repression or
denial of the auctions normally aroused by color.

For these four subjects M may reflect the ability to use fantasy
as a defense mechanism: an attempt to cope with the pressures of the
environment by apparent conformity while protecting an inner system of
values or by presenting sanething of their own inner life and
withdrawing from the reality of the test situation.

Several of these )1 responses involved poor use of form, human
details (i.e., a fist with a nail protruding fran between the fingers),
and sinister or unrealistic figures (i.e., "the shadow lord"). There

was also a tendency to relate the 11 response to small or unusual

69

details and to perseverate on certain themes (i.e., two people
connected together as a single entity and ”smashed“ guitars,
butterflies, bears, etc.). The increased use of blackness and
reduction in color suggests a tendency to perceive the‘world as an
unsafe place to allow much feeling--it suggests the character of a
limited and emotionally impoverished person.

One of these subjects, who'was apparently intelligent, seemed to
struggle to retain a semblance of normality throughout the test. She
gave on the whole, a mixture of very good and very poor form level.
Her response to'Card‘v, which follows, suggests that the emotions
aroused by the cards had for the moment.broken down her capacity for
good intellectual functioning. "It looks like it has something to»do
with a rabbit. There's the ears and there's the legs and here's
flight. It's in flight. It's going. It's fright too because the ears
are straight up. I can see the back of his head focused ahead and all
this in here is unidentifiable flesh. He must have rabbit's
feet-paws. A.couple of different sets of them." In the inquiry, she
continued, ”I can see fear in here. He's alert, his ears are alert,
and his feet, they look scared. Here (she points to the trunk of the
body) this looks dead. You see a rabbit's leg and some flesh and
blood or something, some part of his body. I can't.identify how it
all fits together, but it's rabbitlike. This is the back of him and
he's in motion, this part (points to the head), but this part (points
to the trunk of the body) is not moving, its lying on the ground.”

Her response to this card, most popularly responded to as anbat
or a butterfly, reflects soner"cognitive slippage." She has failed to
maintain a logical or realistic way of dealing with her experience and

one can speculate that it reflects a self reference. Her image of a
70

scared and wounded rabbit (ears alert, head racing in flight, legs
innubilized with fear, body mutilated and dead) may reflect her
reaction to a frightening environment where she must be always alert.
The deadness may refer to her deadened emotions or the psychic damage
that she perceives has been done to her. I would speculate that her
anxiety seriously interferes with her ability to maintain adequate ego
functioning and defenses under stress.

As a final consideration, before leaving these subjects whose
parents scored highest in pathogenesis, the first three subject's
responses to the “father" and "mother” cards are considered below.
Cards IV and VII "pull" for responses that.directly or symbolically
relate to masculinity and femininity, respectively. The more
dysfunctional a child or adolescent's relationship is with his/her
parents, the more likely the child/adolescent selects Card IV as the
“father" or Card‘VII as the "mother" card (Hayden, 1981). It is
purported that the percepts projected onto either of these two cards
represent a significant motivational process (Schafer, 1954).

Subject (1) gave the following response to Card IV. "I see a
giant. There's his feet and arm.and head. His head up there is
really small because its far away. He's sitting on top of a tree
stump that has some kind of claws. He looks like he's.been'burned.
He's all crusty like charcoal. He's got a head like an insect. He's
holding up two things on his shoulders. Candles, maybe.” During the
inquiry, she said, "He's holding his shoulders up to support those
things. He looks like a burnt piece of paper at the edges. His feet
are all burnt-here to his waist."

She gave the following response to Card VII. "It looks like Mt.

Rushmore. There's the faces carved. YOu can only see the front part.

71

Here's a valley and water. The faces look really old. They've
started to decay." During the inquiry she said, "Its darker in sane
places so it looks like different faces. Maybe there's the mouth
part, nose, but I can't tell, its starting to decay. All this here is
the mountain. You can see down in the valley. I think its mountains
because of the color, grey, like rock."

Subject (2) responded in the following manner to Card IV. "Looks
like the shadow lord or Darth Vader. Looks sort of evil, like a
phantan. Looks like it might be a spirit. The arms are missing." She
said the following during the inquiry. "The shadow lord is the ghost
of the future. He doesn't have a definite shape. This is the head.
This could be the eyes and the arms. It looks like just a cloak and
arms, but you can't see than. This is sort of like the eyes here, but
its like a mask. It seans evil because there is sanething caning out
here of the arms." Her first response to Card VII was only that, "It
looks like a cactus." During the inquiry she elaborated a little.
"You know. It's in a pot. It has arms that grow all over the place,
with prickers on them. It's bumpy all over."

Subject (3) gave the following response to Card IV. "This
raninds me of riding in an airplane, looking down at a river in the
center with cliffs or rocks on either side because of how its darker
here." During the inquiry she explained further. "Looking down you
see different shades. This part looks dark to me. Just looks deeper
like a river. The lighter and darker raninds me of looking down at a
river and rocks and a valley."

She responded in the following way to Card VII. "Well, I kind
of see faces, now. Men's faces and those are ladies' faces above
than, just kind of growing out of the men's faces." During the inquiry

72

she continued. "This looks like hair sticking out kind of in a pony
tail. Here are the noses. These ladies heads are caning out of the
men's heads. Here's hair sticking out in front, the forehead of the
man's head, his eyes and nose. It's like the ladies' heads are on t0p
of the men's heads-just balancing there.”

Note the use of achranatic color, texture, and vista in these
responses. This suggests a "toned down" affective experience and a
hesitancy to directly express affect. There are needs for affective
interpersonal contact, but perhaps at an immature level. Probably
most salient, is the painful quality of the affective experience. The
two responses including vista (Subject 1, Card VII and Subject 3, Card
IV) are rare and are cause for concern. These responses suggest that
the subjects are distancing thanselves from their problans. There may
be a painful introspective process that involves depression of affect
and feelings of inferiority.

The description of the male figures (Subject 1 and 2, Card IV)
suggest sinister qualities but also an apparent lack of power. For
example, the giant, with the head of an insect, sitting on a stump
with claws must hold his shoulders up to support candles. He's
already burnt fran the waist down, and the shadow lord or Darth Vader
is armless. Moreover, the substance caning out of the arms of the
shadow lord, the decaying faces (Subject 1, Card VII), and the ladies'
heads growing out of the men's heads (Subject 3, Card VII) suggest
difficulty in the area of body boundaries, the subject's feeling that
her body exterior is of little protective value (Goldfried, Stricker,

& Weiner, 1971) .

73

SUM'SARY AND CMUSIGQS

The present study investigated ego functioning in 12—year-old
daughters whose parents revealed various degrees of pathogenesis. The
nature of the problan upon which the study was focused was whether
relatively high levels of parental pathogenesis were associated with
poorer ego functioning in the daughters and lower levels of parental
pathogenesis were associated with better ego functioning in the
daughters. The question of whether pathogenesis in the mother, in
contrast to pathogenesis in the father, was more closely related to the
daughters' disturbance in ego functioning was also investigated.

Projective tests were used since poor ego functioning might be
concealed by a "false self" and pathogenesis is often accanpanied by
verbalized concern about the well-being of the depaident individual
(VandenBos & Karon, 1971) . Level of pathogenesis was determined by
the pathogenesis index (PI) of the TAT; whereas aspects of the
daughters' ego functioning were determined by the following Rorschach
variables: disordered thinking, anxiety level, hostility level,
number of Rorschach responses, proportion of appropriate pure form,
nunber of human movanent responses, proportion of disorganized to
organized coping resources, and developmental quality.

Guntrip (1969) contends that poor ego development is basic and
causal for all kinds of personality disorder. Mahler's (1975) studies
have shown that ego development does not proceed normally when mothers

interact with their young children according to their own needs to

74

maintain their equilibrium and disregard their children's needs.
Moreover, Lidz (1965) points to the positive molding forces that exist
within the family. The child learns to use paralogical ways of
thinking, to relinquish reality-testing, to deny or distort, and to
distrust verbal camnunication within the family through interactions
with parents who use such defenses. It's not surprising that Albee
(1969) found poorer intellectual performance in children who would
later becane schizophrenic.

The PI has been used successfully to differentiate groups of
mothers of schizophrenics from mothers of normals (Meyer & Karon,
1967; Mitchell, 1968) and to differentiate child-abusing mothers from
controls (Melnick & Hurley, 1969) . The present study extends the
research on pathogenesis by investigating the range of parental
pathogenesis within a nonclinical sample, and correlating the mothers',
the fathers', and the average parental PI scores with the daughters'
Rorschach scores. Thus, the present study looks for relatively subtle
signs of the quality of ego functioning (Rorschach scores in a group
of "normals” versus clinical/control groups) and relates the various
levels of ego functioning to the various levels of mothers', fathers',
and average PI.

The fathers' pathogenesis was found to be more highly related to
the daughters' ego functioning than expected. High correlations were
found between fathers' PI and DI, EL, AL, £31, and m. In accord with
prediction the mothers' PI correlated significantly with 121, EL AL,
22138: B. and m. The average of both parents PI led to an increase
in significant correlations in the predicted direction. Average PI
correlated significantly with the following Rorschach variables: 121,
EL, AL, eplEA, B, 1:31, and m. Teachers' ratings of the daughters

75

corroborated the above findings since ratings correlated significantly
in the expected direction with mothers' PI, fathers' PI, average
parental PI, and the following Rorschach variables from the daughters'
protocols: III, E, AL, 3, and L1.

The M response was considered in more detail by interpreting its
neaning on several individual protocols. ‘When studied in this manner,
the poorer quality M responses were found among the daughters of
parents who scored relatively high on the PI and the more integrated M
responses were found among the daughters of parents who scored
relatively low on the PI. Protocols of the four subjects whose
parents scored highest on the PI were»described in more detail.
Included in the description of these protocols were the subjects'
responses to the mother (Card‘VII) and the father (Card IV) cards.

It was concluded that there is a positive correlation between
parental pathogenesis and indices of poor ego functioning in the
daughters. The‘daughters' poor ego functioning was indicated by both
the Rorschach scores and teachers' ratings. The study indicated that
pathogenesis in the father is a factor significantly associated with
poor ego functioning in the daughters. The PI and the Rorschach
factors 21, AL, EL, 3, F13, and DR sean to be sensitive enough to pick
up signs of pathogenesis and ego functioning, respectively, in a

noncl inical population .

76

APPENDICES

APPBQDIX A

Projection

The term projection is often considered a misnaner when applied
to what has becane known as projective techniques. However, Rabin
(1960) contends that critics of the use of the term "seem to be
attached to a rather circumscribed definition of projection. They
consider it only in a pathogenic context, i.e., as a defense mechanism
described by Freud and by psychoanalytic theory. Closer examination
and more canplete scrutiny of Freud's writings will reveal that he
attributed a broader and more extended meaning to the term projection"
(Abt & Bellak, 1950) .

Rapaport (1952) has also pointed out that a whole range of
phenanena is reflected in the psychoanalytic use of the term
projection. He states that "...phenanena subsumed under the
psychoanalytic conception of projection... (are) paranoid projection,
infantile projection, projection in transference phenanena..." He
further elaborates by pointing out that these phenanena "...are rather
a graduated continuum which becanes progressively more general
extending from the externalization of a specific type of tension in
paranoid projections to that of any kind of tension in infantile
projection, to that of a whole system of attitudes and tensions in
transference phenanena, to where it imperceptibly shades into the
externalization in the form of a 'private world' defined by the
organized principles of one's personality."

Rabin (1960) suggests that the broader term “externalization" is
more appropriate in the case of projective techniques, since it avoids

the constricting misconception of projection as a mere defense

77

mechanism. In this connection, Rabin (1960) also notes others who
have been concerned with a more precise designation of the processes
involved in projection techniques. Bellak (Abt & Bellak, 1950), for
instance, writes of "apperceptive distortions” and Cattell (Anderson &
Anderson, 1951) of "dynaception" and "misperceptions." Rabin (1960)
asserts that "the need for this modified terminology is obviated when
we consider the process of externalization as a continuum and its
involvement in the broad range of perceptual tasks, from.the more
strictly cognitive, with highly structured material, to the more
apperceptive or misperceptive, with unstructured or less structured

stimulus materials."

78

APPEDDIXB

Exner's Scorings for Disordered Thinking

Hermann:

Perseveration reflects a kind of cognitive "inflexibility" which may
relate to a strong preoccupation or to a more severe form of impairment
in which the cognitive operation becanes very concrete. There are two
kinds of perseveration either of which should be scored PSV.

W: These are responses that use exactly the
same location, determinant(s) , content score, DQ and FQ scores, and
the sane Z and P scoring. The content may change slightly but ranains
in the sane general content category. For example, ”This could be a
bat,” would be scored Wo Fo A P 1.0. Following this, “It could be a
butterfly too," would be scored Wo Fo A P 1.0 PSV.

Won: Content perseveration may be scored for
responses that are not consecutive, and may even be separated by
several cards. These are answers in which the subject identifies an
object as being the sane one seen earlier. The scoring may be
different for the new answer than for the answer in which the object
was perceived originally. For instance, a subject reports ”No people
fighting" on Card II, and then, when shown Card III says, "Oh, it's
the sane people, the fight is over now and they're bowing to each
other." PSV would be assigned as a special score for the answer to
Card III.

II JlZlJ' I'

There are three categories of unusual verbalizations, each of which
reflects sane “strange" or disordered thinking operation. The three
categories are deviant verbalizations, inappropriate cmbinations, and
autistic logic. Multiple scorings should be avoided in this area,
that is, the scorer should select the category which best identifies
the answer for any single response.

WW5: The UV answers are characterized by distorted
language usage or idiosyncratic modes of expression that impede the
subject's ability to cannunicate clearly.

A queer response appears to result fran the subject's failure to
maintain an appropriate set in talking about what he is responding to.
For instance, "A crab but I was hoping for an octopus," or ”That's
like a monster that no one has ever seen."

The second form of deviant verbalization is the use of odd language
that cannot be justified in terms of subcultural idians or limited
vocabulary skills. Sane of these responses involve language that is
stilted or redundant, as in, "A matched brace of stanachs with food
gullets attached,“ or ”An x-ray of sanebody's self." More canmonly
this form of deviant verbalization is manifest by the use of neologisms
or incorrect words used in place of a correct word that seans well

79

within the subject's intellectual capacity. For exanple, ”Something
in a biography lab,” or "Two dogs with their snoods together.”

WW: These responses involve the inappropriate
condensation of impressions and ideas into percepts that violate
realistic considerations. Three separate scorings are provided to
differentiate the kind of inappropriate carbination that has occurred.

The W consists of the condensation of blot
details or images into a single, incongruous percept. For exanple, "A
person with the head of a bat," or "A four legged chicken." Sanetimes,
the incongruity will be manifest by the inappropriate carbination of
color with form, such as, "Blue people.“ The mom will always
involve only a single object or percept.

The W always involves two or more discrete blot
details. FABCCN is scored when an implausible relationship is posited
between two or more blot details, such as, "TWO chickens holding
basketballs." The objects have been perceived in a presumed
relationship to each other that cannot occur, or which is highly
unlikely to occur in nature. For exanple, "TwO rats eating a wanan's
ovaries," or "A snake attacking a submarine."

The W is scored when two or more impressions of a single
blot area are fused into a single percept that clearly violates
reality and "spoils“ the adequacy of either of the impressions as
contrasted with the situation where they would be reported alone.
Whereas the IICCN answers fuse impressions of discrete blot areas into
a single implausible percept, CONTAM responses involve the use of just
one blot area to arrive at one percept, but a percept in which
impressions that should be kept distinct fran each other becane
condensed into a response of bizarre quality. A classic illustration
of the neologistic CON'IAM is the condensation of impressions of the
whole Card IV as the front of a bug and the front of an ox into, "The
front of a bug—ox." A peculiarly verbalized C(NIAM to the sane card
is exanplified by a subject who apparently perceived it both an an
organ of the body, and as an authoritarian male figure, and responded,
”The liver of a respectable statesman."

Wig: The ALCI; scoring is used whenever the subject,
without pranpting, explicates a strained reasoning when justifying his
anaver. The logic involved reflects a form of loose or circumstantial
thinking. In most Aha; responses, the reasoning becanes attached to,
and dependent upon the size, positioning, or nunber of objects included
in the response. For exanple, ”This must be lettuce because it's next
to the rabbits aid they eat lettuce," or "It must be a man and a wanan
because they're together, and men and wanen belong together,“ or "It's
the north pole because it's at the top."

The total nunber of special scores will be tabulated for each protocol
and used in the statistical analysis.

80

This scoring criteria appeared in Exner, J.E., Weiner, I.B., and

SChUYler, W- (1976)- W
w. New York: Rorschach Workshops.

81

APPENDIX C

W The author has altered Elizur's
method by scoring hostile expressive behavior h instead of H when it
contains concrete interactions between equals and the outcane is
partly under the figure's control. This change is based upon the
findings of Crain and Smoke, 1981.

Responses are scored hostility-evincing if they contain the following
characteristics.

mm: A capital H would be scored if
hatred, dislike, criticism, or derogation were expressed in the
response. Examples of these responses include "A type of man I hate";
”an ugly figure"; ”a stupid animal"; "an angry face"; "a quarrelsane
person." A lowercase 11 would be scored for responses indicating such
hostility to a lesser degree. Exanples of such responses include:
"gossiping wanen"; "frowning people.”

WW: If the behavior of the percept figure
suggests hostility, with the percepts including victims of violence
without saying who the aggressor is, H would be scored. Exanples of
these responses include: “He's dead, sanebody killed him"; ”they
squashed the butterfly"; "a killed animal." The H would also be
scored if the subject specifies the aggressor as an overpowering
monster or creature that might eat one up. Exanples include: "A wolf
devouring its prey"; "a big monster caning at you.” A lowercase 11
would be scored if the aggression is tied to concrete interactions in
which the outcane seans at least partly under the figure's control,
such as fighting between two equals. Exanples: "Two boys fighting
with each other" ; "two bears fighting."

W: A lowercase 11 would be scored for
synbolic responses suggesting hostility. Examples: "The red
represents struggle"; "a primative war mask."

W: The presence of objects used for aggressive
purposes would be scored H, or h. Exanples of H include: "Arrows";
”gun"; ”pistol." Exanples of h are: "Pliers”; "knife“; "teeth."

WWW: Responses that contain
clear evidence of both anxiety and hostility would be scored 11.
Bramples of such responses include: "An animal going to attack you,
I feel sanewhat scared”; ”a policanan."

Elizur believed that borderline responses in which there was doubt as
to whether hostility was involved should not be scored.

An individual's total hostility score is determined by counting each
11 response as two units, and each 11 response as one unit. The two
resulting sums are added to yield the total hostility score.

This scoring criteria appeared in Aronow, E., & Resnikoff,M . (1976),
Won New York: Grune and Stratton-

82

APPENDIX D

EJ° u , E . I E J S .
Elizur scored responses as anxiety-evincing if they were characterized
by the following features.

W A capital A would be scored if

fear, unpleasantness, sorrow, pity, or similar emotions were expressed
in responses. Examples: "A.frightening giant“; "A.weeping child"; TA
dangerous crevice"; "Darkness and gloom."

A lower case a would be scored for responses indicating a lesser
degree of anxiety, for example, "an unpleasant animal."

W If the behavior of the percept
suggested anxiety. A,would be scored. Examples of such responses
include “a.girl escaping"; “a retreating animal': "a rabbit running
away."

1gnnnIgnnsymbglizing_anxiaty, A lower case a,would be scored for
symbolic responses suggesting anxiety, for example, "an unbalanced
figure"; "dead leaves"; “scarecrow"; "an impression of coldness.”

. The presence of percepts having a
general connotation of fear in our culture would be scored A or a.
Examples of,A include "bats," "snakes," "monsters," "atcnuc bomb. ”
Examples of a are "spiders," “mosquitoes,” "church," "totem pole."

Wm- Responses containing
clear evidence of both anxiety and hostility were scored a, Examples
of such responses include "headless person," “injured bear," "child
with cut—off arms," "a torn butterfly," "a.policeman," "an animal
going to attack you, I feel somewhat scared.“

In Elizur's system borderline responses in which there is doubt
as to*whether anxiety is involved should not be scored. Examples
presented by Elizur that suggest neither anxiety nor hostility are the
following.

Animals. Typical exanples are frogs, mice, bugs, crabs, and
bears.

Anatgmig. Spinal cords, x-ray, bones, and lungs are included
here.

W. Cannon responses include coats of arms, rocks,
and skins of animals.

A subject's total anxiety score is carputed by counting each A
response as two units and each a response as one unit. The two
resulting sums are added to yield the total anxiety score.

This scoring criteria appeared in Aronow, E., & Resnikoff, M.

(1976). W New York: Grune and
Stratton.

83

APPENDIX E

Scoring Criteria for the Pathogenesis Index of the TAT

W
1. Murder.
2. Boss driving workers hard.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.

22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

Parents make boy study or practice when he doesn't want to.
Mother supposedly kind, but not meeting expressed needs of child.
Mother showing particularity for one daughter or son over another.
Any kind of talking to as a form of punishment.

Mother warning child on things that can harm him in growing up.
Mother telling child he hasn't worked up to ability.

Going to canetery to scare people.

Husband gives wife news he is leaving town (or her).

Spying on girlfriend, or being stood-up.

Monster ready to attack child or smaller animal.

Happy old witch and pretty young wanan.

Man telling wife sanething to hurt her, e.g., took secretary to
dinner.

Mother reading to child fran Bible to teach her a lesson.

Wanan and evil conscience; devil behind her; etc.

Mother feels what she has said to daughter has done little good.
Husband interrupts sanething wife is interested in.

Nasty remarks to a subordinate, making him or her unhappy.

King or leader leading nation to ruin.

Mother doesn't like sanething about daughter or son (looks,
make-up, attitudes, etc.) even though daughter or son likes it.
Refusal of marriage bid; one is interested, one is not.

Mother checking up on son or daughter (study, etc.)

Destructive witch thanes.

Fanily ruled or dominated.

Husband or father jealous or forbidding.

Woman harming child by punishment.

Suicide attanpt to frighten saneone.

Man pulling out of extra-marital affair and wanan doesn't want to.
Losing interest in playing the violin. (It is assumed that Card 1
reveals parental relations even if the parent is not mentioned.
The child playing the violin against his will is assumed to imply
coercion.)

W

l.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

7.

No interaction between two people, though sanewhat conflicting
needs.

One person enjoying himself.

No people or living things.

“70 people, but no indication of interaction.

Conflict with person's own needs, not other people's.

Thinking about a mother who was kind to her. (It is assumed that
this indicates such a fantasy—but it is at least as likely to be
defensive as it is to be a reflection of reality.)

Wanting to join a dead person—an intrapsychic problan.

84

Benigalhemas

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

8.

9.

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.

Parents force child to do sanething, he is unhappy, they change.
Teacher consoling a problan child; helping a gifted child.
Guides leading animals across difficult area, etc.

Reunion of two people—both people pleased.

Person springing a pleasant surprise on another one.

Parent interrupts punishment of child by another parent.
Stopping children from activity in which they would be likely to
get hurt.

Woman trying to console man in trouble.

Father and daughter consoling each other after death of mother.
Helping people at a disaster.

Son or daughter interested in advice fran parents (or stories).
Wanan working hard for benefit of her children.

Mother thinking about children and is happy.

Accepted presentation of love, or evidence of mutual love.
Mother admiring work of children or making sanething they like.
Man heeds wanan's wish not to leave.

Any attarpt to help or console with no ulterior motive.
Prevention of disaster (suicide, murder, etc.).

Mother enlightening child about the birds and the bees.

This scoring criteria appeared in Meyer, R.G., & Karon, B.P. (1967).
The schizophrenic mother concept and the TAT. Many, 39,, 173-179.

85

APPENDIXF

 

 

 

 

 

 

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APPENDIX G

 

 

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Father .46b* .63b** .59b** .26 -.29 -.66ab** .02 -.33ab

Parental
Average .69b*** .78b*** .67b** .48b* -.52b** -.54ab**

.27 -.583b**

 

Nate. All p's are one-tailed tests of significance.
aPartial correlation coefficients (3 controlled).
bPartial correlation coefficients (SES controlled).

*2 < .025. **p_ < .01. ***n < .001.

87

APPENDH H

Wings

The teachers' ratings were determined fran the MzDonald Middle
School Surnnary Report Form for each child. The summary report is a
progress report which indicates an acadanic grade for each of the
child's subjects. In a given subject or unit of study sane students
may be working above grade level while others may be at or below grade
level. Teachers set different objectives each reporting period for
different students or groups of students, depending on what a student
or group of students needs to learn next. Thus, students work at
their own pace according to their abilities.

Grades are a reflection of the student's progress in meeting
objectives established for her. They are not measures of performance
against a standard set for all children at that grade level. The
following is a list of the possible grades and their meanings.

A - Has met all of her objectives

B - Has met all but few of her objectives

C - Has met a satisfactory portion of her objectives

D - Has met less than a satisfactory portion of her objectives
but sane worthwhile progress did occur

E - Has met very few or none of her objectives

The grades were received fran seven teachers for the student's
progress in the following subjects or units of study: mathanatics,
science, english, social studies, physical education, plus two
electives fran the following: choral, industrial arts, hananaking, or
library aide. Accarpanying the grades was a narrative report,
approximately four pages in length, which listed cannents related to
the student's acadanic progress and statanents which indicated sane
learning skills and habits and some personal and social behaviors that
each teacher believed influenced the student's progress toward meeting
her own objectives.

For the statistical analysis, A, B, C, D, B were converted to 4,

3, 2, l, 0, respectively, and an average of the seven teachers'
progress grades, was used as the teachers' rating for each student.

88

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