The interpretation of people's responses to the Rorschach Inkblot Test was originally based on psychoanalytical theory but investigators have used it in an empirical fashion.

In projective tests, participants' interpretations of ambiguous stimuli are used to analyze inner thoughts, feelings, and personality traits.

[4] These projective tests are often organized in a taxonomy using the categories: Association, Construction, Completion, Arrangement, and Expression.

Both men died before being able to develop a guide as how to measure, score, and diagnose off of either versions of the ink blot tests.

Ink blots inspired artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Victor Hugo in the 15th and 19th centuries.

[7] Alfred Binet also suggested using ink blots to assess visual imagination.

Hermann Rorschach never intended for the ink blot to be a sole assessment of personality, however some psychologists may have tried to use it as such.

For example, Holtzman inkblot technique was seen as less controversial, because the developers took previous criticism into consideration and aimed to make their test better.

The procedure for administration and measurement varies by each ink test, however, they are all based around how the participant responds to ambiguous stimuli.

[12] Because of the early and untimely death of both of these men, resulting in the lack of a key to reading the answers given by patients, psychologists have been skeptical of using the ink blots as a reliable source in clinical work.

[13] Since a projective test requires a highly trained psychologist to analyze the data and determine what it means, it has faced criticism.