SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND - TEST-RESULTS ARE WHAT YOU HYPOTHESIZE THEY ARE

Expert clinicians were given batteries of psychodiagnostic test result s (Rorschach, TAT, Draw-A-Person, Bender-Gestalt, Wechsler) to analyze . For half, a battery came along with a suggestion that the person suf fers from Borderline Personality disorder, and for half, that battery was accompanied by a suggestion that he suffers from Paranoid Personal ity disorder. In Study 1, the suggestion was made indirectly, through a background story that preceded the test results. In Study 2, the sug gestion was made directly, by the instructions given. The experts saw in the tests what they hypothesized to be there. In particular, the ta rget diagnoses were rated higher when they were hypothesized than when they were not. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.