Tag Archives: Katherine Hubbard

JHBS Early View: “Blots and All” a History of the Rorschach in Britain

Now available for Early View from the Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences is “Blots and All: A History of the Rorschach Ink Blot Test in Britain.” Written by Katherine Hubbard and Peter Hegarty, the article’s abstract reads,

Despite the easily recognizable nature of the Rorschach ink blot test very little is known about the history of the test in Britain. We attend to the oft-ignored history of the Rorschach test in Britain and compare it to its history in the US. Prior to the Second World War, Rorschach testing in Britain had attracted advocates and critiques. Afterward, the British Rorschach Forum, a network with a high proportion of women, developed around the Tavistock Institute in London and The Rorschach Newsletter. In 1968, the International Rorschach Congress was held in London but soon after the group became less exclusive, and fell into decline. A comparative account of the Rorschach in Britain demonstrates how different national institutions invested in the ‘projective hypothesis’ according to the influence of psychoanalysis, the adoption of a nationalized health system, and the social positioning of ‘others’ throughout the twentieth century. In comparing and contrasting the history of the Rorschach in Britain and the US, we decentralize and particularize the history of North American Psychology.

Interactive History of Psych Resource: Investigating Psychology

A new interactive history of psychology resource, Investigating Psychology, is now freely available online via The Open University. The tool was created by Rose Capdevila (The Open University), Eleni Androuli (The Open University), and Katherine Hubbard (University of Surrey).  As described in the announcement of the tool’s launch,

Our aims in developing this was to generate a tool to enable people to explore the development of psychological thinking not only across time, but also within the context of social, conceptual and historical changes. It includes: people, contexts, perspectives and methods as well as the ‘narratives’ feature. We’ve especially tried to generate a greater feeling of investigation and discovery throughout the feature and so it encourages interaction. Its also possible to ‘share’ star fields and information generated in the resource.

Its a completely open resource, thanks to Open Learn, and so absolutely anyone can use it. It was recently launched at the annual BPS conference and so it ready to be used as a useful tool for anyone teaching or learning CHIP. It can also be continually updated – just see the ’email us’ link at the bottom to make any suggested inclusions to the tool.

Explore the Investigating Psychology tool online here and don’t forget to email in suggested additions to the resource!