A Commentary on Color Red and the Assessment Process: Implications for the Rorschach

Sanae Aoki

        This paper comments on the role of the color Red in the assessment process with specific applications to the Rorschach, as outlined by Piotrowski (2023). Based on prior research findings, the central importance of the impact of color Red on cognitive and perceptual processes is noted. Future research should stress experimental findings as well as applications for clinical assessment.

The recent article by Piotrowski (2023) discusses the effects of the color Red on perceptual and cognitive aspects and the role of color in the Rorschach assessment process. In an earlier study, Piotrowski (2012) pointed out that psychological findings indicate that the color Red elicits predominantly negative reactions in humans, i.e., avoidance motivation, threat, and danger. The author notes that "since color is a central aspect of the evaluation process in Rorschach tests, it seems worthwhile to study the role of different hues in this process" (Piotrowski, 2017, 2018). The 2023 article focuses on color Red and reviews previous research to examine the importance of red and its role in the perceptual and cognitive processes involved in Rorschach assessment.

        Piotrowski claims that color red has a variety of effects on psychological responses via emotion-based associations, but that the effects of red on mental functioning vary depending on the psychological context. The paper then reviews previous research, summarizes the characteristics and psychological features of the perceptual and attentional processes induced by red color, and makes recommendations for research and clinical practice. One of the effects of the red color on perceptual and cognitive processes is that red affects selective attention in visual search (Shih &Sperling,1996) and induces high arousal potential and that the color Red elicits high arousal potential (Aaronson, 1964; Crane & Hicks,1989; Jacobs & Hustmyer, 1974; Wilson, 1966). On the other hand, there are contrary findings that red inhibits cognitive performance (Martin,2017). While the above two findings stress the detrimental effects of red on perception and cognition, a third finding is that red is unrelated to anxiety and other factors and mitigates the detrimental effects of color on cognitive processes (Smajic, 2014).

        After reviewing the findings of previous studies, Piotrowski (2023) points out that the findings regarding the effects of color red on perceptual and cognitive functions, especially the potentially detrimental effects, should be used in the clinical interpretation of the projective method. Based on these findings, he also makes the point that when color shocks are exerted in II and III cards containing red stimuli, the effects of these two cards and subsequent illustrations on the number of responses, perception, and protocol should also be examined. In addition, the article states the need for further studies on perception and cognition regarding the color red, taking into account various age groups, color sensitivity, and psychopathology.

        The color response in Rorschach is one that provides important information on psychological characteristics, especially regarding emotion. However, as pointed out in this paper, there are few explanations of psychological traits from color in the context of assessment, and validation of the validity of such explanations has been constantly criticized. Although there have been several validations of color responses using meta-analysis, such as Mihura et al. (2013), it will be necessary to test hypotheses from various perspectives in the future. In this context, this paper is significant because it presents a wide variety of findings on the effects of color red, one of the most important colors in Rorschach, on cognitive processes, and makes recommendations for future research and clinical applications.

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