- Bruno Klopfer
Bruno Klopfer (1900-1971) was born in
Bavaria ,Germany on 1 October, 1900.He had a profound impact on the development of psychological
personality testing , and was an important pioneer and innovator in the development, scoring and popularization ofprojective technique s, especially theRorschach inkblot test .Career
He was awarded a Ph.D. from the
University of Munich in 1923. [His dissertation was entitled "The Psychology of Inhibition".]Klopfer, a Jew, left Germany in 1933; and on his way to the USA, spent a year in
Switzerland where he studied withCarl Jung at theZurich Psychotechnic Institute (this was where he first encountered the Rorschach test).His first job in the USA was at
Columbia University where he conducted research with the famous anthropologistFranz Boas .He was founding editor of the "Rorschach Research Exchange and Journal of Projective Techniques" in 1936. This Journal became the "Journal of Projective Techniques" in 1950, "The Journal of Projective Techniques & Personality Assessment" in 1963, and eventually became the "Journal of Personality Assessment" in 1971.
He was the Director of the "Rorschach Institute" from 1939 to 1947, and was the President of the "Society of Projective Techniques" from 1947 until his death in 1971.
In 1947, he was appointed Clinical Professor of Psychology at the
University of California at Los Angeles . He remained at UCLA until he retired in 1963.Works by Klopfer
* Klopfer, B., "Psychological Variables in Human Cancer", "Journal of Projective Techniques", Vol.21, No.4, (December 1957), pp.331-340. (This paper is also significant because it contains an account of the impact of the treatment of a lymphosarcoma upon Mr. Wright, a patient of one of Klopfer's colleagues (Dr. Philip West) with a bogus medicine, "Krebiozen'". Klopfer's account of Wright's progress is often referred to in the cancer literature, but the actual reference is seldom cited.)
* Klopfer, B., "The Rorschach Technique: A Manual for a Projective Method of Personality Diagnosis", World Book Co, (Yonkers-on-Hudson), 1946.
* Klopfer, B., Ainsworth, M.D., Klopfer, W.G. & Holt, R.R., "Developments in the Rorschach Technique: Vol.1, Technique and Theory", World Book Co, (Yonkers-on-Hudson), 1954.
* Klopfer, B., Ainsworth, M.D., Klopfer, W.G. & Holt, R.R.(eds.), "Developments in the Rorschach Technique: Vol.2, Fields of Application", World Book Co, (Yonkers-on-Hudson), 1956.
* Klopfer, B. & Davidson, H.H., "The Rorschach Technique; an Introductory Manual", Harcourt, Brace & World, (New York), 1962.
* Klopfer, B., Meyer, M., Brawer, F. & Klopfer, W.G.(eds.), "Developments in the Rorschach Technique: Vol.3, Aspects of Personality Structure", Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, (New York), 1970.ee also
*
Placebo (medicine)
*Projective test
*Rorschach inkblot test Notes
References
*Exner, J.E. & Exner, D.E., "How clinicians use the Rorschach", "Journal of Personality Assessment", Vol.36, No.5, (October 1972), pp.403-408.
* Skadeland, D.R., "Bruno Klopfer: A Rorschach Pioneer", "Journal of Personality Assessment", Vol.50, No.3, (Fall 1986), pp.358-361. (Obituary)
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