Is publishing the Rorschach test images and responses in keeping with Wikipedia's long-term mission and purpose? Does doing so make the article more useful or less useful? What do sources tell us? 20:36, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
This Request for Comment (RfC) raises an issue that has not been discussed in any previous RfC. As someone with a bias, I am writing this opening statement in as neutral a manner as possible, making every effort to present the facts in a manner that speaks for both sides of this controversy.
It is generally agreed that the Rorschach images are in the public domain and that it is legal to publish them. They are, of course, very relevant to the subject of the article, and it is not the practice of Wikipedia to censor material that is relevant to the article. (see wp:notcensored) Our allegiance lies with the subject of the article, not to any external organization or agenda. When we utilize external and reliable sources of information, it is always with the aim of furthering our own purpose and mission.
The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), in response to the publication of the Rorschach test images on Wikipedia, published a statement saying that "Publishing the questions and answers to any psychological test compromises its usefulness." [1] (emph. added) The CPA considered "controversy in the psychological literature and disagreement among experts" about publication of the Rorschach test material, but in its capacity as a national health organization, summarized scientific consensus (see WP:MEDRS#Summarize scientific consensus) by saying,
The British Psychological Society (BPS) echoes the the words of the American Psychological Society (APA) in its Statement on the Disclosure of Test Data (1996)
The previous Request for Comment (RfC) considered the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association, which in consideration of the above, asks its members to make reasonable efforts to maintain the security of test material. The consensus of the RfC was that the ethical requirements imposed upon members of an external organization bear little weight on the editors of Wikipedia, and that it's best that we follow our own ethical considerations.
This, of course, begs the following two questions: "What are the values or ethics of Wikipedia?" and "What is the purpose, mission, and values of the parent organization, the Wikimedia Foundation?"
Indeed, the purpose of an encyclopedia is to collect knowledge disseminated around the globe; to set forth its general system to the men with whom we live, and transmit it to those who will come after us, so that the work of preceding centuries will not become useless to the centuries to come; and so that our offspring, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more virtuous and happy, and that we should not die without having rendered a service to the human race in the future years to come. (emph. added)
— Diderot
Like Diderot, the bylaws of the Wikimedia Foundation also considers the future.
The Wikimedia Foundation's home page and statement of values also express concern for the utility of information:
The questions for consideration in this RfC are these:
Statement and Questions prepared by Danglingdiagnosis ( talk) 20:36, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
What follows is a list of statements and endorsements. All other comments should be directed to the talk page.
By publishing the questions and answers to the Rorschach test, we are not sharing "the sum of all knowledge," as we claim to do. Instead, we are subtracting knowledge. I admit that in the short term, an article with images and test responses may be more useful to the reader than an article without them. However, in the long-term, this changes. The best possible sources tell us that we are compromising the usefulness of the Rorschach test, and by extension, the usefulness of our article. This is contrary to the mission of Wikipedia. If "the work of preceding century" is to become "useless to the centuries to come," it should not be due to the actions of an encyclopedia. Such an action is beyond our purview. Yes, it may be legal to publish images in the public domain, such as the Rorschach test images, and yes, other web-sites may choose to do so, but I think we can choose to act differently. We should do our part to avoid the tragedy of the commons, remove the images and common responses, and instead, develop an article that better maintains "the sum of all knowledge," in accordance with our mission.
Users who endorse this summary:
Users who endorse this summary:
These questions highlight that there is room for compromise that hasn't been taken advantage of and a related matter of diminishing returns of usefulness.
First: yes, there is absolutely a possibility of compromising the usefulness of the test since it was designed around the assumption that the client would not be pre-exposed. Together with Wikipedia's policy of not publishing everything indiscriminately, this gives a good reason to be restrained in publication.
Precisely what usefulness does Wikipedia gain through publishing the complete set of cards and sample responses? Dummy cards and dummy responses would certainly communicate the nature of the test; what do "live" responses contribute (besides possible harm) that such mockups would not? And for that matter, what usefulness does publishing the entire set contribute that publishing a subset does not? Surely after one or two cards publication of subsequent cards is of marginal usefulness while maintaining the same possibility of harm.
Publication of the complete test and sample responses overlooks a number of reasonable compromises without adding significant encyclopedic usefulness, and it does so in the face of real world harm as well as a few of Wikipedia's own policies.
Users who endorse this summary:
Publishing the Rorschach inkblot images has some obvious benefits. (1) It informs about a historically important psychological test. (2) It allows people to take the test themselves, and grade themselves. (3) For those who have been coerced to take the text, it allows them to assess the validity of the outcome. Three psychological associations (American, Canadian, British) have issued statements on the matter, but none of them say that there is any specific harm to publishing to publishing the inkblots, and they certainly do not present any argument that the harm outweighs the benefits. I personally think that it is obvious that the benefits of publishing the inkblots far outweigh any potential harm. If some psychological association were to offer some contrary opinion, then that ought to be considered, but no such opinion has been offered.
Users who endorse this summary:
IMO, this is blatant forum-shopping by Danglingdiagnosis in an attempt to game the system despite prior RfCs etc. which clearly show that the community is against censorship.
Wikipedia shouldn't/doesn't censor on moral grounds already! How much clearer does this need to be made? 'Nuff said.
Users who endorse this summary:
Apparently, sadly, it needs repeating: Consensus Can Change.
This debate has felt a lot more eyes over the past two years, while the page itself has included additional sensitive information. It's entirely reasonable to probe for a change in consensus in those circumstances, especially with the evolution of the page moving away from moderation and compromise.
So please stop with the "this has been settled" nonsense.
Users who endorse this summary:
The images are public domain and highly educational, so by default, they should stay in. The hypothesis that prior exposure to the images will invalidate test results is, I think, highly debatable and honestly not within our purview to decide. A more reasonable observation is that if your test really requires 100% novel stimuli, then that test is doomed in the internet age.
Whatever secrets the Rorschach held, the secrets are out. From now on, psychologists can't simply assume that a client has not been exposed to the images-- that assumption may have been valid 50 years ago, but it just doesn't hold in the modern world.
The images are public domain and educational. Let them stay. The psychologists will just have to adapt to the realities of the information age, they can't seriously expect an information age planet to self-censor just for the sake of their test. -- Alecmconroy ( talk) 13:22, 27 August 2010 (UTC)
Users who endorse this summary:
We have been through this before, many times. Move to close as there is quite obviously going to be no difference in outcome this time versus the last time Danglingdiagnosis tried this, or the previous times that other users have tried. → ROUX ₪ 19:11, 2 September 2010 (UTC)
Users who endorse this summary:
Suggest that User:Danglingdiagnosis be topicbanned from ever raising this subject again (though may non-obstructively comment if someone else unrelated to him raises it), due to various infractions of WP:FORUMSHOP and WP:IDHT and WP:DEADHORSE. → ROUX ₪ 19:11, 2 September 2010 (UTC)
Users who endorse this summary:
In my view, debates about what we should or can do miss the point. We must consider whether it is in the bestinterest of the public that the Rorschach images are widely circulated, or not. I can think of no compelling reason to accept notion that it is in the best interest of society for these images to be readily accessible. They are easily available to anyone doing serious research on the method. To distribute them more widely seems to serve no purpose other than satisfying the idle curiosity of internet surfers.
There are a number of reasons that support the notion that the images should not be widely distributed. First, the Rorscahch is a very complex test, the complexity of which is lost in any brief description of it. Printing images of the blots with sample responses provides no more than a stereotyped caricature of what is actually a very complex methodology. People who read such materials and then take the test are quite possibly going to be influenced by their (mis) understanding of the test which may lead them to produce responses that yield misleading results that could, in turn, prevent them from receiving appropriate treatments for emotional problems they may have. Second, the Rorschach has a wide base of scientific research behind it. There is of course controversy about the validity of the method or, more accurately, what apsects of the methodology are and are not valid. However, no one who seriously studies the test has argued that it is worthless; even its most vocal detractors only argue that it has been applied in an overly zealous manner. Practitioners, with the backing of growing scientific knowledge, are refining and narrowing the focus of this method, making it more and more useful. All of this work can be lost, ultimately hurting those who come to pscyhologists with genuine problems needing assessment, if the test is relegated to being "tried in the court of public opinion". In short, in my view the advantages of producing the images are negligable whereas the dangers are significant. They should not be in the public domain and, more specifically, on wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.183.39.109 ( talk • contribs)
Users who endorse this summary:
What's striking to me is the apparent lack of design with which the information about responses is included in the article. It is neither encyclopedic nor in keeping with Wikipedia guidelines to present information for the sake of information, to open a firehose of raw data for the reader to sort through, and yet the primary motivation for including these screens full of content seems to be precisely that. Clearly, I'd say, such a poor treatment of a topic diminishes the usefulness of the article and goes against WP's mission.
In an educational composition like a textbook or encyclopedia article the motivation behind pieces of content need to be purposeful and clear. The ideas to be illustrated need to be sorted out, and the illustrations thus included to best convey the ideas. And yet no matter how frequently I ask, I can find no reason or strategy behind this inclusion at all. That is absolutely un-encyclopedic.
It's further disheartening to look at the conversation behind this section. It's a complex topic that deserves real, good-faith efforts at editing, but all that I see in the talk pages is quibbling, namecalling, and headstrong misunderstanding. That is not the way to get educated, topical experts to take part in improving the article--it's not the way to make the article as good as it can be.
So yeah, let's skip the negative stuff, answer the damn questions this RfC proposes, and get this section of the article right. Right now I see little good faith work happening in this topic. Crcarlin ( talk) 16:01, 5 September 2010 (UTC)
Users who endorse this summary:
All comments not related to an endorsement, and all threaded responses to an endorsement, should be directed to the talk page.
The consensus of the above discussion is abundantly clear:
" Danglingdiagnosis is prohibited from using any community input process for proposing the removal or curtailment of display of any public-domain Rorschach Test images, broadly construed, until September 25th, 2011." Jclemens ( talk) 05:52, 26 September 2010 (UTC)
Is publishing the Rorschach test images and responses in keeping with Wikipedia's long-term mission and purpose? Does doing so make the article more useful or less useful? What do sources tell us? 20:36, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
This Request for Comment (RfC) raises an issue that has not been discussed in any previous RfC. As someone with a bias, I am writing this opening statement in as neutral a manner as possible, making every effort to present the facts in a manner that speaks for both sides of this controversy.
It is generally agreed that the Rorschach images are in the public domain and that it is legal to publish them. They are, of course, very relevant to the subject of the article, and it is not the practice of Wikipedia to censor material that is relevant to the article. (see wp:notcensored) Our allegiance lies with the subject of the article, not to any external organization or agenda. When we utilize external and reliable sources of information, it is always with the aim of furthering our own purpose and mission.
The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), in response to the publication of the Rorschach test images on Wikipedia, published a statement saying that "Publishing the questions and answers to any psychological test compromises its usefulness." [1] (emph. added) The CPA considered "controversy in the psychological literature and disagreement among experts" about publication of the Rorschach test material, but in its capacity as a national health organization, summarized scientific consensus (see WP:MEDRS#Summarize scientific consensus) by saying,
The British Psychological Society (BPS) echoes the the words of the American Psychological Society (APA) in its Statement on the Disclosure of Test Data (1996)
The previous Request for Comment (RfC) considered the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association, which in consideration of the above, asks its members to make reasonable efforts to maintain the security of test material. The consensus of the RfC was that the ethical requirements imposed upon members of an external organization bear little weight on the editors of Wikipedia, and that it's best that we follow our own ethical considerations.
This, of course, begs the following two questions: "What are the values or ethics of Wikipedia?" and "What is the purpose, mission, and values of the parent organization, the Wikimedia Foundation?"
Indeed, the purpose of an encyclopedia is to collect knowledge disseminated around the globe; to set forth its general system to the men with whom we live, and transmit it to those who will come after us, so that the work of preceding centuries will not become useless to the centuries to come; and so that our offspring, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more virtuous and happy, and that we should not die without having rendered a service to the human race in the future years to come. (emph. added)
— Diderot
Like Diderot, the bylaws of the Wikimedia Foundation also considers the future.
The Wikimedia Foundation's home page and statement of values also express concern for the utility of information:
The questions for consideration in this RfC are these:
Statement and Questions prepared by Danglingdiagnosis ( talk) 20:36, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
What follows is a list of statements and endorsements. All other comments should be directed to the talk page.
By publishing the questions and answers to the Rorschach test, we are not sharing "the sum of all knowledge," as we claim to do. Instead, we are subtracting knowledge. I admit that in the short term, an article with images and test responses may be more useful to the reader than an article without them. However, in the long-term, this changes. The best possible sources tell us that we are compromising the usefulness of the Rorschach test, and by extension, the usefulness of our article. This is contrary to the mission of Wikipedia. If "the work of preceding century" is to become "useless to the centuries to come," it should not be due to the actions of an encyclopedia. Such an action is beyond our purview. Yes, it may be legal to publish images in the public domain, such as the Rorschach test images, and yes, other web-sites may choose to do so, but I think we can choose to act differently. We should do our part to avoid the tragedy of the commons, remove the images and common responses, and instead, develop an article that better maintains "the sum of all knowledge," in accordance with our mission.
Users who endorse this summary:
Users who endorse this summary:
These questions highlight that there is room for compromise that hasn't been taken advantage of and a related matter of diminishing returns of usefulness.
First: yes, there is absolutely a possibility of compromising the usefulness of the test since it was designed around the assumption that the client would not be pre-exposed. Together with Wikipedia's policy of not publishing everything indiscriminately, this gives a good reason to be restrained in publication.
Precisely what usefulness does Wikipedia gain through publishing the complete set of cards and sample responses? Dummy cards and dummy responses would certainly communicate the nature of the test; what do "live" responses contribute (besides possible harm) that such mockups would not? And for that matter, what usefulness does publishing the entire set contribute that publishing a subset does not? Surely after one or two cards publication of subsequent cards is of marginal usefulness while maintaining the same possibility of harm.
Publication of the complete test and sample responses overlooks a number of reasonable compromises without adding significant encyclopedic usefulness, and it does so in the face of real world harm as well as a few of Wikipedia's own policies.
Users who endorse this summary:
Publishing the Rorschach inkblot images has some obvious benefits. (1) It informs about a historically important psychological test. (2) It allows people to take the test themselves, and grade themselves. (3) For those who have been coerced to take the text, it allows them to assess the validity of the outcome. Three psychological associations (American, Canadian, British) have issued statements on the matter, but none of them say that there is any specific harm to publishing to publishing the inkblots, and they certainly do not present any argument that the harm outweighs the benefits. I personally think that it is obvious that the benefits of publishing the inkblots far outweigh any potential harm. If some psychological association were to offer some contrary opinion, then that ought to be considered, but no such opinion has been offered.
Users who endorse this summary:
IMO, this is blatant forum-shopping by Danglingdiagnosis in an attempt to game the system despite prior RfCs etc. which clearly show that the community is against censorship.
Wikipedia shouldn't/doesn't censor on moral grounds already! How much clearer does this need to be made? 'Nuff said.
Users who endorse this summary:
Apparently, sadly, it needs repeating: Consensus Can Change.
This debate has felt a lot more eyes over the past two years, while the page itself has included additional sensitive information. It's entirely reasonable to probe for a change in consensus in those circumstances, especially with the evolution of the page moving away from moderation and compromise.
So please stop with the "this has been settled" nonsense.
Users who endorse this summary:
The images are public domain and highly educational, so by default, they should stay in. The hypothesis that prior exposure to the images will invalidate test results is, I think, highly debatable and honestly not within our purview to decide. A more reasonable observation is that if your test really requires 100% novel stimuli, then that test is doomed in the internet age.
Whatever secrets the Rorschach held, the secrets are out. From now on, psychologists can't simply assume that a client has not been exposed to the images-- that assumption may have been valid 50 years ago, but it just doesn't hold in the modern world.
The images are public domain and educational. Let them stay. The psychologists will just have to adapt to the realities of the information age, they can't seriously expect an information age planet to self-censor just for the sake of their test. -- Alecmconroy ( talk) 13:22, 27 August 2010 (UTC)
Users who endorse this summary:
We have been through this before, many times. Move to close as there is quite obviously going to be no difference in outcome this time versus the last time Danglingdiagnosis tried this, or the previous times that other users have tried. → ROUX ₪ 19:11, 2 September 2010 (UTC)
Users who endorse this summary:
Suggest that User:Danglingdiagnosis be topicbanned from ever raising this subject again (though may non-obstructively comment if someone else unrelated to him raises it), due to various infractions of WP:FORUMSHOP and WP:IDHT and WP:DEADHORSE. → ROUX ₪ 19:11, 2 September 2010 (UTC)
Users who endorse this summary:
In my view, debates about what we should or can do miss the point. We must consider whether it is in the bestinterest of the public that the Rorschach images are widely circulated, or not. I can think of no compelling reason to accept notion that it is in the best interest of society for these images to be readily accessible. They are easily available to anyone doing serious research on the method. To distribute them more widely seems to serve no purpose other than satisfying the idle curiosity of internet surfers.
There are a number of reasons that support the notion that the images should not be widely distributed. First, the Rorscahch is a very complex test, the complexity of which is lost in any brief description of it. Printing images of the blots with sample responses provides no more than a stereotyped caricature of what is actually a very complex methodology. People who read such materials and then take the test are quite possibly going to be influenced by their (mis) understanding of the test which may lead them to produce responses that yield misleading results that could, in turn, prevent them from receiving appropriate treatments for emotional problems they may have. Second, the Rorschach has a wide base of scientific research behind it. There is of course controversy about the validity of the method or, more accurately, what apsects of the methodology are and are not valid. However, no one who seriously studies the test has argued that it is worthless; even its most vocal detractors only argue that it has been applied in an overly zealous manner. Practitioners, with the backing of growing scientific knowledge, are refining and narrowing the focus of this method, making it more and more useful. All of this work can be lost, ultimately hurting those who come to pscyhologists with genuine problems needing assessment, if the test is relegated to being "tried in the court of public opinion". In short, in my view the advantages of producing the images are negligable whereas the dangers are significant. They should not be in the public domain and, more specifically, on wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.183.39.109 ( talk • contribs)
Users who endorse this summary:
What's striking to me is the apparent lack of design with which the information about responses is included in the article. It is neither encyclopedic nor in keeping with Wikipedia guidelines to present information for the sake of information, to open a firehose of raw data for the reader to sort through, and yet the primary motivation for including these screens full of content seems to be precisely that. Clearly, I'd say, such a poor treatment of a topic diminishes the usefulness of the article and goes against WP's mission.
In an educational composition like a textbook or encyclopedia article the motivation behind pieces of content need to be purposeful and clear. The ideas to be illustrated need to be sorted out, and the illustrations thus included to best convey the ideas. And yet no matter how frequently I ask, I can find no reason or strategy behind this inclusion at all. That is absolutely un-encyclopedic.
It's further disheartening to look at the conversation behind this section. It's a complex topic that deserves real, good-faith efforts at editing, but all that I see in the talk pages is quibbling, namecalling, and headstrong misunderstanding. That is not the way to get educated, topical experts to take part in improving the article--it's not the way to make the article as good as it can be.
So yeah, let's skip the negative stuff, answer the damn questions this RfC proposes, and get this section of the article right. Right now I see little good faith work happening in this topic. Crcarlin ( talk) 16:01, 5 September 2010 (UTC)
Users who endorse this summary:
All comments not related to an endorsement, and all threaded responses to an endorsement, should be directed to the talk page.
The consensus of the above discussion is abundantly clear:
" Danglingdiagnosis is prohibited from using any community input process for proposing the removal or curtailment of display of any public-domain Rorschach Test images, broadly construed, until September 25th, 2011." Jclemens ( talk) 05:52, 26 September 2010 (UTC)