Two University of Toledo professors are changing the way the psychology community views the highly controversial Rorschach inkblot test.

Drs. Gregory Meyer and Joni Mihura, psychology professors at The University of Toledo, are known internationally for their work on the well-known Rorschach inkblot test. The Rorschach is a psychological test in which a person’s perceptions of the inkblots are recorded, scored, and interpreted. The test has seen major advances since it was published, which includes the publication of thousands of research studies. However, some skeptics continue to view the Rorschach as pseudoscience and question the test’s validity.

“The current reputation of the Rorschach is based on a sort of folklore,” Mihura said. “A fascinating social phenomenon is the number of people who, when I mention I study the Rorschach, react with a derogatory remark or simply proclaim that the Rorschach is ‘invalid.’ This has happened with psychologists but also people from all walks of life who have simply heard something about the test. And since this is usually someone I’ve just met, it’s a socially jarring experience.”

“It’s important to know that even the test’s main critics do not believe the Rorschach as a whole is invalid. If you are even somewhat familiar with the literature, you know that research supports the Rorschach as a valid measure of psychosis. The critics’ main criticism of the test has been that there are a large number of scales, and we don’t know which ones are valid and which are not,” she said. “To answer this question, we reviewed the validity literature for the main 65 Rorschach variables, a task that required several years and thousands of hours of work. We summarized this literature using a method called ‘meta-analysis,’ and our findings were published in the top journal in psychology.”

“The Validity of Individual Rorschach Variables: Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of the Comprehensive System”—researched and written by Mihura and Meyer along with their former students and UToledo alumni Dr. George Bombel of The Menninger Clinic and Dr. Nicolae Dumitrascu of Boston University—was published in Psychological Bulletin, the top scientific review journal in the field of psychology.

Mihura and Meyer are the first UToledo professors to have a study published in this prestigious journal.

“Psychological Bulletin is the ultimate source for the current state of the research in psychology. The journal also gives other researchers the opportunity to state their opposing case, which is particularly valuable for controversial topics like the Rorschach,” Mihura said.

The main critics of the Rorschach published a response to Mihura and Meyer’s study earlier this year; they concluded that the study conducted was “an unbiased and trustworthy summary of the published literature.” The critics attempted to find bias in the published literature itself, but Mihura and colleagues found far too many errors in the critics’ work to rely on their results. Ultimately, the critics lifted their recommendation for a moratorium on the clinical and forensic use of the Rorschach, which they initially proposed in 1999.

The meta-analyses have long been a work in progress for Mihura. “When I started the literature review, Greg [Meyer] and I were on Exner’s Research Council for the Rorschach Comprehensive System—the standard in the field. I felt a huge responsibility. Given the controversy surrounding the Rorschach, I wanted to make sure I was teaching my students the right thing. As psychologists, their decisions would affect many people’s lives. Our meta-analyses in Psychological Bulletin were born out of that search for truth,” Mihura said.

Unanticipated by Mihura, what started off as a literature review for her class became the backbone of a new Rorschach system: the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS). After the developer of the Comprehensive System, John Exner, Jr., passed away, his family decided not to continue developing his business. Subsequently, the R-PAS was developed—spearheaded by Meyer and Mihura. Since some of the test’s developers had served on Exner’s Research Council, they knew the system’s weaknesses and dedicated themselves to creating a better test.

“We’ve received an overwhelming amount of support from our assessment colleagues. Some of our colleagues are nevertheless hesitant to learn our new system and prefer to continue using the Comprehensive System. I understand the desire to gather more information before making a change. But our new Rorschach system can continue to evolve with the research and the Comprehensive System cannot,” Mihura said. “Over time, I think psychologists who continue with the Comprehensive System will be hard-pressed to defend that decision.”

Meyer and Mihura have received many invitations to teach their new Rorschach system in the U.S. and internationally. So far, the R-PAS test manual has been translated into Japanese and Italian; the French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Czech translations are underway. The R-PAS scoring program has already been translated into multiple languages. Mihura and Meyer are currently working on an R-PAS casebook, slated to be published by Guilford in 2016.

For more information about the R-PAS, visit r-pas.org.

The University of Toledo Lake Erie Center is hosting a free, public event about the benefits of honeybees in northwest Ohio and current efforts to curb decreasing colony numbers.

Roger Myers, president of the Maumee Valley Bee Keepers Association, will present “The Truths and Myths About Colony Collapse in Honeybees” at 7 p.m. today at the UT Lake Erie Center as part of the Naturalist Night summer lecture series.

“Honeybees pollinate a lot of the fruits and vegetables we eat,” Myers said. “It’s estimated that three out of every five bites of food you take can be contributed to some type of pollinator.”

Attendees will learn what they can do to help preserve struggling bee colonies in northwest Ohio.

“The bee population in our area is in jeopardy,” said Rachel Lohner, education program manager for the Lake Erie Center. “They are an important part of our ecosystem.”

The UT Lake Erie Center is an interdisciplinary research and education center dedicated to solving environmental problems in the Great Lakes. The Naturalist Night summer lecture series is part of the Lake Erie Center’s mission to engage the public with environmental education, sustainable living and informed outreach awareness programs.

For more information, call 419.530.8360 or visit utoledo.edu/nsm/lec.

A number of local organizations, led by The University of Toledo Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute, have launched a prevention tool for at-risk youth in the Toledo area.

Youth Pages Toledo is a program that provides resources on issues including substance abuse and teen pregnancy, with a special focus on the risk factors that make youth vulnerable to human trafficking. It includes a cell phone app, website and a printed handbook in both English and Spanish.

A conference announcing TARTA’s partnership with Youth Pages Toledo to promote the resource will take place at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 8, in the lobby of One Government Center. State Rep. Teresa Fedor and Lucas County Sheriff John Tharp will be in attendance.

The UT Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute worked in partnership with United Way of Greater Toledo and the Lucas County Human Trafficking Coalition to create Youth Pages Toledo, which in addition to providing information on issues impacting area youth also directs them to nearby services, for example Lucas County Children’s Services or Mom’s House Toledo.

“Youth Pages Toledo puts the information directly into the hands of those who need it most – our youth,” said Ashley Wickerham-Cutcher, associate director of the UT Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute.

TARTA is working to promote Youth Pages Toledo with printing posters and signs on each of their buses that advertise Youth Pages Toledo and encourage riders to download the free app, available for both Android and Apple devices.

The program was made possible by a grant from the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund, the Zonta Club of Toledo and the Lucas County Human Trafficking Coalition.

The UT Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute opened in April 2015, and aims to respond to human trafficking and social justice issues through education, research and service.

For more information, visit youthpagestoledo.org.

Media Coverage
The Blade (July 9, 2015)
NBC 24 and WTOL 11 (July 10, 2015)

The University of Toledo has been awarded a $355,000 two-year state grant to host the Minority Business Assistance Center (MBAC) Program, which assists small, minority and disadvantaged businesses by providing services such as technical assistance, professional consulting, access to capital and assistance obtaining contract opportunities.

An invitation-only ribbon-cutting ceremony for the program will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 7 in the Minority Business Development Center (MBDC), located in the Faculty Annex on Scott Park Campus of Energy and Innovation.

UT President Sharon Gaber and David Goodman, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency, will cut the ribbon. Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson, Ohio Rep. Michael Ashford and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur also will be in attendance.

The MBAC Program will provide support for 17 counties in northwest Ohio. The MBDC is one of only a few minority business-focused incubators across the country and supports a selective group of minority businesses through services that include counseling, networking opportunities, access to office space and conference rooms, and hands-on student learning experiences.

“We are excited about the confidence the state has in the University to award us this program, and about the support of our partners. Collaboration with the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce will allow for expansion on the prior success they have established with the program, and will allow for expansion of this opportunity to more students,” said Dr. Shanda Gore, UT chief diversity officer and associate vice president for equity, diversity and community engagement.

“With the combined partnerships and synergy of a single location, this creates a one-stop shop opportunity for minority-owned businesses for the five primary counties and 12 secondary counties in northwest Ohio,” Gore said.

The University demonstrated the strength of its collaboration and support from the community for the success of minority businesses in its application for the grant, Gore said, a collaboration that will create an environment to help minority businesses flourish.

“This initiative is one more way The University of Toledo is leveraging its strengths in diversity and inclusion outward into the community and across the region,” said Jovita Thomas-Williams, vice president and chief human resources officer. “We’re incredibly excited to be working with community partners such as the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce to advance the region’s economic interests in this way.”

“The Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce is proud to have been the host of the Minority Business Assistance Center since 2005. Now is the perfect time to take advantage of the increased synergy of housing the Minority Business Assistance Center at The University of Toledo’s Minority Business Development Center and incubator,” said Wendy R. Gramza, president of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce. “We look forward to working closely with the University to continue nurturing minority entrepreneurship and economic development.”

Media Coverage
The Blade (July 7, 2015)
WTOL 11 and FOX Toledo (July 8, 2015)

The University of Toledo Medical Research Society is awarding its first grant to a professor working to develop a life-saving ovarian cancer treatment.

The $50,000 grant to Dr. Kathryn Eisenmann, assistant professor in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, will support her research to develop a drug that will allow cancer-fighting treatments to more effectively penetrate tumor cells.

“Many anti-cancer drugs work poorly because they do not penetrate tumors. Tumor cells are packed so tightly that drugs cannot easily pass through these cells,” Eisenmann said. “My research is going to look at a new drug that blocks tumor cells from binding so tightly together. If successful, combining this new drug with current drugs used to treat ovarian cancer will allow more of the cancer-fighting drugs to enter the tumor and kill the tumor.”

This research is vital because ovarian cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer deaths in American women. About 200,000 women in the United States live with this cancer and 55 percent of women diagnosed die within five years.

“I am so thankful to receive this funding because it is a highly innovative idea that could lead to novel therapies for this deadly disease,” Eisenmann said.

Dr. Kathryn Eisenmann

Howard Newman, UT associate vice president for development, said the Medical Research Society met June 11 to review three faculty proposals. The society, which consists of 20 individuals representing community and medical leadership, selected Eisenmann’s proposal because she had potential to secure additional funding and make a significant difference in the fight against ovarian cancer.

The society’s founding member Marianne Ballas, the owner of Ballas, Buick GMC and a member of the UT College of Medicine Advisory Council, founded the Medical Research Society in 2014 to help junior faculty who are just starting their scientific career. Since then, the society has already gained 20 members who made $25,000 commitments and garnered a $1 million matching donation from The University of Toledo Physicians (UTP).

“Junior faculty need the most encouragement,” Ballas said. “The funding environment is so difficult these days. This is geared toward scientists who have developed their research, but need some more money to develop it further before applying for a larger grant.”

Newman said the National Institutes of Health used to fund more than 30 percent of the grants applied for by junior faculty, but in recent years the number has decreased to 10 percent due to reduction in federal funding. Having this grant will better position Eisenmann to apply for federal funding to further advance her work, he said.

Dr. Christopher Cooper, executive vice president for clinical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, was one of the first members of the society.

“I was extremely pleased at the quality of presentations offered by the faculty, the perceptive questions asked by the members of the Medical Research Society and the passion for excellence that these individuals bring to The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences,” he said.

As many prepare to set off fireworks the Fourth of July holiday, some who fought for the very thing being celebrated are preparing to relive painful memories.

“At a time of year when many celebrate our country’s independence and freedom, some of our military veterans suffer in silence,” said Dr. John Wryobeck, associate professor of psychiatry at The University of Toledo.

According to Wryobeck, American veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq wars have developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at rates of 10 to 30 percent. Symptoms include reliving the event through bad memories or flashbacks; avoiding reminders of the event; experiencing negative feelings such as fear, guilt, shame or depression; and feeling jittery, alert or looking out for danger.

“The loud, unexpected, frequent ‘explosions’ can emotionally transport a veteran back to their wartime experiences,” Wryobeck said. “They can intellectually tell themselves they are safe, but their PTSD symptoms have them feeling differently. Both the veteran and their families can struggle during this holiday period.”

Many ordinary things can remind a veteran of time spent overseas, and it can be difficult to acclimate to life back in the United States.

“There are things like a smell or a sound that can trigger your mind back to places you have been deployed to,” said Navy Reserve Lt. Haraz Ghanbari, UT’s director of military and veteran affairs. “With fireworks – if you have been in a combat zone with gunfire, mortar rounds and IEDs, it’s easy to have your mind transported back; your body is going to react in the way it’s been trained.”

As an effort to support combat veterans who struggle during the Fourth of July, organizations such as Military with PTSD offer signs that say, “Combat veteran lives here, please be courteous with your fireworks.”

Wryobeck and Ghanbari suggest letting military veteran neighbors know when you plan to set off fireworks, so that the celebration is not unexpected.

“This is the weekend our nation celebrates her independence, and the ideas of life and liberty our service members have so valiantly fought to preserve,” Ghanbari said. “Not all combat veterans are bothered by fireworks, and if you think someone might be it’s okay to politely ask.”

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (July 2, 2015)
WTOL 11 (July 2, 2015)
The Blade (July 3, 2015)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES’ MEETINGS

Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Driscoll Alumni Center, Board Room
5:30 p.m. Board of Trustees Social Dinner

Monday, July 20, 2015
Driscoll Alumni Center, Schmakel Room
10:30 a.m. Clinical Affairs Committee Meeting

Any questions may be directed to the University Communications Office by calling (419) 530-7832 or via email at jonathan.strunk@utoledo.edu.