Autistic Thinking

Abstract. Autistic thinking and its manifestations in Rorschach responses have long been of interest to students of psychopathology and practitioners of personality assessment. However, the precise nature of autistic thinking has not always been adequately grasped, nor have its diagnostic implications been fully appreciated. The present report clarifies the concept of autistic thinking and distinguishes it from current conceptions of autism; it elaborates the mental processes involved in autistic thinking; it considers linkages between the clinical conceptualization of autistic thinking and research findings from related fields; it delineates criteria for identifying and coding autistic thinking in Rorschach protocols; and it discusses the interpretive significance and diagnostic implications of autistic Rorschach responses.