Analysis for Rob, 11 February 1998

This is how you described the room:

The room is light and airy, but rather spartan. Large glass windows let in a lot of sunlight, and the walls are painted white. There are a few bookshelves around, but the books look almost too perfect to be disturbed.

The initial room is the subject’s childhood. What interests us here is the general atmosphere of the room, in addition to the level of furnishings described by the subject. This comfortable room suggests a childhood that was pleasant. Few, simple furnishings tells us that the subject has few memories of that time.

This is about right. What I tried to get across to my interviewer (Stan Abrams) was a museum quality to the room, well-lit but oppressively perfect.

You wanted to leave the room.

The subject wanted to become an adult.

This is how you described the forest:

The forest is dark and cool. Tall pines reach for the sky, blocking almost all of the light and casting everything in a eerie green glow.

The forest is growing up, and the trees are those adults with whom the subject interacted at that time. Tall trees imply that the adults had a strong influence on the subject. A very dark forest tells us that the subject felt considerably oppressed by the attentions of the adults.

I had the pine barrens of New Jersey in mind when I described the forest. It fits, considering how strong of an influence my mother was on my growing up.

This is how you described the path:

The trail is windy and indirect. It's hard to see what's ahead because of the twists. Tree roots are everywhere: watch your step!

Adolescence is represented by the path through the forest. Poor visibility of the path tells us the subject was often confused by the changes brought on by adolescence. A narrow path suggests that the subject had limited options for emotional growth at this time. The lack of evidence of fellow travelers suggests strong feelings of isolation at that time. That plants are the major source of obstructions tells us that the subject’s problems arose mostly from interactions with adults.

I remember mentioning tripping over a root. This caused Dave to start chuckling at this point. He should laugh; he needed a machete...

This is how you described the water:

The forest ends on the edge of a great chasm. Water roars down the mountainside, brave salmon fighting their way upstream.

The water is the subject’s sexuality. What interests us here is the clarity of the water (representing attitude) and its movement (representing libido). Rushing, violent water indicates a powerful, vigorous, and quite possibly compulsive sex drive. Clear water tells us that the subject has no issues regarding sex. The presence of life in or around the water indicates a strong desire for children.

Everybody laughed at this one-- except me, the butt of the joke. I also remember I was the first to mention fish...

When you came to the water, you crossed it.

The subject is open to new sexual experiences.

Yeah, yeah. I have yet to meet the person who hasn't tried crossing the water... oh wait. Stan and his "fetid pool, with clumps of fungus floating on the top."

This is how you described the cup:

It's a souvenir mug from NASA-- the kind with the really wide bottom that makes it look like a cone intersecting a cylinder.

The vessel, or specifically the practicality of the vessel, is how the subject approaches marriage or bonding. A practical container indicates that the subject is pragmatic when it comes to questions of marriage.

Again, I'm not kidding. The most stable (and geeky) cup on the planet... and I make it mine.

You took the cup and filled it.

The subject is interested in marriage, and sex will be a significant part of that relationship.

This is how you described the key:

It is a key to a Swiss bank safety deposit box.

The key is the ideal career for the subject. What interests us here is how the key appears (representing how others view the career) and what it may open (representing the subject’s goals for the career). Keys that allow access to treasure or other valuable things indicate that the subject is fixated on gaining wealth through a career. An ordinary-looking key suggests that the subject desires a nondescript career.

At this point, Stan demanded to know who gave me the test before... but I hadn't! It was just dumb luck... or was it?

You confronted the bear.

In a crisis, the subject prefers the direct, no-nonsense approach.

Doesn't everybody? Actually, the bear (the most important part of the test) is the hardest to code, since it is the most interactive. I've simplified it to two choices... in the real test, the question is "Suddenly a bear appears on the path. What do you do?" and as the subject tries a number of things, he learns that the bear is completely indifferent to him.

When you came to the wall, you jumped over it.

The wall represents death: by jumping over it, the subject not only acknowledges death but has come to accept its finality.