The plates were created by the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach for his book "Psychodiagnostik," published in 1921. Because they were made more than 90 years ago their US copyright has lapsed.
However, psychologists have complained that publishing the inkblots and responses is the equivalent to putting answers to school exams on the internet.
"The only winners seem to be those for whom this issue has become personal, and who see this as a game in which victory means having their way," one Wikipedia poster named Faustian wrote on Monday, adding, "Just don't pretend you are doing anything other than harming scientific research."
Initially Wikipedia had just one of the inkblots online, but the row intensified in June, when James Heilman, an emergency-room doctor from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, posted images of all 10 plates to the bottom of the article about the test, along with what research had found to be the most popular responses for each.
"I just wanted to raise the bar whether one should keep a single image on Wikipedia seemed absurd to me, so I put all 10 up," Dr.
Heilman said in an interview. "The debate has exploded from there." Psychologists have registered with Wikipedia to argue that the site is jeopardising one of the oldest continuously used psychological assessment tests.
The plates have appeared on other websites, but it was not until they showed up on the popular Wikipedia site that psychologists became concerned.
"The more test materials are promulgated widely, the more possibility there is to game it," said Bruce L. Smith, a psychologist and president of the International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods, who has posted under the user name SPAdoc. He quickly added that he did not mean that a coached subject could fool the person giving the test into making the wrong diagnosis, but rather "render the results meaningless."