Assessment FINAL Flashcards
MMPI Dates
MMPI developed in 1930’s ; MMPI-2 debuted in 1989
MMPI Clinical Scales 1, 2, 3
- Hypochondriasis - Hs
- Depression - D
- Hysteria - Hy
MMPI Clinical Scales 4, 5, 6
- Psychopathic Deviate - Pd
- Masculinity-Femininity - Mf
- Paranoia - Pa
MMPI Clinical Scales 7, 8, 9, 0
- Psychasthenia - Pt
- Schizophrenia - Sc
- Mania - Ma
- Social Introversion - Si
Requirements for MMPI Test-Taker
- Adequate vision/hearing/hand use
- Adequate stamina for 1-2 hour test
- Reading comp. of at least 6th grade, English proficiency
(recommended 8th grade education) - Borderline or higher IQ
- No drugs/alcohol/neuro/psychosis affecting cognition
also:
- Informed consent
- Rapport built
Regular and short form # of questions
567 regular, 370 short form
client can stop at 370 for fatigue as well and still have valid validity/clinical scales, but not content scales
Validity Scales #1: Traditional
? Cannot say L Lie (15 items) F Infrequency (60 items) K Correction (30 items)
Validity Scales #2: MMPI-2
VRIN Variable Response Inconsistency Scale (49 items)
TRIN True Response Inconsistency Scale (23 items)
FB F-Back (40 items)
F(p) Infrequency-Psychopathology
S Superlative
Purpose of Validity Scales
- Determine test-taking attitude
- Correlated with personality traits/behaviors; can enrich
interpretation - Validity determination should not be made on basis of one score/index
Cannot Say Scale (?)
- Number of Unscorable Items because Individual did not answer or answered both T and F
- Invalid if ? > 30
- Check to see if patients left items blank or answered T+F.
Go back and re-answer if possible - Always examine omitted item content
Variable Response Inconsistency Scale (VRIN)
- 49 pairs of items
- Detect inconsistent or contradictory responding
- Either similar or different item groups.
Similar = inconsistent if one T, one F
Different = inconsistent if both T or both F - High scores = difficulty in understanding OR lack of
cooperation - VRIN complements L, F, and K interpretation
High F, High VRIN = carelessness/confusion
High F, Low VRIN = psychopathology or faking bad
True Response Inconsistency Scale (TRIN)
- 23 pairs of items [like chromosomes]
- Detects inconsistent or contradictory responding
- Only contains opposite content pairs (e.g. “I am happy” and “I am sad” both marked as T)
- High TRIN ( >13 ) = indiscriminate marking of items as true Low TRIN (<5) = indiscriminate marking of items as false
(normal range 5-13)
Infrequency (F)
- 60 items; 90% of standard normal group resp. in the same direction on these items, so deviation is unusual
- Detects tendency to respond unusually; the main theme is psychoticism
- Normal controls score under 55T (Raw = 6)
- High F is among most sensitive scales indicating severity
of maladjustment. Elevated F = poor comprehension,
random responding, severe psychosis, or malingering
F-Back Scale (FB)
- 40 items. Same 90% agreement as F scale.
- Functions like F but later in the test (After #281, most items
between #300-#567)
-Theme is acute distress and depression
Infrequency-Psychopathology Scale – F(p)
- Designed to understand F scale elevation, which could be
poor comprehension, random response, and fake/real
psychopathology - Items were endorsed by <20% of Psychiatric (not Normal)
population - High scores = overreporting of psychopathology (if VRIN
and TRIN are not elevated)
Lie Scale (L)
- Endorsement of culturally-laudable but rare
attitudes/practices. Tryin’ to look good - 15 Items
- Low: acknowledging faults. Typical of more sophisticated
people - High: Rigid, concrete thinker. Likely unsophisticated –
obvious attempt to look good
K Scale (K Correction Scale)
- Measures defensiveness, but less lofty than L; about daily
things and coping - 30 items
- High: able to manage stressors, competent. Found with
vocational achievement and education (higher, not
elevated scores show this)
- However, High K + emotional problems = lack of
insight, dogmatic, controlling - Low: overwhelmed by stressors and unable to cope
Superlative Self-Presentation Scale (S)
- Measures: belief in goodness, serenity, contentment, patience, denial of anger or moral flaws
- Correlates with K scale
- High scorers might be relaxed, un-moody, “chill”
- Functioning must be looked at. If S+K are high and patient
functions, may reflect ego strength. If not, could be faking
good
Validity Indices: F - FB
- If FB > F by 6 or more = Invalid back half and therefore
invalid test - Could reflect fatigue or other problems in second half of
test
Validity Indices: F - K Index
- Dissimulation Index: one of the originals. Did the individual attempt to exaggerate psychopathology?
- F-K > 12 (women) or 17 (men) = “fake bad”
- F-K < 0 = “fake good”
- More useful for fake bad than fake good
Scale 1 - Hypochondriasis (Hs)
- Somatic/Physical Issues
Mild elev. –> actual problems
High elev. –> vague, bizarre somatic
Scale 2 - Depression (D)
- Distress/Dysphoria
Mild elev. –> distress, dissatisfaction, mild depression
High elev. –> clinical depression
Scale 3 - Hysteria (Hy)
- Denial + Physical symptoms
Mild elev. –> medical patients w/ mild tendency to avoid
feelings; express emotions through ailments
High elev. –> denial of emotional problems; tendency to
express feelings through symptoms more intense;
lack of insight; conforming, naive, immature
psychologically
Scale 4 - Psychopathic Deviate (Pd)
- Rebelliousness, Antisocial behavior
Mild elev. –> rebellion that is socially acceptable;
dislike of authority
High elev. –> tendency for AS/Criminal behavior;
serious disregard for authority; angry and impulsive
Scale 5 - Masculinity-Femininity (Mf)
- Elevations = opposite-sex ID
- Lower scores = traditional gender role ID/Bx
Does not determine sexual orientation.
Scale 6 - Paranoia (Pa)
- Mild elevations = suspicion, rationalization, external blame
- Higher elevations = frank paranoia; hostility; persecutory
anxiety
Scale 7 - Psychasthenia (Pt)
- Mild elevations = obsessions, gen. anxiety, self-doubt
- Higher elevations = anxiety disorder
