Direct Dana Haskins

Question 1

Beginning

Answer 1

Could you please introduce yourself to the court?

Question 2

My name is Dana Haskins

Answer 2

And how are you involved in today’s court case?

Question 3

I am here as an expert and as someone who was on the train

Answer 3

let’s start with your background education, could you tell me bit about that?

Question 4

Yes of course well I am a licensed psychologist and I received my PH.D in Clinical Psychology from Midland state

Answer 4

and previous employment experience?

Question 5

I used to work for Polk County helping first responders, i.e. firefighters and paramedics.

Answer 5

And why did you leave Polk county?

Question 6

Well after the Black Bear casino fire, there were a lot of people that needed help and after a while I could no longer handle things mentally so I had to leave. I know people would be upset but I needed to get out

Answer 6

I am so sorry to hear that, but could you please tell us where you currently work?

Question 7

I moved to the private sector helping people in families mend relationships. This allows me to travel all over the world. Hence why I was in Australia, I had a conference to attend in Burbary

Answer 7

And could you tell me why you were brought on as an expert?

Question 8

I was asked to perform an evaluation on Taylor Hopson to determine if she is a killer.

Answer 8

Can you tell me about the practices that you used to come to your findings?

Question 9

Of course, I did a physical examination to ensure that she understood what was going on and to make sure she didn’t take any medication the night before that might impair her ability to answer freely and honestly. She passed with flying colors.

Answer 9

What did you do after that?

Question 10

I did 3 different psychological assessments on taylor which results are typically accurate in upwards of 85% of cases. I did a Multiphasic personality inventory (MPI), the Chambliss Incomplete sentences blank (CISB) test, and the Thematic Apperception Test or (TAT). I also completed a general interview with her in order to get a better understanding of who she is.

Answer 10

And are all of these reports to your knowledge clear and accurate?

Question 11

Yes, it is all from reputable forms of testing and the information is sufficient and clear, I used all of this information to form my conclusion.

Answer 11

Are these the results gained found from the best tests and practices in the field?

Question 12

Yes, they are still widely used in multiple tests. I would also like to state that I also obtained an independent advisory opinion form the midlands board of Psychology to ensure that there are no issues regarding the ethicality of me evaluating Taylor. There were no such concerns.

Answer 12

Well lets begin with the first test the Multiphasic Personality Inventory, can you explain what this test is?

Question 13

It’s a test that is set-up as true/false questions in order to gauge emotional and mental status. From there we evaluate the reports and use a 5 number scale to determine emotional and mental status. This ranges from scale (1) being antisocial behavior, (2) aggressiveness, (3) self-importance, (4) disconstraint, all the way to scale (5) shyness. A high rating in 2 or more of these categories would indicate that a person could be a killer personality.

Answer 13

Could you tell us how many questions are on this test

Question 14

Typically 335 but we only used 45 questions

Answer 14

Now this test you administered is based on a test with 335 questions but you only use 40, how does this affect the results of the tests accuracy?

Question 15

Well there should be no effect on accuracy because the questions were removed to simply fight off fatigue, and in order for there to be no manipulation, the Midland board of psychologist restricts scoring criteria and exact questions

Answer 15

You also claimed that this test can be manipulated, how are you able to ensure that this did not occur with Taylor

Question 16

Well the scoring is designed to ensure that answer that appear to be false or misrepresentative do not impact the true score, not to mention that Hopson had never heard of this test, so i ruled out self manipulation

Answer 16

And after taking the test how would you evaluate Taylor?

Question 17

She didn’t score high in any category, so I would say she possessed any traits that would lead toward further psychological intervention.

Answer 17

Moving on to the Chambliss test, what is this test?

Question 18

This is a test of which a patient is given 20 statements in which they have to finish. The test is scored on a seven point scale with 0-2 being optimism or humor, 3 being neutral and 4-7 being hopeless, pessimism, or unhappy. This is totaled and people with 70 or up is considered maladjusted and people 50 and below are well adjusted. And 50-70 is considered a normal middle tones

Answer 18

And where did Taylor rate?

Question 19

She rated a 69, so a middle ground response, not a maladjusted person

Answer 19

And finally tell me about the Thematic Apperception Test?

Question 20

This is a test that shows a subject a picture then asks the patient to create an extremely dramatic story based on the picture.

Answer 20

Are there any Downfalls to this test?

Question 21

yes

Answer 21

What are the downfalls of this test?

Question 22

Some would argue that the test is outdated and because the people are creating the answers so it is hard to predict how reliable the results are, but when used in tandem with other tests, this is mitigated and this is still a widely used test.

Answer 22

How did Taylor perform on the test?

Question 23

She is a pessimist. She feels inadequate and depressed. This all stems from her childhood and didn’t help when her father died with the two of them on bad terms.

Answer 23

Finally let’s move to your interview, how was taylor?

Question 24

Again she was depressed and felt as though she would never have a chance to get better because her dad had died. The only thing she feels guilty for is that she was unable to repair her relationship with her father.

Answer 24

Overall, how would you describe taylor?

Question 25

I do not think that Taylor is an intentional killer, I think that she is sad but not a killer.

Answer 25

And based on your train ride, is there anything else that taylor did that would lead you to conclude any killer tendencies?

Question 26

No, in fact she seemed like she wanted to mend things. Everyone seemed in decent moods, except kirby Doolittle

Answer 26

How would you describe Kirby Doolittle while on the train?

Question 27

He was odd, he was shouting at one point in a cabin, something about “cory and having to wait til tomorrow night” then flung the door open and left. He was upset on wednesday as well, he was working on a project.

Answer 27

Did anything else seem odd?

Question 28

Well I asked him later one on one why he was upset, and he explained that bancroft was demanding but luckily he would be free soon enough. I never really saw him happy which was weird because it was such an amazing trip to be on and be unhappy

Answer 28

Thank you for your time