The Effectiveness of the MMPI-2-RF in Detecting Feigned Mental Disorders and Cognitive Deficits: a Meta-Analysis

A cornerstone of forensic assessments involves the assessment of response styles, including feigning and malingering. As a forensic relevant instrument (FRI), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) contains embedded overreporting scales that cover the three major domains: feigned mental disorders (i.e., F-r and Fp-r), feigned cognitive impairment (RBS and FBS-r), and feigned medical complaints (Fs). This meta-analytic review of 30 studies examined the effectiveness of various detection strategies and cut scores for the MMPI-2-RF. As an important clinical concern, several feigning scales (F-r, FBS-r, and RBS) exhibited marked elevations (Ms > 80 T) for genuine responders diagnosed with major depressive or somatoform disorders. However, the Fp-r—a true rare-symptoms detection strategy—proved highly effective for discriminating feigned from genuine psychopathology (ds > .90). For feigned cognitive impairment, the FBS-r produced very large effect sizes with feigned TBI (M d = 1.41); however, its cut scores were more indicative of general feigning than feigned cognitive impairment. Finally, Fs yielded a large effect size (d = 1.23) for feigned medical complaints, but its cut scores were more likely to identify examinees feigning mental disorders (M sensitivity = .74) than medical complaints (M sensitivity = .43). These findings are discussed within the context of clinical forensic evaluations.     

The MRCI with juvenile detainees: optimizing performance or emphasizing ecological validity?

The Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments (MRCI) are intended to be administered to legally involved youths in a setting free from distractions and stressors with the explicit goal of assessing the examinee's best understanding. However, marked disparities have been observed between juveniles' MRCI performance and their unassisted recall of a representative Miranda warning. We hypothesized that youths' very strong MRCI performance might be partially due to prompts and clarifications used whenever incomplete or ambiguous answers are provided. In this archival study, we systematically re‐scored three MRCI instruments from 231 legally involved youths to evaluate their original responses (i.e., non‐queried scoring). This approach is viewed as more ecologically valid because actual Miranda warnings are typically provided in a routine manner without assistance following each Miranda component. For the large majority of legally involved juveniles, only small differences were noted between standard and non‐queried scoring. However, some dramatic decrements were observed, especially on the Comprehension of Miranda Rights‐II (CMR‐II). More specifically, 15.7% of CMR‐II percentiles dropped precipitously by 60% or more, when using the non‐queried scores. The results are discussed within the context of optimized performances versus ecological validity as applied to Miranda evaluations.     

An Examination of PAI Clinical Descriptors and Correlates in an Outpatient Sample: Tailoring of Interpretive Statements

The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey 1991, 2007) was designed to evaluate patterns of psychopathology utilizing validity, clinical, treatment, and interpersonal scales. Its psychometric strengths include easily read items, gradations of responses, and extensive validation. The primary focus of the current study is to examine item-level clinical correlates to inform interpretation. For external validity, the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ; Zimmerman 2002) was utilized by examining individual items and subscales. The investigation used archival data from 192 outpatients. The most specific and detailed clinical correlates were found for PAI mood disorder scales. Several other clinical scales, such as Schizophrenia (SCZ), had comparatively few clinical correlates. The current findings underscore the need to further validate PAI external correlates in order to augment PAI statements.     

Beyond Credentials: The Effect of Physician Sex and Specialty on How Physicians Are Perceived

The experiment investigated the effect of physician sex and specialty on participants’ perceptions of doctors. Participants (N = 206) viewed a physician profile (male/female orthopedic surgeon or male/female dermatologist) and then evaluated the physician on a survey. While male participants reported they would be more willing to see a female physician and believed female physicians would be more caring, female participants reported they would be more willing to see physicians in counter-stereotypical specialties and rated them as more caring. The study suggests that not only do men and women focus on different things in selecting physicians but also that negative stereotypes of female physicians have dramatically decreased.     

Ethical considerations for neuropsychologists as functional magnetic imagers

This discussion highlights ethical and practical issues potential neuropsychologist-imagers should consider in conducting functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). While fMRI is not currently approved for clinical use, research is ongoing which has implications for clinical practice, from refining brain-behavior relationships, to assisting with diagnosis and treatment decisions. To protect the welfare of cognitively impaired populations requires special care with respect to MR risks and informed consent. Competent functional imaging requires an understanding of the strengths, limitations, and appropriate domain of applications of the measure.     

Capital juror questionnaires in death-penalty cases: A study of attitudes,denials, and deceptions

The Sixth Amendment right to an “impartial jury” should guarantee fundamental fairness that in capital cases may literally be a matter of life and death. For ecological validity, the current study focuses on capital jury questionnaires (CJQs) employed in actual death-penalty cases. Study I examined 248 undergraduates and their responses to death-penalty relevant questions. As an MTurk investigation, Study II consisted of 259 community members potentially eligible for capital trial jury trials. Misrepresentations were operationalized as either denials (concealing their true views) or outright deceptions (dissembling the opposite viewpoint). Both studies found that CJQ items were very susceptible to both types of misrepresentation, irrespective of support-life or support-death views. Nearly 30% of undergraduates openly acknowledged that they would misrepresent close to half their CJQ responses. Overall, community members were much more willing to engage in denials and outright deceptions. The discussion focuses on how CJQs could be improved to promote candor about death-penalty views.     

The Effects of Statistical Format and Population Specificity on Adolescent Perceptions of Cell Phone Use While Driving

Research on risk communication has established that people are influenced by numerical values as well as geographical reference points, or populations, in statistical messages. The ratio bias theory predicts that messages featuring higher casualty numbers will be more influential than similar messages featuring smaller values. However, research on the effects of population specificity predicts that risk messages containing specific populations with naturally lower casualty values will be more effective than similar messages containing larger populations and proportionally greater numbers. This study investigated the contradiction between ratio bias and the effects of population specificity. Students in a drivers’ education class (N?=?112) were randomly assigned to read one of four sets of statistical messages about cell phone use while driving that featured either a general (for example, United States) or specific population (for example, Nassau County), and was expressed using one of two statistical formats, frequencies (for example, “9,000 car accidents…”) or probabilities (for example, “25 % of car accidents…”). Participants then rated their intentions to and perceived risk of using cell phones while driving. Participants who viewed messages featuring general populations along with their naturally larger statistics reported lower intentions to use cell phones while driving than those who were exposed to messages with smaller numbers, but more specific populations. Results suggest that emphasizing larger-valued numbers may be a more effective means of risk communication than depicting specific conditions. These findings have implications for the enhancement of driver safety education to discourage the use of cell phones while driving by teenage drivers.     

Complicated Grief in Canada: Exploring the Client and Professional Landscape

Complicated grief (CG) is one of the central themes in bereavement research and advanced clinical practice today. Using a mixed-methods approach, we wanted to learn (a) what tools Canadian practitioners used to identify or diagnose CG and (b) what interventions or strategies they used to address CG. Sixty-three professionals responded to our survey. There were no straightforward answers to these questions: the state-of-the art of CG in Canada is, in fact, complicated. Practitioners used a wide assortment of tools and strategies with no consensus on any one approach or tool. Building a Canadian CG community of practice was recommended.