MMPI-2 at the crossroads: aging technology or radical retrofitting?

Paradigmatic shifts are uncommon in psychological assessment, which is often steeped more in tradition than innovative practices. The introduction of the Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales by Tellegen et al. (2003) represents a radical shift in the development and validation of the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989). In broadening the debate over the merit of the RC Scales, in this article, we examine current challenges to MMPI-2 interpretation including issues with discriminant validity and imprecision (e.g., standard errors of measurement).We evaluate the RC alternative in the context of these interpretive challenges. Although we note several improvements, the incremental validity for MMPI-2 interpretative statements remains to be established. MMPI-2 researchers may wish to test several innovative models for their comparative strengths in establishing scale properties and providing empirically based interpretations.     

The MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical Scales: a paradigmatic shift in scale development

Tellegen et al. (2003) proposed fundamental changes in MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) scale development by discarding empirical scale development in favor of construct validation via Jackson's (1970) sequential system of scale development. As a result of their efforts, a general distress factor (Demoralization) was identified and 8 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales were developed. Using 7,330 clinical cases from Caldwell's (1997) data set, in this study, we sought to cross-validate the MMPI-2 RC Scales. Scale homogeneity was confirmed with high alpha coefficients and interitem correlations in the expected range. We also achieved a major objective of reducing interscale correlations. In replicating Tellegen et al.'s principal components analysis, we achieved a high concordance for 6 of the 8 RC Scales. We critically examine these results in light of Jackson's construct validation. We discuss the clinical usefulness of the MMPI-2 RC Scales within the context of current and future research.     

Dichotic listening with forced attention in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy: significance of left hemisphere cognitive dysfunction

Fifty right-handed patients with focal temporal lobe epilepsy were administered a dichotic listening test with consonant-vowel syllables under non-forced, forced right and forced left attention conditions, and a neuropsychological test battery. Dichotic listening performance was compared in subgroups with and without left hemisphere cognitive dysfunction, measured by the test battery, and in subgroups with left and right temporal epileptic focus. Left hemisphere cognitive dysfunction led to more correct responses to left ear stimuli in all three attention conditions, and fewer correct responses to right ear stimuli in the non-forced attention condition. This was probably caused by basic left hemisphere perceptual dysfunction. Dichotic listening was less affected by a left-sided epileptic focus than by left hemisphere cognitive dysfunction. General cognitive functioning influenced dichotic listening performance stronger in forced than in non-forced attention conditions. Larger cerebral networks were probably involved in the forced attention conditions due to the emphasis on conscious effort.     

Orthographic directionality and thematic role illustration in English and Arabic

This study tested the hypotheses that people had a bias for drawing agents on the left of a picture when given a verb stimulus targeting an active or passive event (e.g., "kicked" or "is kicked") and that orthographic directionality would influence the way events were illustrated. Monolingual English speakers, who read and write left-to-right, and Arabic speakers, who read and write right-to-left, drew agents and patients in response to verb stimuli. We found no significant orthographic directionality effects and no preference for positioning agents on the left of pictures in either group or sentence type. Instead, participants drew agents on the right regardless of language or sentence type, and this was exaggerated in English speakers illustrating passive verbs. These findings support the existence of a preference for placing agents in the right hemispace that may result from asymmetrical hemispheric (i.e., left>right) activation induced by language processing. Our results are consistent with findings that people prefer pictures in which focus is on the right, a preference strongest in pictures with no implicit directionality of movement. This suggests that the methodology of the current study encouraged a static rather than dynamic interpretation of the verb in most participants.     

Neural correlates of morphological decomposition in a morphologically rich language: an fMRI study

By employing visual lexical decision and functional MRI, we studied the neural correlates of morphological decomposition in a highly inflected language (Finnish) where most inflected noun forms elicit a consistent processing cost during word recognition. This behavioral effect could reflect suffix stripping at the visual word form level and/or subsequent meaning integration at the semantic-syntactic level. The first alternative predicts increased activation for inflected vs. monomorphemic words in the left occipitotemporal cortex while the second alternative predicts left inferior frontal gyrus and/or left posterior temporal activation increases. The results show significant activation effects in the latter areas. This provides support for the second alternative, i.e., that the morphological processing cost stems from the semantic-syntactic level.     

Professionalizing the Practice of Public Policy in the Prevention of Violence

The State of the Science Conference Statement on “Preventing Violence and Related Health-Risking Social Behaviors in Adolescents” accurately summarizes the state of knowledge regarding risk factors for violence and intervention efficacy. The Statement missed an opportunity, however, to move the field of prevention practice and policy forward by advocating for more systematic, central review of preventive interventions through a new federal regulatory body, such as an “FDA for Preventive Interventions.” This body would provide review of evidence-based programs and aid decision-making in funding. As a complement to this body, decision-makers also need guidelines in evidence-based practice in ambiguous circumstances, which characterize much of the reality of public policy. Therefore, this new regulatory body should be accompanied by guidelines for evidence-based practice in intervention and policy. Finally, in order to move forward both of these concepts, a National Academy of Sciences Panel should convene to deliberate how these concepts can be implemented.     

Telling perfectionists about their perfectionism: Effects of providing feedback on emotional reactivity and psychological symptoms

A randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted to determine the efficacy of receiving feedback in a sample of maladaptive perfectionists. A total of 60 young adults were randomly assigned to a feedback intervention or control group. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was utilized to analyze the effects of perfectionism over time, as well as the effects of treatment condition on the relationship between perfectionism and outcomes. Measures of interest included emotional reactivity, self-esteem, and psychological distress. Findings revealed that providing feedback to maladaptive perfectionists reduced self-reported global symptomatic distress as well as emotional reactivity. The results are discussed in light of treatment implications, especially with regard to the manner in which perfectionists respond to therapeutic interventions. Overall, study findings suggest that a brief, low-cost feedback intervention is effective at decreasing psychological distress in maladaptive perfectionists and may serve as a beneficial precursor to individual therapy or counseling.