Assessment 2 Quiz 1

• 1943
• Starke Hathaway, Ph.D., and Charnley McKinley, M.D

empirical keying

Believed that a group-administered, paper-and-pencil personality inventory would provide a more efficient and reliable way of arriving at appropriate psychdiagnostic labels.

After a decade of clinical use, it became apparent that the MMPI was not meeting its original purpose of providing psychodiagnosis of new patients

• 1 Hypochondriasis
• 2 Depression
• 3 Hysteria
• 4 Psychopathic Deviate
• 5 Masculinity-Femininity
• 6 Paranoia
• 7 Psychasthenia
• 8 Schizophrenia
• 9 Hypomania
• 0 Social Introversion

• The original standardization sample was not adequate
• There was concern regarding the item content of the original MMPI
• The original MMPI had not undergone editorial review
• The original MMPI was too narrow in scope

• 82 of the 550 items were re-written
• 154 new items were generated to add content areas
• expanded the racial composition of the norming sample

6th grade

18 and older

Break the test up into smaller parts and have test taker take his/her time.

5

code types

• Cannot Say (?)
• Lie (L)
• Infrequency (F)
• Correction (K)
• Variable Response Inconsistency (VRIN)
• True Response Inconsistency (TRIN)
• Back F (FB)
• Infrequency Psychopathology (Fp)
• Superlative Self-Presentation (S)
• Symptom Validity (FBS)

• represents the number of items left unanswered on the profile sheet.
• High number of ? (30+)

• Comprises pairs of selected questions that would be expected to be answered in a consistent manner, but they are not.
• Could indicate indiscriminate responding; profile should be considered invalid and should not be interpreted, especially if F is also high

• Similar to VRIN in that is comprises pairs of items, but in this case, the responses are supposed to be opposites.
• Indicates that a person is indiscriminately answering “True” to the items suggesting acquiescence or yea-saying

• Measures the extent to which a person answers in an atypical and deviant manner. The F scale items were selected based on their endorsement by less than 10% of the population
• Indicates invalid profile due to random responding, false claims

• The 40-item FB was designed to identify a “fake bad” for the last 197 items because the F scale was developed for the first 370 items.
• Indicates possible exaggeration of psychopathology

• 27 item scale that reflects items infrequently answered by psychiatric patients
• Indicates faking psychopathology among psychiatric patients

• The Fake Bad Scale (FBS) as developed to detect personal injury claimants who were exaggerating their difficulties. Research has been equivocal regarding its ability to detect.
• Indicates faking bad or malingering

• L scale consists of 15 items that indicate the extent to which a client is attempting to describe himself or herself in an unrealistically positive manner.
• Describing self overly favorable due to conscious deception, or unrealistic view of self; poor insight due to denial of flaws; low tolerance to stress

• Designed to detect clients who are describing themselves in overly positive terms, similar to L.  However the K scale is more subtle and effective. K  is more a measure of defensiveness
• Describes self in an overly favorable light, denying difficulties

Because the K and L scales have been found to be only moderately effective in differentiating persons who fake good, the S scale was developed to more accurately identify persons attempting to appear overly virtuous. The 50-item scale was developed by noting the differences in item endorsement between persons in an employment situation who were likely to be presenting themselves in an extremely favorable light

ranged from .56 for scale 6 to .93 for scale 0

False

true

true

true

• Have excessive bodily concerns
• May have conversion disorder (if T >80 and scale 3 is also very high)
• May have somatic delusions (if T>80, and scale 8 is also very high)

• Display depressive symptoms ( if T >70)
• Feel depressed, sad, blue, unhappy, and dysphoric
• Elevated 1,2 and 3 referred to as “neurotic triad”
• Elevations on 2 and 7 referred to as distress scales; tends to be a favorable sign for psychotherapy since person is motivated to change due to the distress

• Extraverted, dramatic, attention seeking
• Highly conforming, immature, naïve, childishly self-centered
• React to stress and avoid responsibility by developing physical symptoms (especially if T>80)

• Have difficulty incorporating the values and standards of society
• May engage in asocial and antisocial acts, including lying, cheating, stealing, sexual acting out, and excessive use of alcohol and/or other drugs
• Rebellious toward authority figures

• High 5 scores for men
• Lack of stereotypical masculine interests
• Have aesthetic and artistic interests
• Are likely to participate in housekeeping and child rearing to a greater extent than many men
• High 5 scores for women
• May be rejecting a very traditional female role
• Are likely to be interested in sports, hobbies, and other activities that are stereotypically more masculine than feminine
• Are seen as assertive and competitive
• Low 5 scores for men
• Are presenting themselves as extremely masculine
• Tend to have stereotypically masculine preferences in work, hobbies, and other activities
• Low 5 scores for women
• Have stereotypically feminine interests
• Are likely to derive satisfaction from their roles as spouses or mothers
• May be traditionally feminine or more androgynous

• Extreme elevations (T>70)
• May exhibit frankly psychotic behavior. If both 6 and 8 are high, may be suggestive of paranoid schizophrenia
• May have disturbed thinking, delusions of persecution or grandeur, and ideas of reference

• Apprehensive, worrying, perfectionistic, tense, difficulty concentrating
• Are experiencing psychological turmoil and discomfort
• Usually highly motivated to change; will stay in therapy; progress tends to be slow, but steady

• May have psychotic disorder (T>75)
• May be confused, disorganized, and disoriented
• May be reporting unusual symptoms associated with drug abuse or medical problems such as epilepsy, stroke, or closed head injury
• Elevations in 4 and 8-extremely distrustful and alienated from their world; Elevated 8 F2,4 and 0-schizoid profile

• T> 80 may display manic episode (excessive purposeless activity, accelerated speech, flight of ideas, delusions of grandeur, emotional lability,)
• Possibly perceived as creative, enterprising, and ingenious, but what they can actually accomplish is unrealistic

• Feel uncomfortable in group interactions, may have poorly developed social skills.
• Self-effacing, lacking in self-confidence, submissive, shy

• High-Point Code Type–simplest type. Refers to the highest clinical scale
• Two-Point Code Type-two highest scales. Must be at least a 5-point T score difference between 2nd highest and 3rd  The two-point codes are interchangeable ( e.g., 2-7 and 7-2 are interpreted the same way)Three-Point Code Type-three highest scales. Must be at least a 5-point T score difference between 3rd highest and 4th highest.  For most, the order of scales is interchangeable
• Defined Code Types can be interpreted whenever the scales in the code types have T scores greater than 60.

There are 15 Content Scales and in general, elevations >T 65 indicate that the descriptors of the Content Scales apply to the person.

• clinical
• psychopathology

hypochondriasis

psychasthenia

hypomania

hysteria

paranoia

schizophrenia