Sensitivity of MMPI-2 validity scales to random responding and malingering.

Explored the effects of both random responding and malingering on the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) in an analog design using 4 groups of college students. One group completed the entire answer sheet randomly, a 2nd group was instructed to malinger a moderate psychological disturbance, a 3rd group was asked to simulate a severe disturbance, and a 4th group was given standard test instructions. Results showed that MMPI-2 validity scales were sensitive to these response sets: Both random and malingered responses produced significant elevations on F and Fb, whereas only random responding led to significant elevations on VRIN. These results indicated that the source of an elevated F scale may be clarified by referring to VRIN, as VRIN was significantly elevated only in the random response group. Thus, a high F scale score combined with a high VRIN scale score strongly suggests the possibility of random responding. In addition, scores on both F–K and Ds2 (the items remaining from the MMPI Dissimulation scale) increased significantly as degree of simulated disturbance increased. Thus, Ds2 appeared to have sufficient promise as a validity scale to merit further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overreporting of closed-head injury symptoms on the MMPI-2.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) validity scales were compared in 4 groups: nonclinical participants answering under standard instructions (n?=?20), nonclinical participants instructed to fake closed-head injury (CHI) symptoms (n?=?18), non-compensation-seeking CHI patients (n?=?31), and compensation-seeking CHI patients (n?=?30). The highest scores on MMPI-2 overreporting scales were obtained by nonclinical participants faking CHI, and significantly higher scores on these scales were obtained by compensation-seeking relative to non-compensation-seeking CHI patients. These results suggest that MMPI-2 overreporting scales are sensitive to fabrication of CHI complaints, and possibly to exaggeration of CHI complaints, although further research is necessary to evaluate the latter hypothesis fully. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of verbal learning after closed head injury.

Cluster analysis of the learning trials and delayed free-recall trials of 70 patients with closed head injury on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) revealed 3 distinct patterns of memory performance. The clusters differed in the amount and rate of learning, retroactive interference, and the level of delayed recall. There was a significant positive relationship between performance on the CVLT and performance on concurrent measures of attention, semantic memory, and intellectual ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contributions of neuroimaging to neuropsychological research on closed head injury.

Reviews the contributions of neuroimaging to research on neuropsychological outcome of closed head injury. Studies quantifying cerebral atrophy and investigations of focal brain lesions are discussed. Use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to characterize the location, size, and depth of focal brain lesions is reviewed. The disparities between the findings of computerized tomography (CT) and MRI are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of divided attention on implicit and explicit memory performance following severe closed head injury.

This study investigated the relation between attentional limitations and memory impairments in patients with closed head injuries (CHI). Twenty-seven CHI participants ( > 1 year postinjury) and 27 matched controls rated their liking of target words under conditions of full and divided attention. Participants then completed an implicit test of tachistoscopic identification (TI) and an explicit test of recognition for the target words As expected, the results revealed impaired explicit memory but preserved perceptually driven implicit memory performance following a CHI. Contrary to what was hypothesized, a reduction in attention available at encoding did not disproportionately impair the recognition performance of the CHI patients. Finally, unlike controls, the CHI participants' priming scores on the TI task were significantly affected by dividing attention at encoding. However, this finding interacted with CHI participants perceptual processing rates, suggesting that nonmemory cognitive factors may influence measured performances on implicit memory tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of the MMPI-2 in American Indians: I. Comparability of the MMPI-2 Between Two Tribes and With the MMPI-2 Normative Group.

The comparability of the MMPI-2 in American Indians with the MMPI-2 normative group was investigated in a sample of 535 Southwestern and 297 Plains American Indian tribal members with contrasting sociocultural and historical origins. Both American Indian tribal groups had clinically significant higher T scores (>5 T points) on 5 validity and clinical scales, 6 content scales, and 2 supplementary scales than did the MMPI-2 normative group. There were no significant differences between the 2 tribal groups on any of the MMPI-2 clinical, content, or supplementary scales. Matching members of both tribes with persons in the MMPI-2 normative group on the basis of age, gender, and education reduced the magnitude of the differences between the 2 groups on all of these scales, although the differences in T scores still exceeded 5 T points. It appears likely that the MMPI-2 differences of these 2 American Indian groups from the normative group may reflect their adverse historical, social, and economic conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Head injury and the MMPI-2: Paradoxical severity effects and the influence of litigation.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI-2) profiles of 30 consecutive patients with moderate/severe head injury were compared with those of 30 consecutive symptomatic minor/mild head injury patients. Of the severely injured, 18 had ongoing litigation and 12 did not. All 30 minor/mild patients were in litigation. The severe litigating group had significant elevations on Hypochondriasis (Hs), Hysteria (Hy), Schizophrenia (Sc), and Health Concerns relative to the severe nonlitigating group. The minor/mild group had significant elevations on Hs, Depression (D), Hy, and Psychasthenia (Pt) over both the litigating and non-litigating severe groups and additional elevations on Sc and Health Concerns over the severe nonlitigating group. Results are discussed in terms of the influence of litigation and injury severity on symptom endorsement on the MMPI-2. A model explaining persisting claims of disability after minor/mild head injury is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pretherapy information: An investigation of client responses.

36 female undergraduates who had expressed profeminist attitudes as operationally defined by the Attitudes Toward Women Scale were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups. Each group received differing amounts of pretherapy information about the therapist's values and therapy orientation. Results indicate that Ss did not perceive themselves as similar to the "explicit feminist" therapist, did not believe that she would be as helpful as either the "traditional" or "feminist label" therapists, and were not as willing to see the explicit feminist therapist. Implications for therapist disclosure of explicit value orientations are considered. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of two types of failure on anxiety.

To determine the sensitivity of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) to changes in anxiety in emotionally disturbed children, 36 children (mean age, 11.24 yrs) in residential treatment were administered the STAIC and were randomly assigned (separate assignment for males and females to ensure equal distribution to each group) to either a failure group, a failure plus ego-involving instructions group, or a test-retest control group. The group receiving failure plus ego-involving instructions reported the greatest anxiety increase for both A-State and A-Trait portions of the STAIC. Results are discussed in terms of state-trait-anxiety theory and as indicative of the vulnerability of A-Trait anxiety to stress with emotionally disturbed children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory remediation after severe closed head injury: Notebook training versus supportive therapy.

Evaluated the effectiveness of a 9-wk memory notebook treatment for closed-head injured (CHI) participants with documented memory deficits. Eight participants who had sustained a severe CHI more than 2 yrs earlier were allocated to receive either notebook training or supportive therapy. The notebook training group reported significantly fewer observed everyday memory (EMF) failures on a daily checklist measure than the supportive therapy group. Although in the same direction, this finding no longer reached significance at follow-up. No significant treatment effects were found for the laboratory-based memory measures at posttreatment or follow-up. Although the present results are to be considered preliminary because of the small sample size, they suggest that notebook training has the potential to help individuals compensate for everyday memory problems and that the methods used to measure training efficacy are important. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI-2 clinical scales and 2-point code types: Impact of varying levels of omitted items.

The study investigated the impact of varying levels of item omissions (Cannot Say) on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) 2-point code types. Valid MMPI-2 answer sheets were obtained from psychological outpatients (N?=?100). Seven levels of item omission were investigated: 0 (baseline), 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30. Omitted items were those most frequently skipped by psychiatric outpatients. Statistically reliable but very slight declines were seen on MMPI-2 clinical scales (M?=? –1.8 T-score points at 30 Cannot Says). Defined 2-point code types were relatively stable in the face of up to 30 omitted items. However, undefined code types were changed in 25% of the cases by 10 omitted items and in 39% of the cases by 30 omitted items. These results suggest that defined code types are relatively robust in the face of up to 30 omitted items, although undefined code types appeared much more likely to be changed by omitted items even at low levels. It is recommended that item content always be reviewed in the presence of omitted items to determine if specific clinical or content scales might be affected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An experimental model of closed head injury in mice: pathophysiology, histopathology, and cognitive deficits

The present study describes the characterization of an experimental model of closed head injury (CHI) in the mouse. This model is a modification of a setup described and used previously in the rat. The weight-drop device was modified and adapted to the size and weight of the mouse and the typical parameters that define the severity of the injury and its outcome were evaluated. The posttraumatic accumulation of water, i.e., cerebral edema, the disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), histopathology, motor and cognitive functions were studied up to 30 days following CHI. Increases in cerebral water content and of BBB permeability were observed in the injured hemisphere at 4 h (p < 0.05) and 24 h (p < 0.01) postinjury, respectively. By 7 days, edema disappeared, while the BBB remained open for up to 30 days. The motor function was evaluated by a set of criteria termed neurological severity score (NSS). NSS was severely impaired immediately after CHI and later showed a spontaneous progressive recovery, although some residual deficits, mainly of beam-walk and balance, were still present at 30 days. Mice trained in the Morris water maze before the injury demonstrated highly significant deficits in memory retention up to at least 11 days postinjury (p < 0.01). Histopathological analysis revealed significant neuronal cell death in CA1, CA2, and CA3 regions of the left hippocampus following CHI. However, in the right hippocampus, overt neuronal cell death was observed only in area CA3 at 7 days after CHI. These results suggest that the modified model of CHI in mice can reproduce the posttraumatic sequelae observed in rats and show that some of the data obtained in this model are essentially similar to those observed in human head injury. The experimental model of CHI in mice may be a useful tool for studies in animals that carry specific genetic alterations, aimed at manipulating neurochemical pathways involved in the pathophysiology of brain damage.     

Ringing in the new: The MMPI-2.

In a timely paper entitled "The Research Base, Psychometric Properties and Clinical Uses of the MMPI-2," Butcher and Pope guide test users and researchers toward an understanding of the updated MMPI by summarizing its key features. A central reason for revising the MMPI, according to Butcher and Pope, was the need to edit specific items for ambiguity, complexity, and outmoded or sexist wording. At the same time, the MMPI revision committee committed itself to a "conservative" revision with the goal of keeping the basic scales relatively intact. The authors attribute the adoption of a conservative strategy to a desire to ensure the continued relevance of the vast MMPI research base. They could have argued further that the success of the original MMPI attests to the clinical usefulness and heuristic value of the basic scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Underreporting of psychopathology on the MMPI-2: A meta-analytic review.

Meta-analytic techniques were applied to studies of the MMPI-2 in which participants given standard instructions were compared with participants instructed or believed to have been underreporting. Traditional and supplementary indices of underreporting yielded a mean effect size of 1.25, suggesting that underreporting respondents differ from those responding honestly by a little more than 1 standard deviation, on the average, on these scales. Analyses of classification accuracy suggested that several scales are moderately effective in detecting underreporting, although accuracy decreases if participants have been coached about validity scales. Base rates of defensive responding in relevant populations are reviewed, and methodological issues, including research designs, coaching, and incremental validity of supplementary underreporting scales, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuropsychological effects of closed head injury in older adults: A comparison with Alzheimer's disease.

In this study, neuropsychological profiles of 14 older adult patients with mild or moderate closed head injury (CHI). 14 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 14 community residing elderly controls were compared. The groups were similar in demographic features, and the CHI and AD patients had comparable Mini-Mental State Examination scores. Tests of verbal learning and memory, letter and category fluency, and naming were administered. Relative to the CHI group, AD patients exhibited more devastated memory and did not show a normal facilitation on the category retrieval task. The patient groups exhibited similar levels of categorical clustering and naming accuracy for both high- and low-frequency words. These results suggest that neuropsychological markers of memory and semantic processing may be useful in differentiating the cognitive effects from AD versus early recovery from CHI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of information favorability in the employment interview.

A consistent finding in both the employment-interviewing and impression-formation literature is that unfavorable information receives a greater weight in decision making than does favorable information. The present study investigated the influence of normative-deviant and relevant-irrelevant conditions on interview information that is favorable and unfavorable. 112 university students (aged 18-48 yrs) rated tape-recorded interviews varying in information favorability (favorable-unfavorable), normativity (normative-deviant), and relevancy (relevant-irrelevant). Based on the results, several major conclusions are drawn: (a) Judges evaluated information that deviated from the social norms more extremely than information that was normative. (b) Judges responded to unfavorable information that was relevant by rating the applicant lower than when the same information was irrelevant. (c) Judges responded to favorable information by rating the applicant high regardless of the relevancy of the information. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing gender role of partner-violent men using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2): Comparing abuser types.

This study investigated traditional masculine gender role differences between male partner abuser types using the Masculinity/Femininity subsection scales of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) Structural Summary. We examined differences between four groups of partner-violent men (borderline, antisocial, psychotic features, and nonpathological partner violent) and one group of nonpartner-violent men on five MMPI-2 subscales: Masculinity-Femininity, Gender Role-Feminine, Gender Role-Masculine, Ego Inflation, and Low Self-esteem. Results indicated that the borderline group reported the most consistent traditional feminine gender role orientation of all the groups, whereas the antisocial group reported the most consistent traditional masculine gender role orientation of all the groups. The psychotic features group reported characteristics associated with both traditional masculinity and traditional feminine gender role making it distinct among all the groups. The nonpathological intimately violent group and the nonpartner-violent group reported no extreme scores when compared with the other three groups. The borderline and antisocial groups reported significantly more exposure to family of origin violence and use of more severe forms of partner abuse than the other three partner abuse groups. Treatment implications are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI-2 profiles of motivated fakers given specific symptom information: A comparison to matched patients.

Two groups of normal adults were given specific symptom information on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and paranoid schizophrenia, respectively, and instructed to simulate these disorders on the MMPI-2. Monetary prizes were offered for successful faking. To determine whether symptom information helped Ss produce responses that closely resembled patients' profiles, scores from fakers were compared with scores from patients with these disorders, using a 2?×?2 (Disorder?×?Response Style) ANOVA. Results showed significant differences for response style, with fakers in both groups producing lower scores on K and higher scores on F, Fb, F–K, Ds, as well as on all 10 clinical scales, than patients. The findings suggest that having specific information about the symptoms of psychological disorder does not enable fakers to avoid detection and/or produce profiles equivalent to those produced by patients with the disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective state and awareness of sensory and cognitive effects after closed head injury.

Found that emotional dysphoria was significantly and positively correlated with awareness of sensory and cognitive change in 42 Ss with closed head injury (CHI). Compared with their rehabilitation therapists, Ss tended to underestimate the sensory and cognitive effects of their injury, but agreement between Ss and therapists was highest for those sensory and cognitive functions that Ss could accurately define. S awareness of the sensory and cognitive effects of CHI may be formed from an interaction among at least 4 variables: the assessment measure used, the S's preinjury awareness, motivational influences (e.g., denial), and damage to the frontal lobes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interhemispheric transfer after spontaneous recovery in 43 cases of severe closed head injury.

Examined the possibility of frequent callosal disconnection following closed head injury. Interhemispheric transfer was evaluated in 43 severe closed-head-injured patients (aged 18–51 yrs) using a wide-ranging battery of untimed behavioral tasks, after the period of spontaneous recovery. Only 1 S showed signs of callosal disconnection. Much effective interhemispheric transfer occurred in closed-head-injured Ss after the period of spontaneous recovery. More frequent occurrence of the disconnection syndrome in its acute phase is a possibility that cannot be excluded. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)