Psychological Tests and Measurements Mmpi-2

Psychological Tests and Measurements

Mmpi-2 (minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2)

This work is an examination of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory screening test that is used in the initiative of assessing the individual personality factors of the individual. This test is used for screening new hires by the company doing the hiring and is used for assessing effectiveness of medical and clinical treatment. The MMPI is shown in this work to be a very effective assessment method when administered by someone who is both properly trained and educated in the analysis of the data collected as a result of the test.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS and MEASUREMENTS

MMPI-2 (MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY-2)

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this work is to research and examine the MMPI-2 Personality Inventory test and to report that information.

INTRODUCTION

In the work entitled: "MMPI: Questions to Ask" the authors state that the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is the."..most frequently used clinical test." (Karp and Karp, 2006) the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory was "developed in the late 1930 by a psychologist and psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota" with the original intention being its' use on the adult population however, it was "extended to include teenagers, mostly for teens in the middle years, about 15 and 16. (Ibid) Because the reading level required for the test is that of a sixth-grade reading level the test was not given to children of average intelligence younger than 13 years of age or to retarded individuals. While brighter children have been administered the test at the age of 11 to12 years of age Karp and Karp urge "great caution is urged in the interpretation of the results. (2006)

At the time of the test revision in 1989 "adolescent norms were not developed" (Ibid) the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is used for screening individuals for personality and psychosocial disorders in adults and adolescents and is designed for the evaluation of thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and behavioral traits that comprise an individual's personality. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test is used in several areas such as clinical, medical, forensic, corrections, public safety and career screening.

The two most used forms of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test (MMPI) are the MMPI -- a and the MMPI-2

MMPI-2

Revised version of the MMPI (1989)

Clinical scales have been updated

Includes 3 new validity scales

Tests questions have been updated

MMPI-a

Developed for adolescents ages 14-18

Introduced in 1992

Used as a tool for assessing adolescent psychopathology

TEST IDENTIFICATION

The MMPI contains ten clinical and three validity scales as well as other supplementary scale which were "originally intended to distinguish 'pure' groups with psychiatric disorders." (Ibid) According to Karp and Karp the names of the scales are of the nature of "bold and sometimes, exotic sounds psychiatric labels." (2006) the findings came in quickly for researchers informing them that the scales were not appropriate for 'pure' measurement and resulting was the replacement of the numbers of the subscales "replace the psychiatric labels in common usage." (Ibid)

Karp and Karp state that: "Researchers also found out that it was common for people to score high on more than one scale at the same time and that interpretations using two or more scales tended to be more sophisticated or refined, more useful, and more accurate. Therefore, patterns of elevations were distinguished, and the numbers were used as a shorthand to describe the elevations. Thus, a 2_4 meant that there were elevations above the "normal" range on scales 2 and 4, and 2 was the higher elevation. When the elevations are noted (either as done here or when presented as a graph), the result is called a "profile." Researchers literally went out and gathered data on the personality characteristics of those who scored high on the 2-4 or any other combination (sometimes relevant clustering involving three scales, such as a 4-6-8). The amount of research is impressive." (2006)

MMPI - LIMITATIONS weakness in the MMPI testing is that it is "vulnerable to faking because of the transparency of some of the items" (Ibid) Specifically a concern are the three validity scales in their design are developed for assisting the psychologist in the identification of "abnormal response sets that might suggest 'faking good' or 'faking bad'." (Ibid)

TEST DESCRIPTION

The MMPI instrument uses true and false answers and contains patterns that are "readily identifiable" which is stated to have "prompted the development of books to supply interpretations of the results. The information is given in the form of descriptive statements that tend to be true of clients whose scores yield certain profiles. These books intend tend to be called 'cookbooks' by psychologists. Thus, if the result shows a 2-4 profile, one can look in any number of cookbooks to find the personality descriptors attached to elevations on 2 and 4 alone and then as a combined pattern." (Karp and Karp, 2006)

The MMPI is considered to be an instrument that is "powerful" however it is necessary that the psychologist interpret this test "in the light of the biographical and other information about the client. Blind interpretations are useful only in the case of gender and as well might be used to memory test the psychologist in relation to the descriptive statements "attached to certain individual scale elevations or certain profiles." (Ibid) it is necessary that the administration and interpretation of the data be conducted with all relevant factors being given careful attention. Those factors are age, sex, education, social class, religious background, place of residence as well as other individual and historical data.

Further, the information obtained "must be integrated correctly with research data, such as is found in the 'cookbooks' in order for the interpretation to be valid." (Karp and Karp, 2006) the use of computers in analysis has resulted in problems in interpretation in that the computer program is originally developed toward raw data scoring and then displaying the files in printed or graphic types forms and in the case of MMPI scoring which contains approximately 399 true and false answers "for the abbreviated MMPI form to almost 600 answer to the full MMPI form." (Ibid) the problem is that computer analysis alone in the MMPI test analysis may yield drastically incorrect results because the: "MMPI needs to be interpreted in light of many factors often not considered by the computer programs. Computer programs frequently require only information about the client's sex, age, and achieved education level, not other factors such as current life stressors or other life experiences or environmental factors." (Ibid) Additionally the results from the MMPI "must be integrated with all the testing and historical data and finally interpreted in light of all of the psychologist's psychological knowledge. Doing this may alter the psychologist's original interpretation of the MMPI, as will be discussed below in the section on the interpretation of the Rorschach. Nonpsychologists should not and usually cannot administer a whole test battery and interpret it appropriately. "(Ibid)

Another problem in interpretation of the MMPI is that "many computer reports focus mainly on giving statements about the elevation of each individual scale, with perhaps cursory statements about the highest two scales considered together. Unfortunately, there is not a statement at the beginning of the computer printout explaining whether the statements are from research with a normal or abnormal population. For example, an elevation on Scale 4 (the psychopathic deviate scale) may yield statements about interesting personality qualities such as "independence" or "anger." (one psychologist working with a codependency program was heard repeatedly calling Scale 4 the "anger" scale, an interesting oversimplification.) Such single-scale interpretative statements may be of help describing a normal person who is an independent thinker, who follows society's mores and laws, but reserves the right to make his or her own moral judgments and may lawfully and appropriately challenge authority. It does not begin to do justice to the "independence" from society's norms seen in a person with a history of seriously breaking society's mores and rules, such as the person expelled a number of times from school for various offenses or the person with a long history of violence or trouble with the law. Thus, one can have the undesirable result that a psychologist may erroneously (and incompetently) use single statements from a computer to present someone accused of molestation in a rather favorable light, ignoring the fact that the overall pattern of the 4-9, combined with a history of violence against others and minor legal charges and convictions, demands a more serious and less favorable view of the client. On the other hand, you can have a parent with an elevation on Scale 4 labeled a probable antisocial personality (formerly known as psychopath or sociopath), while the elevation really suggests less sinister characteristics.

MMPI - TEN SCALES

The ten scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) are those as follows:

Scale One - Hypochondrias: This scale was developed originally to assist in the identification of patients manifesting a symptom of patterns associated with the label of hypochondriasis. For the individual with actual physical illness the scoring will be moderate on scale 1. Individuals scoring high on this scale are preoccupied about their health, tend to exaggerate symptoms, and are considered to be demanding and immature. Scoring high on this scale is associated with complaints of chronic pain, fatigue and weakness. Individuals scoring low on this scale are held to be: "Healthy, insightful, and optimistic" (MMPI, nd)

Scale Two - Depression: This scale is used for assessing symptomatic depression exhibited as poor morale, no hope for the future and life dissatisfaction. Elevated scores on this scale may mean clinical depression while moderate scores are indicative of an individual with a life that is characterized by poor self-worth and a lack of involvement. (MMPI, nd)

Scale Three - Hysteria: This scale is used for identifying patients who have reacted hysterically to stress. The individual scores on this scale are related to "intellectual ability, educational background and social class." (MMPI, nd) Women and better educated individuals score higher on this scale. (MMPI, nd)

Scale Four - Psychopathic Deviate: This scale was originally developed for identification of patients with a psychopathic personality (asocial or amoral). The 50 items of this scale assess general social maladjustment and the absence of strongly pleasant experiences" also used as a "measure of rebelliousness." (MMPI, nd)

Scale Five - Masculine/Feminine: This scale was developed originally for identification of homosexual males. (MMPI, nd)

Scale Six - Paranoia: This scale was developed for identification of patients who have symptoms of being paranoid. (MMPI, nd)

Scale Seven - Psychasthenia: This scale was developed for measurement of the pattern labeled psychasthenia which is much like the obsessive compulsive disorder and has the characteristics of excessive doubts, compulsions, obsessions and unreasonable fears. (MMPI, nd)

Scale Eight - Schizophrenia: This scale is used for assessing schizophrenia in individuals however; this scale should not be interpreted in isolation due to other factors that may influence high scores on this scale. (MMPI, nd)

Scale Nine- Hypomania: This scale is used for assessing psychiatric patients with manifestations of hypomanic symptoms exhibited by elevated mood, accelerated speech and motor activity, irritability, flight of ideas, and brief periods of depression. (MMPI, nd)

Scale Ten - Social Introversion: Used to assess the individual's tendency to withdraw from social contacts and responsibilities. (MMPI, nd)

III. PSYCHOMETRIC INFORMATION:

This work will now examine the test reliability and validity scales of which there are ten scales and will further examine the internal validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test.

TEST RELIABILITY & VALIDITY SCALES

The validity scales of the four original MMPI Scales are:

1. Cannot Say (?) Scale;

2. L Scale (lie);

3. F Scale; and 4. K Scale

The validity scales of the MMPI 2 Scales are 1. Back F (Fb) Scale

2. VRIN Scale

3. TRIN Scale

Cannot Say (?) Scale: This scale looks at the number of unanswered items which includes any items marked both true and false. Questions that are not answered are generally due to "carelessness, confusion, attempting to hide information about them, or they lack the information or experience that is necessary for a meaningful response. If ten or more questions are not answered the examiner must be cautious in the interpretation of answers. Where there are 30 or more unanswered questions the examiner does not interpret the results.

Lie (L) Scale" - This scale was developed for detection of an individual who attempts to present themselves in a light that is considered favorable and uses 15 items that are related to minor flaws and weaknesses that the normal individual does not have a problem with admission of but that detects those who are attempting to obscure even their minor flaws.

Scale" - This scale was developed for detection of "deviant or atypical ways of responding to test items and has three functions which are those of: (1) it's an index of test-taking attitude and is useful in detecting faking good or faking bad response sets; (2) if profile invalidity is ruled out, it is a good indicator or degree of psychopathology with higher scores indicative of greater psychopathology; (3) Scores on the F. Scale may be used for generation of inferences relating to other extra test characteristics and behaviors.

Scale" - This scale was introduced as a means of making more effective index of attempts by individuals being examined in denying psychopathology and in presenting themselves in a favorable light or for individuals who attempt opt exaggerate psychopathology to attempt to appear in a very unfavorable light.