Profile validity standards for MMPI and MMPI-2 F scales.

Although numerous indices of validity have been developed for the MMPI and MMPI-2, interest in the F scale and its variants continues, especially among practicing clinicians. The use of the binomial for assessing standards for random answering and possibly for judgments of malingering offers another approach for the interpretation of F-scale scores. The theoretical binomial distribution and Monte Carlo data are in accord. Cut-off scores of 24 for the MMPI and 23 for the MMPI-2 suggest random responses, and scores of 40 and 37, respectively, suggest clinical interpretation rather than randomness of responding.

MMPI scores of female victims.

Samples of MMPIs of women who were victims of abuse or manifested a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder were drawn from two private practice settings, one urban and one in a small town. Each PTSD sample included 21 persons. For comparison, two contrast samples of 15 persons each were drawn from the same populations. A cut-off point of T = 65 for PK yielded a 69% hit rate for classifying PTSD and contrast subjects. Since scores on PS and PK were so highly correlated, no independent analyses were warranted. Although the PTSD group yielded a more elevated mean profile, there were no characteristic 2-point codes. Therefore, PK is more useful in identifying Posttraumatic Stress Disorder than either profile elevation or configuration.

Neuropsychological and academic achievement correlates of abnormal WISC-R verbal-performance discrepancies.

This study examined neuropsychological and academic achievement correlates of statistically abnormal VIQ less than PIQ discrepancies on the WISC-R in a sample of 53 hospitalized children. Of 17 neuropsychological measures, only aphasia errors was associated with VIQ. Academic achievement measures of reading, spelling, and arithmetic were associated with abnormal VIQ less than PIQ discrepancies. The results indicate that statistically abnormal VIQ less than PIQ discrepancies reflect specific aphasia deficits rather than generalized neuropsychological dysfunction and that academic achievement deficiencies of a general nature ensue.

Thought disorder in hospitalized alcoholics.

In order to assess the occurrence and persistence of thought disorder in patients in an alcoholism treatment program, a sample of 81 males were tested at the beginning of treatment and again after 4 weeks. The Whitaker Index of Schizophrenic Thinking (WIST) was used as the indicator of thought disorder, with the following results: (1) the presence of thought disorder, in both the initial testing and the retesting; (2) a mildly significant reduction in impairment scores over the 4-week period; and (3) only a small proportion of the sample (11% of the initial testing and 17% of the second) evidencing no thought disorder. The implication for planning treatment is that complex, cognitive interventions may be ineffective in groups of alcoholic patients, even when the patients have been "detoxed."

WIST predictions of brain damage: a follow-up to Albott and Gilbert.

As a continuation of diagnostic issues raised by Albott and Gilbert (1973), the present study is an examination of the relative strengths and limitations of the Whitaker Index of Schizophrenic Thinking (WIST) as an indicator of brain damage (N = 59). Specifically, the WIST demonstrated power to avoid false predictions of brain damage and accuracy in predicting brain damage when WIST "signs" are present. A substantial proportion of false negative predictions (no brain damage) indicates that the WIST is not a "test of/for organicity."