Brain Injury Lawyer

The most widely used personality test in the world, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) has recently caused concern and sparked feuds among scholars. The test, initially developed over 70 years ago used to screen candidates for highly sensitive jobs (politics, government, police, etc.), has always been somewhat controversial, but now the test has been brought into the courtroom and has led to two internal investigations at the university.

I recently read a new book entitled "MMPI-II Assessing Personality and Psychopathology (4th Edition) by Dr. John R. Graham. Dr. Graham played a major role in the development of the MMPI-II and is currently a professor of psychology at Kent State University.

I thought Christmas came early when I received my copy of the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, the Official Journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychology. This issue contained two articles, one by Erin D. Bigler, Ph.D. and the other by Glenn J. Larrabee, Ph.D. both addressing the use of the flexible versus the fixed battery in forensic neuropsychology.

In prior blog entries, I have discussed the illegitimacy of the Fake Bad Scale used by defense neuropsychologists to deprive worthy claimants of fair compensation. Last week, David Armstrong, a Wall Street Journal reporter, after a multi-month investigation, revealed the scientific invalidity of the Fake Bad Scale, exposing how the University of Minnesota press convened a panel of "experts" who failed or simply chose to ignore numerous studies in its analysis in deciding to include the FBS as part of the decision to make the Fake Bad Scale a subset of the Minnesota Multifacet Personality Inventory (MMPI).

What do you expect when a defense-oriented forensic neuropsychologist writes a book review? Obviously, you get a defense-oriented review. My recent issue of Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 23 (2008) 221-227 recently arrived on my desk. Included was an interesting book review by Jerid Fisher, Ph.D., of a new book entitled "Causality of Psychological Injury: Presenting Evidence in Court" by Gerald Young, Andrew W. Kane and Keith Nicholson.

In a number of previous blogs, I have made reference to the invalidity of the Fake Bad Scale developed by Dr. Paul Lees-Haley. Most recently, a trial judge in the circuit court of the thirteenth judicial circuit for Hillsborough County, Florida, ruled that the test or scale cannot reliably determine the existence of malingering or accurately measure the magnitude and to permit an expert to use the FBS scale to support his opinion would be prejudicial.

I have just returned from attending the ATLA National Convention in Seattle, Washington where I was privileged to to speak on the topic of the "Fake Bad Scale - An Invalid Scale Used by Defense Doctors".