Should psychologists adjust obtained IQ scores to accommodate the Flynn effect (J. R. Flynn, 1985)? The authors surveyed directors of doctoral training programs approved by the American Psychological Association and board-certified school psychologists and completed a systematic review of IQ test manuals, contemporary textbooks on IQ testing, federally regulated IQ testing protocols, and various sources of legal and ethical guidance. They confirmed in each instance that such adjustments to IQ scores do not comport with prevailing standards of psychological practice. Results of IQ testing may be applied to a broad range of psycholegal issues, many of which cannot be anticipated. Psychologists assist examinees, courts, and other 3rd parties most effectively by administering and interpreting IQ tests in their intended fashion.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) is a 338-item objective self-report measure drawn from the 567 items of the MMPI-2. Although there is a substantial MMPI-2 literature regarding child custody litigants, there has been only one previously published study using MMPI-2-RF data in this population that focused on Validity scales L-r and K-r. The current study evaluated the MMPI-2-RF results of 344 child custody litigants and showed substantial consistency between T-score elevations typically found on MMPI-2 Validity scales L and K, and comparable elevations for MMPI-2-RF validity scales L-r and K-r. Mean T-scores well within normal limits characterized results for clinical scales on both instruments. The RC scale intercorrelation patterns, and alpha coefficient values found for MMPI-2-RF scales in a custody population, were also found to be very similar to those reported for other populations. Directions for future research are presented.
Atkins v. Virginia (2002) dramatically raised the stakes for mental retardation in capital punishment cases, but neither defined this condition nor imposed uniform standards for its assessment. The basic premise that mean IQ scores shift over time enjoys wide recognition, but its application— including the appropriateness of characterizing it in terms of an allegedly predictable “Flynn effect”— is frequently debated in the course of death penalty litigation. The scientifically and ethically sound approach to this issue is to report IQ scores as obtained and be prepared to address those factors that might affect their reliability. Altering the IQ scores themselves is insufficiently supported by professional literature, legal authority, or prevailing standards of practice.
Board-certified neuropsychologists were surveyed and asked to assign a descriptive label (e.g., superior, average, normal, impaired) to 12 different standard scores (SS), from 50 to 130, of a memory test based on a brief case scenario. Surveys were returned by 49% (n = 110) of the target sample. The mean number of different classification labels assigned by participants to each of the 12 SS was 14 and ranged from 6 (for SS = 95) to 23 (for SS = 50). The mean percentages of participants who assigned the one or two most frequently used labels within each SS were 52.5% and 70.7%, respectively. Results revealed variable uniformity in assigning descriptive labels to specific standard scores, with significantly greater variability for SS in the lower half of the distribution and with applying impairment rather than normative labels. Professional and forensic implications are discussed.
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