Data integration in legal evaluations: Can clinicians deliver on their premises?

Faust, David

doi:10.1002/bsl.2370070405

Cited by 36 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, suggestions that unreliable cognitive subtest scores somehow become valid when integrated informally and subjectively with a complex mixture of other assessment data are contradicted by the research literature (Dawes, Faust, & Meehl, 1989). To the contrary, it is well known that psychologists are most vulnerable to decision errors in exactly this situation (Davidow & Levinson, 1993;Faust, 1986Faust, , 1990. As described by Faust (1990), this "common belief in the capacity to perform complex configural analysis and data integration might thus be appropriately described as a shared professional myth" (p. 478).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To the contrary, it is well known that psychologists are most vulnerable to decision errors in exactly this situation (Davidow & Levinson, 1993;Faust, 1986Faust, , 1990. As described by Faust (1990), this "common belief in the capacity to perform complex configural analysis and data integration might thus be appropriately described as a shared professional myth" (p. 478).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Temporal Stability of WISC-III Subtest Composite: Strengths and Weaknesses.

Watkins¹,

Canivez²

2004

Psychological Assessment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (D. Wechsler, 1991; WISC-III) is often used to identify subtest-based cognitive strengths and weaknesses that are subsequently used to generate interventions. Given that intelligence is presumed to be an enduring trait, cognitive strengths and weaknesses identified via subtest analysis should also be stable over time. This was evaluated with 579 students who were twice tested with the WISC-III. Based on 66 subtest composites, 6 or 7 interpretable cognitive strengths and weaknesses were found on each WISC-III administration. However, subtestbased strengths and weaknesses replicated across test-retest occasions at chance levels (Mdn ϭ .02). Because subtest-based cognitive strengths and weaknesses are unreliable, recommendations based on them will also be unreliable.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal Stability of WISC-III Subtest Composite: Strengths and Weaknesses.

Watkins¹,

Canivez²

2004

Psychological Assessment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Research on clinical judgment has shown a discrepancy between what data psychologists think they are basing their decisions on and the factors they actually rely upon. As Faust (1989) pointed out, even when clinicians claim to be integrating a wide variety of information, they often resort to "simplifying strategies" that disregard much of the data. The school psychologists surveyed may believe that they emphasize certain criteria and conduct sophisticated analyses and integration of available data when determining the severity of a behavior disorder.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the severity of behavior disorders: Rankings based on clinical and empirical criteria

Clarizio

Klein

1995

Psychol. Schs.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

School psychologists need to assess the severity of behavior disorders accurately to facilitate comprehensive diagnosis, to provide appropriate intervention, to enlighten research efforts, and to be in compliance with state and federal guidelines. Although clinicians in fields such as mental retardation categorize severity of behavior to make diagnostic and general treatment decisions, school psychologists rarely attempt to assess severity in any systematic or comprehensive way. The primary purpose of this study is to see how 92 practicing school psychologists rank 11 variables in their assessments of SED in school-age children. A secondary purpose is to examine the extent of school psychologists' reliance upon clinical and empirical criteria in assessing the seventy of SED. It is concluded that school psychologists agree in their rankings of variables from most to least important and that they do not consider empirical criteria more important than clinically based criteria when assessing SED. Implications for practice are presented.The accurate assessment of the severity of behavior disorders by school psychologists is necessary to facilitate comprehensive diagnosis, to provide appropriate intervention, to enlighten research efforts, and to be in compliance with state and federal guidelines. Children who exhibit more severe behavior often need additional or more intensive services. Epstein, Detwiler, and Reitz (1985) pointed out that higher quality interventions will not be forthcoming until the behaviors of children now classified as seriously emotionally disturbed (SED) or behavior disordered (BD) are more accurately assessed. Assessing the severity of behavior is also necessary to satisfy the least restrictive environment (LRE) and appropriate education requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1990). School psychologists cannot recommend appropriate placements and treatment plans for children with SED until an accurate measure of severity is obtained. Unfortunately, there is little systematic mention of assessing for severity of behavior disorders in texts on child psychopathology (Achenbach,

show abstract

“…The variables that reduce recidivism risk, and the strength of their effects relative to each other, remain virtually unknown. The ensuing overemphasis on ruling in recidivism risk prompts confirmatory searches (Faust, 1989) that are inherently biased. Therefore, adjusting the RRASOR and Static-99 to reduce the frequency of false positive classifications amounts to a less than chance endeavor under conditions of maximized sensitivity.…”

Section: Static-dynamic Factors and Risk-protective Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex offenders and actuarial risk assessments: ethical considerations

Campbell

2003

Behavioral Sci & The Law

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

When assessing the recidivism risk of previously convicted sex offenders, the relevant ethical standards and practice guidelines obligate psychologists to acknowledge numerous limits related to their data and conclusions. For the actuarial instruments used in these assessments, the highest rates of classification accuracy are associated with greater specificity compared with sensitivity. Selecting cut-off scores to maximize sensitivity results in an inordinate frequency of false positive classifications. Attempts at maximizing specificity create an undesirable frequency of false negative classifications.Unfortunately, adjusted actuarial assessment cannot remedy these problems created by the sensitivity-specificity tradeoff. As an unstandardized procedure, the accuracy of adjusted actuarial assessment is severely limited. Consequently, civil proceedings for previously convicted sexual offenders rely on assessments of very limited accuracy. Undertaking these assessments, therefore, may be inconsistent with relevant ethical standards and practice guidelines.

show abstract

Data integration in legal evaluations: Can clinicians deliver on their premises?

Cited by 36 publications

References 50 publications

Temporal Stability of WISC-III Subtest Composite: Strengths and Weaknesses.

Temporal Stability of WISC-III Subtest Composite: Strengths and Weaknesses.

Assessing the severity of behavior disorders: Rankings based on clinical and empirical criteria

Sex offenders and actuarial risk assessments: ethical considerations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About