Clinical Diagnosis and Assessment 99
information that the WAIS-IV and WISC-IV provide. Both of these tests include
subtests that assess four types of abilities:
- verbal comprehension (i.e., the ability to understand verbal information);
- perceptual reasoning (i.e., the ability to reason with nonverbal information);
- working memory (i.e., the ability to maintain and mentally manipulate new infor-
mation); and- processing speed (i.e., the ability to focus attention and quickly utilize information).
In addition, the WAIS-IV and WISC-IV are devised so that the examiner can compare
an individual’s responses on each of the subtests to the responses of other people of
the same age and sex. Information about specifi c subtests helps the examiner de-
termine the individual’s pattern of relative strengths and weaknesses in intellectual
functioning.
Current versions of intelligence tests have been designed to minimize theinfl uence of cultural factors, in part by excluding test items that might require
cultural knowledge that is unique to one group (and would thus put members of
other groups at a disadvantage) (Kaufman et al., 1995; Poortinga, 1995). More-
over, newer tests and revisions of older tests include specifi c norms for different
ethnic groups.
Neuropsychological testing, described earlier, can also be used for cognitive as-sessment. Many of the tests in a typical neuropsychological battery assess basic cog-
nitive functions, such as perception, memory, and language comprehension. Other
cognitive testing focuses purely on cognitive functions, without any regard to which
parts of the brain give rise to these functions. For example, memory tests can dis-
cover whether a person has signifi cantly greater diffi culty recalling events from the
relatively distant past than recalling recent events.
Personality Assessment
Various psychological tests assess different aspects of personality functioning.
Inventories In order to assess general personality functioning, a clinician may use an
inventory—a questionnaire with items pertaining to many different problems and
aspects of personality. An inventory can indicate to a clinician what problems
and disorders might be most likely for a given person. Inventories usually con-
tain test questions that are sorted into different scales, with each scale assessing a
different facet of personality. The most commonly used inventory is the Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory, 2nd edition (MMPI-2; Butcher & Rouse, 1996).
Originally developed in the 1930s to identify people with mental illness, it was
revised in 1989 to include norms of people from a wider range of racial, ethnic,
and other groups and to update specifi c items. The MMPI-2 consists of 567 questions
about the respondent’s behavior, emotions, mental processes, mental contents,
and other matters. The respondent rates each question as being true or false about
himself or herself. The inventory generally takes between 60 and 90 minutes to
complete. (There is also a short form, with 370 items.) The inventory is available
in three formats: paper and pencil, an audiocassette recording, and a computer
version. The MMPI-2 has been translated into many languages and is used in many
different countries.
Responses on the MMPI-2 are sorted into two types of scales: validity scalesand clinical scales. Validity scales assess whether the individual’s responses are likely
to be valid—that is, whether they represent an accurate self-report. The validity
scales assess the degree to which the respondent answers in order to appear psycho-
logically healthier or more impaired than he or she actually is (as occurs with malin-
gering or factitious disorder). If the score on any of the validity scales is extremely
high, an individual’s responses are thought to be invalid. Clinical scales assess symp-
toms of various disorders and problems (see Table 3.6). The pattern of scores on
the various scales creates a profi le, as illustrated in Figure 3.3. Different profi les
are associated with different patterns of personality functioning and impairment.