MMPI Administration and Scoring Procedures 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client's VRIN scale raw score is 15 on the MMPI-2. What does this most likely indicate?
- Random or inconsistent responding that renders the protocol invalid (Correct answer)
- Severe psychopathology causing confused thinking
- Deliberate malingering of psychiatric symptoms
- An unusually high level of self-awareness
Correct answer: Random or inconsistent responding that renders the protocol invalid
VRIN raw scores of 13 or above (T ≥ 80) strongly suggest random or inconsistent responding, making the profile uninterpretable.
Question 2: What reading level is generally recommended as the minimum for valid MMPI-2 self-administration?
- 6th grade reading level (Correct answer)
- 4th grade reading level
- 8th grade reading level
- 10th grade reading level
Correct answer: 6th grade reading level
The MMPI-2 items are written at approximately a 6th-grade reading level, and clients should be able to read at least at that level for valid self-administration.
Question 3: When scoring the MMPI-2, the standard profile uses which normative sample as its reference group?
- A 1989 restandardization sample of 2,600 U.S. community adults (Correct answer)
- The original 1940s Minnesota normal sample
- A 2001 college student normative sample
- A matched clinical inpatient sample
Correct answer: A 1989 restandardization sample of 2,600 U.S. community adults
The MMPI-2 was restandardized in 1989 using a nationwide community sample of approximately 2,600 adults to replace the outdated original norms.
Question 4: Which of the following most accurately describes the L (Lie) scale on the MMPI-2?
- A set of items reflecting an unsophisticated attempt to present oneself in an overly virtuous light (Correct answer)
- Items that detect blatant psychotic symptom endorsement
- A measure of test-taking inconsistency
- An index of socioeconomic status and educational background
Correct answer: A set of items reflecting an unsophisticated attempt to present oneself in an overly virtuous light
The L scale identifies naive or unsophisticated defensiveness through items describing minor faults that virtually everyone has but that the endorser claims not to have.
Question 5: If a clinician wants to assess profile validity specifically for the back half of the MMPI-2 booklet, which scale should they examine?
- Fb (Back F) scale (Correct answer)
- F scale
- TRIN scale
- S (Superlative Self-Presentation) scale
Correct answer: Fb (Back F) scale
The Fb scale consists of infrequently endorsed items located in the latter portion of the booklet and detects invalid responding that emerges mid-test.
Question 6: Under what condition is it appropriate to administer the MMPI-2 to someone over age 65?
- When clinician judgment supports it, with awareness that the norms may not fully represent elderly adults (Correct answer)
- Never; a separate elderly version must be used
- Only if the client scores below a 4th-grade reading level
- Only via computer administration
Correct answer: When clinician judgment supports it, with awareness that the norms may not fully represent elderly adults
The MMPI-2 normative sample under-represents adults over 65, so clinicians should use clinical judgment and interpret results cautiously in this population.
Question 7: In MMPI-2 hand scoring, K-correction fractions (e.g., 0.5K, 1.0K) must be:
- Rounded to the nearest whole number before adding to the raw scale score (Correct answer)
- Applied as decimal values and left unrounded on the profile sheet
- Subtracted rather than added for suppressor correction
- Applied only when the K raw score exceeds 20
Correct answer: Rounded to the nearest whole number before adding to the raw scale score
K-correction products are rounded to the nearest whole number before being added to the clinical scale raw score to maintain integer raw scores.
MMPI Administration and Scoring Procedures 4
A client's VRIN scale raw score is 15 on the MMPI-2.
What does this most likely indicate?