Of all the five sources of information that are obtained about individuals undergoing psychological evaluations, the only form of objective data that is usually open to public inspection and can be presented to the court is the psychological testing data. Accordingly, the manner in which those data are obtained, scored, analyzed and interpreted are of primary importance. For example, the testing manual for the MMPI-2 provides information on the administration of the test, including the required testing conditions on pages 8 through 10 of that manual (Butcher, J.N., Graham, J.R., Ben-Porath, Y.S., Tellegen, A., Dahlstrom, W.G. & Kaemmer, B. MMPI-2 (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2) Manual for Administration, Scoring, and Interpretation, Revised Edition, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2001). The manual very explicitly states that the MMPI-2 should not be given to the test-taker to complete at home and that the instrument should be administered with supervision by a qualified professional. Most generally, similar “rules” should be followed for all other tests in order to guarantee the credibility of the doctor’s conclusions.
Check out my blog (http://drleckart.blogspot.com). More help can be found at my website (www.drleckartwetc.com) and in my book Psychological Evaluations In Litigation: A Practical Guide for Attorneys and Insurance Adjusters
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