An analysis of certain standardized test scores of a group of prison inmates

Date

1953

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Abstract

This study was an investigation of the relationship between the F scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and certain other psychological test scores of inmates of the Texas Prison System. It was based on the assumption that many of the F scores were invalid due to lack of comprehension of the test items. The purpose was to determine the relationship between the MMPI F scores and measures of comprehension. Since comprehension has been found to be related to intelligence and vocabulary, the F scores on the MMPI were correlated (correlation ratio) with: 1. IQ's - Otis Quick-Scoring Mental Ability Test, Gamma. 2. Educational Ages (E. A.'s) - Total Score on New Stanford Achievement Test, Intermediate. 3. Scores on the Paragraph Meaning Sub-test of the game Stanford Achievement above. 4. Scores on the Word Meaning Sub-test of Stanford Achievement above. The sample consisted of 5327 profiles secured from the files of the Texas Prison System for which information was available in regard to the three tests. In addition to the correlations listed, other procedures used were: 1. The number and per cent of invalid profiles at each Educational Age level as measured by the New Stanford, was computed, as well as the number and per cent of invalid profiles at each Intelligence Quotient level as measured by the Otis. 2. The differences between the means of the MMPI personality scales (a) for those with Valid Profiles and a sixth grade level of Educational Achievement and (b) for those with below the sixth grade level of Educational Achievement, were computed and reliability checked statistically. It was found that while only a small per cent of the profiles were invalid for those with an EA above the sixth grade level, at the fifth grade level of educational achievement 15.01 per cent of the profiles were invalid due to the F score, at the fourth grade level 27.54 per cent were invalid and at the third grade level 46.66 per cent of the MMPI tests were invalid due to having a F raw score of sixteen or above. Those individuals with an IQ above eighty as measured by the Otis had only a small per cent of invalid profiles, but those in the 70-79 I.Q. range had 14.70 per cent invalid; those in the 60-69 range had 23.39 per cent invalid and those below an IQ of 60 over 40 per cent had invalid profiles. There is a significantly high negative correlation between the F score and the EA as measured by the New Stanford; between the F score and the IQ as measured by the Otis; between the F score and the Paragraph Meaning score of the New Stanford and between the F score and the Word Meaning score of the New Stanford. For six of the nine personality scale the difference between the means of the valid profiles of those with over a sixth grade level Educational Age and the valid profiles of those with under a sixth grade Educational Age were significant at the one per cent level. No broad generalizations can be made on the basis of this one investigation, but the data implies there is a definite relationship between F scores and levels of comprehension. Further research with more refined techniques of measuring comprehension would make the findings more conclusive.

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Keywords

Personality tests, Psychological tests, Prisoners

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