A Training Program for Persons with Mental Retardation Program - Assignment Example

 A Training Program for Persons with Mental Retardation Program The Location Learning Test (LLT) is a Mental Status Exam which was published in 2000 and is listed in the Mental Measurements Yearbook. The purpose of this test is to calculate visuo-spatial recall and learning among the elderly adults. In the forensic testing, it can be used in measuring an elderly person’s recollection of events that he or she is said to have witnessed but the elderly recollection of the events are thought to lack clarity and reliability due to advance age effects and the dementia effect. The test development can be traced back to the 1980s. In 1986, there was a trial version of it created by a student pursuing Masters Degree under one of the authors. The test operates on samples of the elderly population. In its first test, normative data was provided differently in groups of respondent ages, (50-69 and 70+ years) and the National Adult Reading Test Estimated IQ (NART-IQ) group (85-89,100-114,115 and above). This test was conducted on 186 men and women (50 to 96) inhabiting England, and the majority of those tested came from Bristol Area. Unfortunately, there is little validity evidence to underscore conclusions made from the LLT experimentation on the elderly people. As said before, the exam is purely conducted on the elderly people though not in groups but as solo individuals. The exam however faces criticism due to its minimal levels of validity in evidence purported to have been gathered and therefore not appropriate for clinical applications. (Coughlan. A, Hollows, S.p.22) 2 The Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI) is developed with the aim to identify people who are most probable to have substance dependence malady (ies). The test can be of use in a forensic setting if one wants to know whether an individual’s behavior is dependent on substance dependence. It has been noted that behavioral traits of people dependent on substances varies a lot. Substances alter peoples’ way of thinking and acting whether alone or in the company of other persons. The aim of this test is to identify persons with alcohol dependence and other forms of drug/substance troubles and is not ready or willing to know substance abuse or repercussions associated with substance abuse. The test was authored by Miller, Glenn. A and published by The SASSI Institute. It has been reviewed in the book ‘’the fifteenth mental measurements yearbook’’ by Plake, Impara and Spies (2003). The test includes face valid and items that are considered subtle that have no relationship with substance abuse. Materials used for the test includes guides that have instructions for administering, filling in the scores, interpreting and manuals providing information on validity, reliability and development. Examples of professionals’ inferences that may be extracted on the premise of scale scores include awareness of the negative effects of substance abuse, evidence of emotional pain, and risk of being in touch with the legal or judicial institutions and people. The test is applicable to adults and Adolescents between 12 and 18years.The SASSI’s room for easy administration, scoring and analysis and the availability of computer styles for reliable storage of data and analysis makes the test instrument highly useful in producing valid results in research ventures. For example, the Adult SASSI-3 has helped identify persons who have high chances of substance dependence problem with a total objectively-tested accuracy of 93%.The Adolescent SASSI-A2 has a 94% overall tested accuracy. 3 The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th ed. (WAIS-IV) is used to examine IQ or Cognitive functioning and is designed to target adults who fall in the 16 to 90 years age bracket. The exam looks into cognitive ability using a basic group of 10 subtests that aim at four specific areas of intelligence: perceptual reasoning, verbal comprehension, working memory and speed of processing. The WAIS-IV is developed on the works and theories of David Wechsler who was a leading psychologist in the 20th Century. He is credited with pioneering cognitive psychology and the publication of Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale in the year 1939. The test features 2,200 adults as a normative sample grouped by age, educational level, gender, region and ethnicity in order to provide the highest level of result reliability. Conducting the test involves using two booklets for responses, two books for stimulus, one form for recording and one administration manual. The test is individually conducted by a qualified psychologist using a mixture of performance and verbal tasks. At completion, the test may be hand filled by pencil and a piece of paper or digitally filled using the WAIS-IV scoring software which analyses and converts automatically raw scores to scores that are scaled and brings forth analysis of the scores in table and graph forms. As earlier indicated, the applicable populations that can be examined by this test instrument are the adults who fall within the 16-90 years age bracket. The test instrument has been put to test and has not failed in strengthening theoretical foundations, managing administration time and improving developmental appropriateness. David Wechsler himself was a respected psychologist, this is one of the advancement of his major works meaning the validity, and reliability of the WAIS-IV is unquestionable. 4 The Projective Personality is tested using the Rorschach Inkblot exam that is also referred to as ‘Rorschach technique’, or Inkblot test. It has been used by some psychologists to test persons’ personality traits and emotional well-being of the said persons. The test originated from its creator, a Swiss Psychologist called Rorschach Hermann. Concisely, the purpose of its creation was to use it as a projective test for clinical examination and diagnosis. The test is psychological in which subjects’ views of ‘inkblots’ are noted down, and later analyzed by use of psychological interpretation, algorithms or a blend of the two. In the forensic setting, it has and can be used to establish thought disorders especially where patients or persons are not willing to open up and tell about their thinking and thoughts. This way, forensic experts can determine the magnitude of the causes of such thought disorders and strive to examine a person’s emotional state and personality traits. The test was developed by Rorschach in 1921 to come up with interpretations of thoughts that were seen as ambiguous when scrutinizing a person’s personality and emotional state. It has been reviewed by Plakeand Impara in their book,” The Fourteenth Mental Measurements Yearbook” (2001).The exam entails the examiner and subject to sit next to one another, with the subject slightly in front of the examiner. This is meant to facilitate a controlled but relaxed atmosphere. There are inkblots totaling to ten, each on a different white card that is 18*24 centimeters or thereabout in size. Five inkblots are black, two are of red and black ink and the three remaining have different colors (multicolored) on a white background. After the ‘free association phase’, the examiner then asks the subjects again to note where he sites what he/she saw in the ‘free association phase’ and what makes him think that it looks like that. This is the ‘Inquiry phase’. Contribution to the test and exposing the subject’s personality traits comes when he/she is requested to hold and rotate the cards. During this exercise, the psychological examiner notes down all that the subject is saying and doing. Responses are recorded by the examiner in a tabulation score sheet and if necessary, in a different location chart. The test objective is to provide empirical data on personality and cognition variables like, response tendencies, personal perceptions, motivations, and cognitive operations. The test is not limited to any kind of population; any mental subject can be examined using this type of examination. According to some researchers and psychologists, the test has however failed the validity test where it has been noted that the Rorschach test has failed in its prediction of practical sequence. 5 The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2(MMPI-2) is designed to look into a number of patterns that are considered major in emotional and personality disorders. A questionnaire was developed in 1940 at the Minnesota University. It emphasizes that psychosomatic traits are in not only peoples’ genes but are also different among people of different cultures. In forensics, the test can be used when trying to comprehend the psychiatric signs and personality traits of the test subject(s).It can also be used by psychologists and forensic experts when trying to find the correlation between personality variables and types of disorders, habitual behavior, critical life occurrences or other psychological determinants. MMPI-2 is of immense importance to forensic settings like criminal hearings, and compensation of worker’s evaluation. The test (at first called MMPI) was developed in 1940 in The University of Minnesota but its revision was done in the 1990s, thus its change to MMPI-2.The significant change brought about by the revision was on the standardization sample to be used. The test was standardized and groomed to a sample of hundreds of persons, which also includes minority and majority ethnic percentages based on census streamlining of these groups of persons. Foreign groups of individuals were no included. Adults or people of 17 years and above can also be included for use by this type of test. Updating the population sample from which results were derived from was necessary because MMPI interpretation and analysis were dependent on actuarial methods from which the total results are more vital and predictive than any question by itself. The test has currently 567 items; the scoring derives six (6) scales of validity and 10 fundamental personality scales. These fundamental personality scales are arranged in order, from the first, which is Hypochodriasis up to the last, which is Social Introversion. Interpretation of these scales is based on scored elevation plus in combination to one another. There exist subscales, which have been developed by researchers’ overtime. They include the Wiggins Content and the Harris-Lingoes subscales. There are also categories of subscales, which have been developed randomly from the above, mentioned and they include Family problems, Need for affection, Dominance, Social alienation, Bizarre Mentation and Ego Strength. MMPI-2’S validity outside the United States of America is questionable and this fact makes it a not-so-effective test. 6 The MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA) is supposed to examine a defendant’s ability to proceed or continue with adjudication. In forensics, an interview assesses a defendant before he/she goes to trial (Wall and Krupp, 2003). The instrument has 22 structured interview items to be used for pretrial evaluation of adjudicative competence. The instrument has objectively scored queries meant to standardize the measures of competence-related capabilities and they amount to three: Comprehending the legal system and the process of adjudication. Appreciation capabilities to comprehend one’s own legal circumstances and situation. Reasoning capabilities to differentiate relevant from irrelevant information and the capability to reason about the duo legal options: pleading not guilty and pleading guilty. The instrument is considered valid and appropriate to use on felony and misdemeanor trial defendants whose ages are 18years and older (Wall & Krupp, 2003, 189). It can also be used in outpatient, inpatient, and correctional settings: both subsequent to and prior to competence adjudication in order to proceed with the legal matter. It may also be of immense importance in assessing progress of treatment in respect to competency restoration. 7 Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is an instrument used to gauge an individual’s antisocial and psychopathic tendencies. It is used to diagonise Psychopathy in persons for legal, research and clinical purposes (Hare, 2002, 26). It says that individuals who are antisocial menacingly infringe on others’ space using deceit, violence, charm and other ways that will help them get what they want. Forensics will use this instrument to come up and analyze Psychopathy symptoms like egocentricity, breaching of laws, emotions that tend to be shallow, pathological lying and repeated social norms violations. Forensic application of this test has been a key deciding factor determining the duration and nature of prison sentences. It has also had an impact in deciding the kind of treatment subjects or inmates should receive. It was developed in early 90s, and has of late been used in courtrooms and institutions to test the looming risk the subjects or inmates pose. The instrument is made up of two parts, a semi formulated interview and a summary of the subject’s history and file records. In evaluation, the psychologist notes 20 items that gauge fundamental elements of the subject’s character. The items encompass the subject’s nature of interpersonal relationships, his or her emotional involvement, evidence showing social deviance, lifestyle and responses towards other people and situations (Freedman, 2001, 89-95).Two aspects that define the antisocial people are: a lifestyle that is antisocial and unstable in addition to selfish victimization of individuals that he or she comes across (Hare, 2002). 8 The Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (RCRAS) was a work by Richard Rogers with the intention of catering for the needs of professional psychologists who were into forensic practice in the criminal courts. The developing of judicial insanity is poorly conjoined to the human behavior knowledge. There has been development of four standards under legal insanity: the irresistible Impulse Standard, the MaNaghten Standad, the American Law Institute Standard and the Guilty but Mentally Ill Standard (Langstrom& Tengstrom, 1999). The instrument was developed by use of severity gradations in order to standardize examination of information in clinics so that the decision ambiguity on responsibility of the criminal is minimized. The five scales in RCRAS are; Behavioral control, Organicity, Cognitive control, Patient reliability and Psychopathology. Scaling in gradation is done on the 30 items against the increasing severity anchor, for example, 3 to six for severity levels increase. 2 for clinic insignificance. 1 for inapplicability or not present 0 for lack of information. A study based on 111 defendants cum clients estimated the reliabilities for the 5 RCRAS micro-scales; the outcomes ranging from 0.63 and 0.68 (validation sample and original sample, respectively) to 1.00. 0.93 was the decisions reliability with respect to insanity (original sample) and 1.00 (Cross validation sample).There was also a discriminant analysis in regards to the subjects analyzed as sane and the sub-scales (5) against the insane. Rogers’s reports correct classification at 72% of sane and classification of clients evaluated as insane at 99%. References David, F. (2001)."False prediction of future dangerousness: Error rates and Psychopathy Checklist-Revised." Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law 29, no. 1: 89-95. Freedman, M. (2001). "False prediction of future dangerousness: Error rates and Psychopathy. Checklist-Revised." Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law 29, no. 1 (March 2001): 89-95. Langstrom, G. & Tengström. A. (1999). "Psychopathy (PCL-R) predicts violent recidivism among criminal offenders with personality disorders in Sweden." Law and Human Behavior 23, no. 2: 205-217. Hare, R. (2002). Dr. Robert Hare's Page for the Study of Psychopaths. Retrieved on October 20, 2011 from: Hare, D. (1993) Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths among Us. New York: The Guilford Press. p.26 Wall B. & Krupp B. (2003). Guilmette T: Restoration of competence to stand trial: a training program for persons with mental retardation. Psychiatry Law 31:189 –201. Read More