Written Psychological Exam

[NYPD28]

Can I get more info on this exam - what it entails, etc....

I took this exam once before but I don't remember what it consisted of.

Thanks in advance.

[NYPDME]

1500 multiple questions, questions are repeated but worded differently throughout the test. ex:

"Do you like flowers?"

few hundred questions later

"Would you be a florist?"

They just want to see the consistency of your truthful answers. If you are evasive they will catch it.

[NYPD28]

1500 multiple questions, questions are repeated but worded differently throughout the test. ex:

"Do you like flowers?"

few hundred questions later

"Would you be a florist?"

They just want to see the consistency of your truthful answers. If you are evasive they will catch it.

Thanks!

[CRS1]

1500 multiple questions, questions are repeated but worded differently throughout the test. ex:

"Do you like flowers?"

few hundred questions later

"Would you be a florist?"

They just want to see the consistency of your truthful answers. If you are evasive they will catch it.

So, let me ask you a question. I don't mind flowers so I don't dislike them, but I would never be a florist. My answer therefore would be Yes, I like flowers, but No, I would not be a florist. Would that be a red flag? I personaly don't see how it would be.

[NYPDME]

of course not, i was just using that as an example, i cant remember some of the more serious questions...but for some reason i remembered the flower and florist question. i thought it was dumb but i said yes to both. lol

[options open]

i'm in grad school for psychology, i've had class after class on the mmpi, woodcock johnson etc... i know more about these tests then i'll ever need or want.

the best way i can explain it is a system of red flags and patterns. certain questions have automatic red flags (i feel blue when i wake up in the morning) and certain patterns have red flags (substance abuse).

the test also gives a score for discrepancies. the reason for this is people taking the test know why they are taking it, so they give the answers they think the tester wants to hear (known as social desirability). you can get a score anywhere from .00 to 1.0. (if your inconsistent on one your score might be .01, if your inconsistent on 10 it could be .10 etc. inconsistent on all of them (which is like impossible) but that would give you a score of 1). if the score isn't very high they won't look into it, if the score is high then they can look at which ones you were inconsistent on.

by the way the psychologist isn't looking at your answers, they are looking at this standard print out with the red flags and patterns that are set by the software, but you probably figured that.

[NYJets44288]

Very insightful options_open, glad u can use ur extensive background to better educate us fellow hopefuls.

[NYPD13]

So, let me ask you a question. I don't mind flowers so I don't dislike them, but I would never be a florist. My answer therefore would be Yes, I like flowers, but No, I would not be a florist. Would that be a red flag? I personaly don't see how it would be.

This question can go both ways. From your point of view is right. From a psychologist point of view can mean that your close minded in terms of something below your standards. If your CO told you to go get coffee and donuts. Would you go get it?

[CRS1]

This question can go both ways. From your point of view is right. From a psychologist point of view can mean that your close minded in terms of something below your standards. If your CO told you to go get coffee and donuts. Would you go get it?

I'm really sorry to sound dumb, but what is a "CO"?

[Roninjin]

commanding officer...at least that what it was in the military..

[options open]

a psychologist wouldn't really care there was a discrepancy between if you like flowers or not (as long as there weren't a ton of discrepancies then the only thing they would care about is your honesty and the fact that the test wasn't a valid measure)

i'm sure they would care about and question a discrepancy between something like substance abuse or depression

[NYPD13]

A depression question out weighs the flower question, but any question in general is important. You might have to explain yourself if you put down false. That's about it. This question is about the character of the person which can tell a lot to a psychologist. I wouldn't take any questions lightly on the MMPI.

[Nero22]

My gf gave me an mmpi about 2 years ago. She described it like this. There is no "right" or "wrong" answer to any question, but rather your answer to questions are compared to others who have taken the test. If a group of depressed people answered questions a certain way, and you answer similarly to the same questions, the test will show you as depressed, essentially. And no one can tell you how you should look at a question or read into a question/answer, ultimately what it comes down to is how you answered compared to others who have taken the test. Although I am no expert, I feel like the test is very situational and your answers, at least mine, will change depending on the mood I am in or the period in my life. I feel like I would answer very differently now to many questions then I would have even 3-4 years ago.

[options open]

know the difference between the substance abuse and substance dependence questions. substance dependence is an automatic DQ

dependence questions will be something like "have you ever had a hang over that lasted more than a day" or "have you ever drank to try and cure a hangover," "has any of your friends or family told you that you drink too much" "has alcohol ever gotten you into trouble at school/work." these are questions they will most likely ask you

theres a big difference between substance use, abuse and dependence. every college kid abuses alcohol, not every college kid is alcohol dependent.

[options open]

My gf gave me an mmpi about 2 years ago. She described it like this. There is no "right" or "wrong" answer to any question, but rather your answer to questions are compared to others who have taken the test. If a group of depressed people answered questions a certain way, and you answer similarly to the same questions, the test will show you as depressed, essentially. And no one can tell you how you should look at a question or read into a question/answer, ultimately what it comes down to is how you answered compared to others who have taken the test. Although I am no expert, I feel like the test is very situational and your answers, at least mine, will change depending on the mood I am in or the period in my life. I feel like I would answer very differently now to many questions then I would have even 3-4 years ago.

yes the test is normed like that, only because there is no empirical set of questions that yield a depressed score. so, we have to rely on correlations, if we give a test to 100 people and 10 of the people have borderline personality disorder and they are the only 10 that answered true to question number 8, then the next person that answered true to question 8 is something to explore.

this is done for all psychological tests and assessments, your compared to a representative sample of your peers.

yes your mood can change from day to day or hour to hour, but your psychological state usually (usually) remains stable over time. the only case this isn't true is children and even adolescents, their moods and states change constantly