The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is one of the earliest and best-known empirically derived tests. Graham (1977, 1999) presented a detailed description of the development of the original version of the MMPI, based largely on the writings of the initial test developers, Starke Hathaway and J. Charnley McKinley. Dissatisfied with the inefficiency and unreliability of individual interviews and mental exams, Hathaway and McKinley sought to develop a paper-and-pencil personality inventory that could be used for psychological diagnostic assessments. The test developers identified approximately 1,000 personality-type statements from a wide variety of sources, including published attitude scales, psychiatric case histories, and textbooks. These 1,000 items were then reduced to 504 relatively independent items. 

As with any empirically derived test, the choice of a criterion was crucial. Hathaway and McKinley obtained two groups, whom Graham (1997, 1999) referred to as the Minnesota normals and the clinical participants. The Minnesota normals were composed of 1,508 individuals, including visitors of hospital patients, recent high school graduates who attended precollege conferences at the University of Minnesota, hospital workers, and others. The clinical sample was composed of 221 psychiatric patients from the University of Minnesota Hospitals. These individuals were further divided into eight subgroups based on their clinical diagnosis. The 504 potential items were administered to both the Minnesota normals and the specific clinical subgroups. Responses to each item were examined to determine whether an item differentiated between groups. Items that did differentiate between normal and clinical subgroup samples were retained and considered for inclusion in the MMPI scale for that particular diagnosis. 

The test developers then cross-validated the clinical scales by administering retained items to new samples of normal and clinically diagnosed individuals. Items that were again able to differentiate between groups were subsequently included in the MMPI. The MMPI was then used to assist in the diagnosis of new patients. Interestingly, the revision of the MMPI, which began in the early 1980s, adopted a somewhat more theoretical approach in that items were added to assess specific content areas (such as suicide potential and drug abuse) that subject matter experts deemed were under represented in the earlier version.

Questions 

1. Why did Hathaway and McKinley begin with such a large pool of potential items?

2. In what ways would item selection have differed if the original MMPI had been rationally developed?

3. Discuss the degree to which you feel the choice of criterion was appropriate for the MMPI.

4. Why did Hathaway and McKinley cross-validate the clinical scales?

5. Why would the process used to develop the MMPI be advantageous for diagnosing clinical patients?  

6. Why would the revision of the MMPI include a somewhat more theoretical approach to test development? 

7. The MMPI has sometimes been used in the selection of new employees. Is this an appropriate use of the test? Why or why not?