Detecting Feigned PTSD Using the Personality Assessment Inventory

Research generally supports the use of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey 1991) to detect feigned PTSD, although this support has been somewhat mixed. There is also evidence that coaching individuals on the presence of PAI validity indicators may not affect their ability to avoid detection as feigners (Bagby et al. in Journal of Personality Assessment 78:69–86, 2002), although this question has not been specifically addressed with regard to PTSD. Additionally, a new PAI validity indicator, the Negative Distortion Scale (NDS), was developed that may have utility in detecting feigned PTSD, but this has not been tested. The purpose of this study was to further test the operating characteristics of the PAI validity indicators to detect feigned PTSD among naïve and coached respondents and to examine the newly developed NDS for this purpose. Individuals with genuine PTSD were compared to individuals instructed to feign PTSD on PAI validity indicators. Results suggest that: (a) coaching had minimal influence on the ability of the PAI to detect feigned PTSD, (b) the PAI validity indicators all significantly differentiated genuine from feigned PTSD, and (c) the NIM and NDS indicators were particularly effective for detecting feigned PTSD.     

Deterring gun crime materially using forensic coatings

Surface coatings that can help deter and solve gun crime are described. These nanoengineered coatings have been applied and evaluated on brass cartridge cases, where they increase associative forensic evidence through nanotag donation to the handler and the retention of handler's DNA. In future we expect this approach to be used for other surfaces and conditions.     

Seasonal Affective Disorder: Clerk Training and the Success of Supreme Court Certiorari Petitions

We investigate why the Supreme Court grants a smaller percentage of cases at the first conference of each term compared to other conferences. According to received wisdom, Supreme Court law clerks are overly cautious at the beginning of their tenure because they receive only a brief amount of training. Reputational concerns motivate clerks to provide fewer recommendations to grant review in cert. pool memos written over the summer months. Using a random sample of petitions from the Blackmun Archives, we code case characteristics, clerk recommendation, and the Court's decision on cert. Nearest neighbor matching suggests clerks are 36 percent less likely to recommend grants in their early cert. pool memos. Because of this temporal discrepancy, petitions arriving over the summer have a 16 percent worse chance of being granted by the Court. This seasonal variation in access to the Court's docket imposes a legally irrelevant burden on litigants who have little control over the timing of their appeal.     

B. Reviews and notes of recent bibliographies

i. Islamic Bindings & Bookmaking: A Catalogue of an Exhibition, The Oriental Institute, The University of Chicago, May 18 — August 18, 1981. By Gulnar Bosch, John Carswell and Guy Petheridge. Chicago, 1981. pp.xii, 235, 177 photographs, 15 colour plates, 15 figures. $40.OO (hard cover), $20.00 (soft cover) plus postage and handling charges (foreign surface mail $3.10 and £2.80 respectively). Inquiries and orders to: The Oriental Institute (Attn.: Museum Office), 1155 E. 58th St., Chicago IL 60637, USA.

ii. A Book World Directory of the Arab Countries, Turkey and Iran. Compiled by Anthony Rudkin and Irene Butcher. London, Mansell/Detroit, Gale, 1981. pp.xiv, 143.

iii. Islamic Revolution or Revolutionary Islam in Iran, A Selected and Annotated Bibliography of Political Publications from the Overthrow of the Shah until his Death. By Wolfgang Behn. Berlin, “Ayidok”, 1980. pp.118.

iv. A Brief Guide to Sources for the Study of Afghanistan in the India Office Records. By Lesley Hall. London, India Office Library and Records, 1981. pp.v, 60. £4.00.

v. Scholars’ Guide to Washington, D.C. for Middle Eastern Studies. Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, Israel, Turkey, Iran. (Scholars’ Guide to Washington, D.C, No.7) . By Steven R. Dorr. Washington, D.C., Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981. pp.xiii, 540,2. $27.50 (cloth), $12.5O (paper).