INSTRUMENTATION A N D SOFTWARE R E P O R T
A PASCAL Program to Administer the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory CHRISTOPHER C. FRENCH and J. GRAHAM BEAUMONT
University of Leicester
Several psychometric tests have already been adapted for administration by microcomputer, and in particular by the Apple I1 (see, for example, Beaumont, 1981a, 1981b). The pros and cons of microcomputer-aided assessment have been discussed fairly extensively in the literature (Beaumont, 1981c; Johnson, Godin, & Bloomquist, 1981; Space, 1981) and the history of previous applications has been ably reviewed by Thompson and Wilson (1982). Proponents of computerized testing usually emphasize the advantages that such testing offers over conventional administration in terms of standardized presentation, accuracy of recording and scoring responses, speed of administration and scoring, and reduction in costs and man-hours. The MMPI program described here seeks to be "friendly" to the test subject, and to be entirely "bomb-prooF'; that is, no unexpected action on the part of the test subject may cause the program to fail. If unexpected action occurs, appropriate feedback is given to the subject. Responses may be entered either by the standard keyboard or by a touch-sensitive screen. Two discs are required owing to the large amount of data (up to 566 MMPI items, plus instructions, scoring " k e y s , " t-score-conversions) and the length of the programs involved. The first disc is used for administering the test,
and the second for temporary data storage, scoring, and results. However, only one disc drive is required. The initial section of the procedure is directed to the examiner, who is first asked to indicate the response mode to be used-either the keyboard or the touch-sensitive screen. The program then allows the examiner to select either the long form of the MMPI (566 items) or the short form (366 items). Then a six-character password must be keyed in. On any particular session it is necessary to reenter this code before results can be obtained if the subject completes the test. However, since the subject may be unable to complete the test in a single session because of its length, the software allows temporary storage of the subject's responses on disc if the subject selects a "take a break" option. The sixcharacter password is required only if the subject completes the test and the results are to be produced. This procedure prevents the subject from gaining access to his/her own results without the examiner's permission. The examiner is next asked if this is the subject's first session. If it is, the test proceeds by presenting instructions to the subject on how to do the test. The subject may read the instructions as many times as s/he likes until s/he wants to begin the test
French and Beaumont
proper. Then items are presented one at a time on the screen, and the subject is given the option of answering " t r u e , " " f a l s e , " or "cannot say," or taking a break from the test. All questions (except the first) allow the user to go back to the previous item. Pilot studies had revealed that users commonly realize at once when they have made the error of giving a response they did not intend to give. Allowing the user to correct such errors immediately, rather than making him/her wait for a checking routine at the end of the session, considerably reduces frustration, particularly when the test contains many items. If the subject decides to take a break, the examiner is asked to input a unique threecharacter file-identification code, and the data are then stored on the second (scoring) disc under this code name. The examiner may then insert another test disc, if required. If the subject proceeds through to the end of the test, s/he is offered the chance to c h e c k through (1) those items to which s/he responded "cannot say," and then (2) all items. During the checking routines, items are presented again, along with the subject's response, which may then be altered if the subject wishes. This phase also contains a "stop checking" option as well as options to allow the subject to go back one item or forward one item. Owing to memory limitations, the program only allows the user to "step back" to the immediately preceeding item when checking through those items to which s/he had responded "cannot say." When the subject is checking through all the items during the second part of the checking phase, however, the program then allows the user to backtrack right to the first question if need be. When the subject decides to quit checking, the examiner must insert the second (scoring) disc so that the data can be temporarily stored. The examiner must then input the password entered at the beginning of that
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particular session. The scoring routines are then called, and take approximately 45 seconds to score the short form and 75 seconds to score the long form. The examiner must then input either an M or an F, depending upon the sex of the subject. The program then looks up the appropriate t scores and offers the examiner four options: (1) presentation of a table of validity and clinical scale scores, (2) presentation of a plot of the MMPI profile (produced using Turtlegraphics), (3) presentation of the Total (Welsh) Code and the Hathaway Code as described in the MMPI manual (Hathaway & McKinlay, 1967), and (4) a "quit" option. The examiner can select any of the first three options as many times as required before quitting. Upon the subjects' quitting, his or her data are deleted from the disc. The examiner may then insert any of the test discs developed as part of the Leicester/ DHSS project in order to continue testing. The same general procedure is followed if the subject resumes testing after taking a break, with the difference that the examiner is asked to input the subject's file identification code, which had been used previously in storage of the data. The data are then read from the disc, and the test proceeds from the point reached at the end of the previous session. Throughout the keyboard version of the test, the keyboard is "software locked"; that is, whenever a response is fetched from the keyboard, a set of acceptble characters is specified. If the character received is not in that set, the bell rings, and this sequence repeats until an acceptble character is received. By this means the program is secure from responses that would cause the system to " c r a s h . " Proper control is always maintained within the program. The program was developed primarily for one-drive systems, although it can obviously be used on two-drive systems, but in either case a certain amount of discswapping is unavoidable. The subject is never involved in handling the discs, and
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clear instructions are always given to the examiner concerning disc changes. However, the software attempts to anticipate the more likely errors on the user's part, such as inserting the wrong disc or inputting an incorrect code, and produces helpful error messages suggesting remed:,al courses o f action. The system should never simply " h a n g " (with the possible exception of hardware failure). The software also incorporates a file deletion routine that can be used to delete data from the disc for those subjects who for some reason are unable to complete a test session started previously. The software produces very considerable savings in clinical man-hours and ensures total accuracy, especially at the scoring, coding, and p r o f i l e - p l o t t i n g stages o f M M P I administration. H a r d w a r e : The program is written in P A S C A L for a 48K Apple I I + with a Language Card and optional Communications Interface Card to support the touch-sensitive screen. Those wishing further information about the M M P I program may wish to contact the author. The program may soon be available once agreement has been reached with the test publisher regarding copyright.
NOTE This program was wntten under the support of the Department of Health and Social Security of the British government. Date of acceptance for publication: August 14, 1983. Senior author's address: Christopher C. French, Department of Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, U.K.
REFERENCES Beaumont, J.G. (1981a). A PASCAL program to administer the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Current Psychological Reviews, 1, 113-115. Beaumont, J.G. (1981b). A PASCAL program to administer a digit span test. Current Psychological Reviews, 1, 115-117. Beaumont, J.G. (1981c). Microcomputer aided assessment and its implications for clinical practice. Orchard Lodge Studies of Deviancy, 1, 21-42. Hathaway, S.R., & McKinlay, J.C. (1967). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Manual.
New York: The Psychological Corporation. Johnson, J.H., Godin, S.W., & Bloomquist, M.L. (1981). Human factors engineering in computerized mental health care delivery. Behavior Research Methods and Instrumentation, 13, 425-429. Space, L.G. (1981). The computer as psychometrician. Behavior Research Methods and Instrumentation, 13, 595-606. Thompson, J.A., & Wilson, S.L. (1982). Automated psychological testing. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 17, 279-289.
