A new method for detecting brain disorder by measuring perseveration in personality inventory responses

Area of Science:

• Neuropsychology
• Psychometrics
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Personality inventories can yield novel quantitative metrics.
• The Psychological Screening Inventory (PSI) offers a unique approach to behavioral assessment.
• Understanding response patterns can reveal underlying cognitive or neurological states.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate Acquiescent Perseveration (AP) as a novel behavioral metric.
• To assess AP's efficacy in differentiating neurological conditions from psychiatric disorders.
• To explore AP's relationship with other cognitive and neuropsychological measures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 130-item personality inventory (PSI) to calculate AP.
• AP quantifies runs of "True" responses, with longer runs weighted more heavily.
• Employed ANOVA to compare AP scores between heterogeneous organic groups and five non-organic control groups (normals, neurotics, sociopaths, personality disorders, schizophrenics).
• Cross-validated the measure with similar female groups.
• Examined AP's correlation with Shipley Abstraction scores and the Halstead-Reitan Impairment Index.

Main Results:

• Significant mean AP differences (p < .001) were found between organic subjects and all non-organic control groups.
• The AP measure demonstrated successful cross-validation in female subjects.
• AP means for non-organic groups remained stable across five decades of age.
• AP showed an inverse relationship with Shipley Abstraction scores and a direct relationship with the Halstead-Reitan Impairment Index.
• Uncorrected AP scores demonstrated comparable diagnostic accuracy to established cognitive neuropsychological tests in distinguishing organics from psychiatric patients.

Conclusions:

• Acquiescent Perseveration (AP) is a sensitive indicator of neuropathology.
• AP derived from inventory response sequences provides valuable latent data for distinguishing neurological conditions.
• This metric offers a simple, keyless method for identifying cognitive impairments.