IA Psych Juris flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Dusky standard

Legal standard for competency to stand trial: defendant must have sufficient present ability to consult with counsel with a reasonable degree of rational understanding and a rational and factual understanding of proceedings.

M'Naghten test

Insanity defense rule: defendant is not criminally responsible if, due to mental disease or defect, they did not know the nature and quality of the act or did not know it was wrong.

HCR-20V3

Structured professional judgment violence risk assessment tool with 20 items across Historical, Clinical, and Risk Management domains; final risk rating low, moderate, or high.

Static-99R

Actuarial risk assessment instrument with 10 items for predicting sexual offense recidivism in adult males; scores correspond to risk categories and recidivism probabilities.

MacCAT-CA

Structured interview for competency to stand trial assessing understanding, appreciation, and reasoning; 22 items; used to inform competency opinions.

PCL-R

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised: 20-item clinician-rated measure of psychopathy with interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial facets; used in risk assessment, not diagnosis.

TOMM

Test of Memory Malingering: forced-choice visual recognition test to detect feigned memory impairment; scores below cutoff suggest invalid performance.

SVP civil commitment

Involuntary civil commitment of sexually violent predators under statutes requiring mental abnormality and likelihood of future sexual violence; upheld in Kansas v. Hendricks (1997).

Best interests standard

Legal standard in child custody decisions focusing on the child's welfare, considering factors such as parental capacity, stability, domestic violence, and the child's needs and preferences.

Parental alienation

Controversial concept describing a child's unjustified rejection of a parent due to the other parent's influence; not a DSM-5 diagnosis; evaluators should assess specific behaviors rather than apply the label.

Malingering

Intentional production or exaggeration of symptoms for external gain (e.g., financial compensation, avoiding duty); assessed with multiple validity measures and consideration of base rates.

Fitness for duty

Evaluation of whether an employee can safely and effectively perform essential job functions; often used in safety-sensitive positions like police or pilots; focuses on job-related psychological capacity.

Daubert standard

Federal evidentiary standard for expert testimony: judge assesses testability, peer review, error rate, and general acceptance; superseded Frye in federal courts.

Frye standard

Legal standard for admitting expert testimony requiring that the scientific technique be generally accepted in the relevant field; still used in some state courts.

Informed consent forensic

Process of informing evaluee about purpose of evaluation, nature of procedures, fees, limits of confidentiality, and third-party access to results; not treatment consent.

Multiple relationships forensic

Ethical prohibition against serving in conflicting roles (e.g., therapist and forensic evaluator) with the same person; avoid if possible, otherwise manage and disclose.

Test data disclosure

Ethical standard requiring release of test data to clients or authorized recipients unless substantial harm; HIPAA may also govern; protect test security while complying.

Restoration to competency

Process of treating an incompetent defendant to attain competency, typically through medication and education; Sell v. United States limits involuntary medication for this purpose.

Jackson v. Indiana

1972 Supreme Court decision holding that an incompetent defendant cannot be held indefinitely; the state must have a reasonable prospect of restoring competency or initiate civil commitment proceedings.

R-CRAS

Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales: 30-item structured guide for insanity evaluations covering patient reliability, organicity, psychopathology, cognitive control, and behavioral control.

SIRS-2

Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms, Second Edition: assesses feigning of psychiatric symptoms using primary and secondary strategies; classifies response style.

Structured professional judgment

Risk assessment approach combining empirical risk factors with clinical judgment; examples include HCR-20 and SVR-20; not purely actuarial.

Dynamic risk factors

Changeable risk factors (e.g., substance abuse, impulsivity, antisocial attitudes) that can be targeted for risk management and treatment, unlike static historical factors.

Base rate neglect

Tendency to ignore the prevalence of a phenomenon when making predictions; in violence risk assessment, low base rates reduce positive predictive value of risk instruments.

Penile plethysmography

Measure of sexual arousal by monitoring penile circumference changes in response to sexual stimuli; used in sexual offender assessments but controversial and not diagnostic.

Kansas v. Hendricks

1997 Supreme Court decision upholding civil commitment of sexually violent predators under statutes requiring mental abnormality and likelihood of future sexual violence.

Parenting capacity assessment

Evaluation of a parent's ability to meet a child's physical and emotional needs, often including observations, interviews, and psychological testing; used in custody and child welfare cases.

Forensic child interview

Structured, non-suggestive interview of a child to gather information about alleged abuse; protocols like NICHD aim to maximize accuracy and minimize contamination.

Secondary gain

External benefits from illness or injury (e.g., financial compensation, attention); relevant in personal injury evaluations but not synonymous with malingering.

Effort testing

Use of validity measures (e.g., TOMM, MMPI-2-RF validity scales) to assess whether examinee is putting forth adequate effort; essential in personal injury and disability evaluations.

Critical incident stress

Psychological distress following exposure to a traumatic event, common in police and emergency responders; may lead to PTSD, depression, and impaired performance.

False confession risk factors

Factors increasing likelihood of false confession: youth, intellectual disability, mental illness, lengthy interrogation, coercive tactics, and lack of legal representation.