Detection of invalid response patterns on the California Psychological Inventory

Abstract

When faced with the task of responding to a personality questionnaire, an individual may respond with a number of strategies or test-taking attitudes. Among these, deceptive (fake) and disengaged (random) attitudes are of particular interest, for these can potentially mislead and misinform test users. A two-stage model was devised to detect deceptive and disengaged protocols on the California Psychological Inventory. Using parameters from signal detection theory, this model is found to be highly sensitive in detecting invalidity. Index terms: California Psychological Inventory, expected utility, faking on personality inventories, personality assessment, random response patterns, signal detection theory.