Profile of Embedded Validity Indicators in Criminal Defendants with Verified Valid Neuropsychological Test Performance.

Objective: Few studies have examined the use of embedded validity indicators (EVIs) in criminal-forensic practice settings, where judgements regarding performance validity can carry severe consequences for the individual and society. This study sought to examine how various EVIs perform in criminal defendant populations, and determine relationships between EVI scores and intrapersonal variables thought to influence performance validity.

Method: Performance on 16 empirically established EVI cutoffs were examined in a sample of 164 criminal defendants with valid performance who were referred for forensic neuropsychological evaluation.

Differentiating Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence From Other Violent Offenders Using a Statistical Learning Model: The Role of Cognition and Life History Variables.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread crime that victimizes over 4-million women per year in the United States and results in significant monetary cost and unmeasured physical and psychological consequences for victims. Specialized IPV offender treatment programs demonstrate limited effectiveness, which may be due to an insufficient understanding of the factors that differentiate between IPV perpetrators and non-IPV violent offenders. In this study, we utilized classification and regression tree (CART) analysis to identify combinations of factors that best discriminate IPV perpetrators from non-IPV violent offenders.

Neuropsychological and Criminological Features of Female Homicide Offenders.

Few studies have examined life history and cognitive characteristics unique to female homicide offenders. Understanding these characteristics could aid in risk assessment for extreme violence in this group of offenders. The current study utilized t-tests or chi-square tests to compare 27 female and 81 male homicide offenders on psychiatric, neurologic, criminal, and cognitive characteristics.

Differences in Neuropsychological Functioning Between Homicidal and Nonviolent Schizophrenia Samples.

Few studies have compared performance on neurocognitive measures between violent and nonviolent schizophrenia samples. A better understanding of neurocognitive dysfunction in violent individuals with schizophrenia could increase the efficacy of violence reduction strategies and aid in risk assessment and adjudication processes. This study aimed to compare neuropsychological performance between 25 homicide offenders with schizophrenia and 25 nonviolent schizophrenia controls.

Murder and psychosis: Neuropsychological profiles of homicide offenders with schizophrenia.

Background: Neurocognitive dysfunction, a core feature of schizophrenia, is thought to contribute to the impulsive violent aggression manifested by some individuals with schizophrenia, but not enough is known about how homicidal individuals with schizophrenia perform on neuropsychological measures.

Aims: The primary aim of our study was to describe the neuropsychological profiles of homicide offenders with schizophrenia. Supplementary analyses compared the criminal, psychiatric and neuropsychological features of schizophrenic homicide offenders with and without God/Satan/demon-themed psychotic symptoms.

Domestic Homicide: Neuropsychological Profiles of Murderers Who Kill Family Members and Intimate Partners.

Domestic homicide is the most extreme form of domestic violence and one of the most common types of homicide. The objective was to examine differences between spontaneous domestic homicide and nondomestic homicide offenders regarding demographics, psychiatric history, crime characteristics, and neuropsychological status, utilizing neuropsychological test data from forensic examinations of 153 murderers. Using standard crime classification criteria, 33% committed spontaneous domestic homicides (SDH) and 61% committed nondomestic homicides (NDH).

Neuropsychological features of indigent murder defendants and death row inmates in relation to homicidal aspects of their crimes.

Neuropsychological features of 77 indigent murder defendants and death row inmates were examined in relation to criminal variables underlying their homicidal acts. Clinically, the sample was characterized by elevated rates of developmental disorders (49%), personality disorders (54%), Axis I psychiatric disorders (45%), substance abuse (86%), and history of violence (43%). By statute, killing more than one person is an aggravating factor in many jurisdictions that renders a murder defendant eligible for the death penalty.

Functional skill learning in men with traumatic brain injury.

The number of people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) having persistent deficits that compromise their ability to perform everyday skills is increasing. Previous occupation-based studies indicate that computer-based skills using repetitive practice may be a viable option for retraining. We investigated the effects of different practice schedules on skill learning in 6 men with TBI.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of galantamine to improve cognitive dysfunction in minimally symptomatic bipolar disorder.

Objective: There is increasing evidence that cognitive impairment is common in patients with bipolar disorder. The purpose of this study was to determine whether galantamine augmentation improved cognition in patients with euthymic bipolar disorder. In addition, the effect of galantamine on clinical measures of functioning and psychopathology was assessed.

Differential profiles of verbal learning in traumatic brain injury.

Several recent investigations have utilized cluster analytic procedures to elucidate profiles of verbal learning on the California Verbal Learning Test following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Although the results of these studies have contributed to our understanding of verbal learning following TBI, limitations in sample composition and methodology render the results difficult to evaluate. The current study provides an analysis of verbal learning clusters in the most comprehensive sample (n = 160) of TBI patients reported thus far.