In recent years, there has been a growing body of literature on the techniques to assess psychological trauma and posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD). The first comprehensive reference volume was recently published by Wilson and Keane (1997) and includes a chapter on alternative approaches to assessing PTSD among trauma populations. New research approaches continue to be developed to assess psychological trauma and among the latest new kids on the block is the Morel Emotional Numbing Test (MENT) which is reported in the JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT, 1998, 70(2), 299-314.

The study looked in a comparative way among four groups of war veterans who were seeking pensions for PTSD and two cohort veteran groups who were hospitalized. To measure dissimulation, the MMPI-2 F-K scale was employed according to standard interpretation and practice. The MENT test a forced choice measure of 20 relatively unambiguous questionnaires,' was employed to ascertain error rates in selecting descriptive words (e.g., sad versus happy) to characterize the faces in the photographs.

The results of the test produced preliminary evidence and validation in detecting subjects who were suspected of faking PTSD symptoms. In short, those suspected of malingering, as opposed to those not so appraised, made more error rates across the experimental trials.

Although this research is in the earliest stages of development, the procedure raises the possibility of determining persons who attempt to fake PTSD for external gain. What accounts for the underlying processes that produce the results obtained is less clear. Those suspected of malingering were inconsistent, a factor long regarded in psychometric testing as an aspect of exaggeration, problems of attention or other factors (e.g., confusion, psychosis, etc.). However, the MENT is both a perceptual and judgmental test involving attributions of facial emotion. Perhaps the MENT will enter the chest of tools for forensic experts.