Course Details
Course Description
This 4-hour continuing education program provides an evidence-based comparative analysis of personality assessment instruments used in California POST preemployment psychological screening evaluations. Participants examine clinical and normal-range instruments against six defensibility criteria—including public-safety-specific norms, criterion validity, incremental validity, and response-distortion detection—within the regulatory framework established by Government Code § 1031(f) and POST Commission Regulation 1955. The program addresses instrument selection, response validity interpretation, and the convergence model for integrating testing, interview, and background investigation data into suitability determinations.
Course Objectives
After completing this course, participants will be able to
Identify the regulatory requirements governing California POST preemployment psychological evaluations, including the specific competencies outlined in Commission Regulation 1955
Explain the screen-out logic of the peace officer preemployment evaluation and distinguish it from a screening-in model, including how normal-range deficits constitute disqualifying concerns in their own right
Apply the six evaluative criteria for instrument selection—public-safety-specific normative base, sample size and representativeness, criterion validity, incremental validity, response-distortion detection, and fairness evidence—to assess the defensibility of instruments used in a preemployment battery
Compare the MMPI-3 and PAI on evidentiary depth, public-safety-specific normative bases, criterion validity, and response-distortion detection for use in peace officer preemployment screening
Describe the strengths and limitations of normal-range personality instruments, including the MPQ, in detecting disqualifying personality characteristics relevant to the POST psychological screening dimensions
Analyze how demonstrated underreporting on validity scales changes the weight assigned to substantive scale elevations and other data sources within a multi-instrument battery
Explain how convergence of correlates across standardized testing, clinical interview, and background investigation supports a defensible suitability determination within the screen-out model