ABSTRACT
The contention that the special scales are no longer usable clinically can be subjected to empirical examination with considerable applied significance in view of a survey that indicates that Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) is slowly overtaking its predecessor in usage popularity, although a sizeable minority will remain loyal to the original form. The precise effect of item loss is impossible to gauge accurately from structural analysis. The Wiggins scales may, in fact, turn out to be hardier than either the MMPI-2 revision team or their creator believes. The Autism scale (TSC/A), which Levitt did not find to be clinically useful, was most affected, with a loss of 13.0% of its items. Due to the preservation in MMPI-2 of 83.6% of the MMPI-1 items either in their original or slightly modified form, most of the MMPI-1 special scales remain intact or have undergone only limited item loss.
