Emotional Damages Episode 8 Recap: The Truth Is in the Testing: Forensic Psychologist Dr. Howard Friedman on Assessing the Mind in Litigation

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Psychological and neuropsychological testing can play a pivotal role in civil, criminal, and testamentary litigation—but many attorneys still lack clarity on how these tools work and why they matter. In this episode of Emotional Damages, Dr. Ambarin Faizi interviews Dr. Howard Friedman, a board-certified neuropsychologist and clinical psychologist with over 12,000 forensic evaluations to his name.

Together, they explore the complex (but crucial) world of psychological and neuropsychological assessments: how tests are selected, what validity measures reveal about credibility, and how the findings inform legal claims. From cognitive impairment to malingering to testamentary capacity, this episode offers an unparalleled look into the science and strategy behind expert evaluations.

Key Insights from the Episode

  1. The Difference Between Psychological and Neuropsychological Testing
    Psychological tests assess emotional functioning, personality traits, and psychopathology, while neuropsychological tests focus on cognitive functions like memory, attention, and reasoning. In litigation, both are often needed to assess emotional damages or cognitive deficits, especially in TBI cases.
  2. Objective Testing is Essential to Assessing Credibility
    Dr. Friedman emphasizes that self-report alone is never enough in forensic cases. Objective testing—such as the MMPI, PAI, and Rorschach—provides critical data points to confirm, clarify, or challenge a litigant’s claims. Performance and symptom validity testing help identify exaggeration, malingering, or underreporting.
  3. The Rorschach Isn’t Dead—It’s Evolved
    Despite controversy, modern Rorschach scoring systems are psychometrically sound and court-accepted. Dr. Friedman explains how the test can uncover cognitive processes, such as thought disorder, that self-report measures miss—offering powerful insights in complex mental injury cases.
  4. Neuropsychological Testing in Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence
    Retrospective evaluations, or “neuropsychological autopsies,” can help determine whether a person had the cognitive ability to understand and execute a will. Dr. Friedman explains how medical records and cognitive timelines are used to reconstruct decision-making capacity and detect potential undue influence.
  5. Why Releasing Raw Test Data Can Undermine Justice
    Dr. Friedman discusses the legal fight over test security in California and the risks of releasing raw data to non-experts. Improper interpretation, coaching of examinees, and the erosion of test novelty could jeopardize the utility of psychological testing in future litigation.

For litigating attorneys, understanding how psychological and neuropsychological evaluations are used—and how to interpret their findings—is key to building strong cases and challenging weak ones.

Listen to the full episode now and subscribe to Emotional Damages wherever you get your podcasts.

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