In 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision (1896) that was the foundation of school segregation in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Brown is arguably the most important Supreme Court decision of the 20th century in terms of its influence on American history. Moreover, it has a special significance for psychology because it marked the first time that psychological research was cited in a Supreme Court decision and because social science data were seen as paramount in the Court's decision to end school segregation. This article describes psychologist Kenneth B. Clark's role in that case and the response of the American Psychological Association to scientific psychology's moment in a great spotlight.

Objective In three studies, we explore the impact of response bias, symptom validity, and psychological factors on the self-report form of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (BRIEF-A) and the relationship between self-reported executive functioning (EF) and objective performance. Method Each study pulled from a sample of 123 veterans who were administered a BRIEF-A and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) during a neuropsychological evaluation. Participants were primarily middle-aged, and half carried a mood disorder diagnosis. Study 1 examined group differences in BRIEF-A ratings among valid, invalid, and indeterminate MMPI-2 responders. Analyses were conducted to determine the optimal cut-score for the BRIEF-A Negativity Validity scale. In Study 2, relationships were explored among MMPI-2-RF (restructured form) Restructured Clinical (RC) scales, somatic/cognitive scales, and the BRIEF-A Metacognition Index (MI); hierarchical analyses were performed to predict MI using MMPI-2-RF Demoralization (RCd) and specific RC scales. Study 3 correlated BRIEF-A clinical scales and indices with RCd and an EF composite score from neuropsychological testing. Hierarchical analyses were conducted to predict BRIEF-A clinical scales. Results Invalid performance on the MMPI-2 resulted in significantly elevated scores on the BRIEF-A compared to those with valid responding. A more stringent cut-score of ≥4 for the BRIEF-A Negativity scale is more effective at identifying invalid symptom reporting. The BRIEF-A MI is most strongly correlated with demoralization. BRIEF-A indices and scales are largely unrelated to objective EF performance. Conclusions In a veteran sample, responses on the BRIEF-A are most representative of generalized emotional distress and response bias, not actual EF abilities.

Structured Summary Introduction The most common psychological and cognitive sequelae associated with deployments to Afghanistan (OEF) and Iraq (OIF) are mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). High rates of PTSD are often observed among Veterans with a history of mTBI, and persistent postconcussive symptoms commonly endorsed after mTBI are known to be associated with PTSD. Therefore, this study examined whether PTSD mediates relations between postconcussive symptoms and two indices of medical disease burden: 1) the number of disease categories positive for a diagnosis, or system disease burden, and 2) total number of physical diagnoses, or cumulative disease burden. Materials and Methods Participants were 91 OEF/OIF/OND Veterans seeking treatment at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center who screened positive for mTBI and later attended a follow-up Polytrauma clinic evaluation for neuropsychiatric assessment. Medical records were reviewed for a history of mTBI, postconcussive symptoms, and physician diagnoses, which were used to derive system and cumulative disease burden variables. Mediation was tested using bootstrapping procedures. Participants provided written informed consent and all study procedures were approved by both the VA and university institutional review boards. Results Postconcussive symptoms (r = .53) and PTSD symptoms (r = .32) were both associated with cumulative disease burden. Only postconcussive symptoms were associated with system disease burden (r = .32). Results of our follow-up mediation analysis suggest that PTSD did not mediate relations between postconcussive symptoms and cumulative disease burden (bootstrap coefficient = −.02, 95% CI [−.05–.01]). Conclusion These findings join an emerging body of literature suggesting that postconcussive symptoms have a direct impact on Veterans’ health above and beyond the effects of PTSD. Strengths of this study include the use of objective, clinician-diagnosed medical conditions as an indicator of health, while limitations include the use of self-report measures to assess postconcussive and PTSD symptoms. This study underscores the need for more original research on the impact of mTBI on the long-term health and readjustment of returning Veterans. Furthermore, this study highlights the need for additional research on the psychosocial and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the link between mTBI and poor health.

Along with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is considered one of the “signature wounds” of combat operations in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF]) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom [OEF]), but the role of mTBI in the clinical profiles of Veterans with other comorbid forms of postdeployment psychopathology is poorly understood. The current study explored the deployment risk and postdeployment health profiles of heavy drinking OIF and OEF Veterans as a function of mTBI. Sixty-nine heavy-drinking OIF/OEF Veterans were recruited through a Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center and completed questionnaires and structured interviews assessing war-zone experiences, postdeployment drinking patterns, and PTSD symptoms. Veterans with positive mTBI screens and confirmed mTBI diagnoses endorsed higher rates of combat experiences, including direct and indirect killing, and met criteria for PTSD at a higher rate than Veterans without a history of mTBI. Both PTSD and combat experiences independently predicted screening positive for mTBI, whereas only combat experiences predicted receiving a confirmed mTBI diagnosis. mTBI was not associated with any dimension of alcohol use. These results support a growing body of literature linking mTBI with PTSD.