Why did you choose to enter the field of psychology?
Initially, what I found most compelling about the field of psychology was psychopathology—its development and treatment. During my latter years in college, however, I became increasingly interested in society’s formal responses to persons with mental disorders. This, combined with a longstanding interest in the law, led me to enter Florida State University’s doctoral program in clinical psychology, since a number of faculty in the psychology department were interested in interactions between the legal and mental health systems.

What made you decide to develop the Inventory of Legal Knowledge?
I decided to develop the ILK because of my longstanding clinical and research interests in two areas—assessment of criminal competencies and assessment of response style. I also had the opportunity to work with a great colleague, Jeff Musick, who I had the pleasure of supervising when he completed his clinical psychology internship at the University of South Florida. Jeff had developed what could be considered an early ILK prototype. After some discussion, we concluded it would be a good project on which to collaborate. The rest, as they say, is history.

What would you like to tell people about your product that they may not know?
Two things. First, both Jeff and I regularly evaluate defendants whose competence to proceed with the legal process is raised as an issue. I like to think that, as a result, we are sensitive to the many realities facing forensic psychologists, and that we designed and developed a tool that is user-friendly as a result. I would also like to share that we first agreed that the name of the instrument would be the Competence Assessment Tool, or COMPASS, for short. We thought that the idea of a compass providing direction was particularly clever and would make for a great graphic on the test manual cover, to boot.  Unfortunately, an assessment instrument with a similar name was already in existence. Our second choice was the Inventory of Legal Knowledge, the ILK.

How do you spend your free time?
When not at work or with my family, I am most likely to be found on a motorcycle or in a game of No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em.

Dear Colleagues,

There are so many new and exciting things to tell you about—our newly updated Web site, our first blog, and the release of several innovative new products; and the availability of the Mini-Mental® State Examination, 2nd Edition™ (MMSE®-2™) forms in 10 new languages. I encourage you to take a few minutes to browse our Web site or download a PDF of our latest catalog and discover all that we have to offer.

Download a PDF of our latest catalog.

I am delighted to announce the upcoming release of four new products: the NEO™ Inventories (NEO-PI-3™/NEO-FFI-3™), the Emotional Disturbance Decision Tree™–Parent Form (EDDT™-PF), the Inventory of Legal Knowledge™ (ILK™), and the Memory for Intentions Test™ (MIST™).

• The NEO-PI-3™ is a concise measure of the five major domains of personality, as well as the six traits that define each domain. Designed to provide a detailed assessment of personality in adolescents and adults, this new edition is appropriate for use with adolescents ages 12 years or older. Thirty-eight items have been revised or edited to lower the reading level and make the instrument more appropriate for younger examinees. In addition, new NEO tools have been created to enhance the usability of the NEO-PI-3™ in occupational and clinical settings. The  also has been revised.


• The EDDT™-PF is designed to assist in the identification of children who qualify for the federal special education category of emotional disturbance (ED). Because many school districts require parental input when making eligibility decisions, the EDDT™-PF was developed to provide a standardized approach to the assessment of ED that encompasses the federal guidelines and addresses the broad emotional and behavioral nuances of this population.


• The ILK™ is a 61-item, orally administered interview designed to help practitioners and researchers quickly evaluate response style in adolescents and adults undergoing evaluations for competence to proceed.


• The MIST™ is an examiner-administered performance-based test of prospective memory skills—the ability to remember to carry out a task in the future.

Additionally, the new MMSE®-2™ forms are being translated into 10 languages, including Spanish for the U.S., German, Italian, Chinese, Dutch, Latin American Spanish, French, Russian, European Spanish, and Hindi. These translations will be available soon. Contact our Customer Support Center for more information.

Finally, I want to thank you for your continued support and for your business. We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

R. Bob Smith III, PhD, Chairman and CEO

P.S. PAR has evaluated its proprietary software for compatibility with the recently released Windows® 7. Download our Windows 7 Compatibility Chart to find out if the version of PAR software you are using is compatible with Windows 7. If you have further questions, please call Technical Support at 1.800.899.8378.