Evidence Commons^™

Psychologist As Expert Witness In Psychiatric Questions, Elliot R. Levine

Cleveland State Law Review

When the seeking of truth and the dispensing of justice require Wan evaluation of a litigant's mental functioning, the courts have traditionally looked to medically trained psychiatrists to serve as expert witnesses. In his private practice the psychiatrist frequently uses the consultative services of a clinical psychologist because psychological tests are more quantitative, less subjective, and more sensitive to the nuances of personality deviation than are the traditional psychiatric evaluative techniques. The psychologist can offer to the court, as well as the medical profession can, the opportunity for the utilization of the most scientific means and methods of appraising personality. …