Opinion ID: 618946
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Black’s numerical I.Q. scores

Text: One major category of evidence dealt with Black’s numerical I.Q. scores. In its post-conviction opinion on Black’s Atkins claim, the TCCA observed that Black’s intelligence has been tested numerous times, from his grade-school years through 2001. Black v. State, No. M2004-01345-CCA-R3-PD, 2005 WL 2662577, at  (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Oct. 19, 2005). These scores can be grouped into the following three categories: (1) tests that were administered while Black was in elementary school, with the scores ranging from 83 to 97; (2) tests that were taken in preparation for Black’s trial and during his first round of post-conviction proceedings, from 1988 to 1997, which ranged from 73 to 76; and (3) tests that were administered in 2001 by Black’s experts who testified at his Atkins hearing, which ranged from 57 to 69. In addition, Black took achievement tests in high school. Dr. Daniel Grant, a psychologist and one of Black’s expert witnesses, explained that Black’s scores on the Differential Aptitude Test in the ninth grade placed his level of intelligence in the mentally retarded range. Nos. 02-5032; 08-5644 Black v. Bell Page 7 A major point of contention in the present case, and an issue that the TCCA did not resolve, is which set of scores most accurately reflects Black’s level of intelligence by the time he was 18 years of age. Although Black’s first set of I.Q. scores were taken during this key period of his life and are above 70, his experts challenge the accuracy of these scores based on the sparse information concerning the testing details as well as the questionable supervision of Black’s academic progress at his segregated elementary school. Black’s I.Q. scores from 1988 through 1997 were also above 70, but Dr. Grant opined that, when adjusted for the “Flynn Effect” and/or the standard error of measurement (SEM) that applies to these tests, these scores should be considered 70 or below. As Dr. Grant explained, the Flynn Effect calls for adjusting downward the score that a subject receives on an older I.Q. test based on the idea that the general population’s level of knowledge increases over time, thereby raising the average score obtained on older tests. Dr. Patti van Eys, a clinical psychologist who submitted an affidavit regarding her evaluation of Black, noted that the Flynn Effect is “broadly accepted by the psychological community and recognized by the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR).” On the other hand, State witness Dr. Susan Vaught, a clinical psychologist, testified that although the Flynn Effect is a recognized issue that a clinician might consider when interpreting an I.Q. test, she did not think that it should be used to adjust the numerical score that a subject received on his or her test. She explained that “[y]ou don’t apply a numerical correction to a score that you get based on the Flynn Effect. It’s not in that kind of use amongst clinicians who test[].” Dr. Eric Engum, the other clinical psychologist for the State, also rejected the practice of correcting for the Flynn Effect because “[o]ne cannot arbitrarily . . . go back in time and ‘correct’ or ‘recalculate’ a previously obtained IQ based on [subsequent] changes in standardization.” As for the SEM, Dr. Grant testified that because the I.Q. score achieved on any particular test is fallible, the scores generally involve a SEM of five points up or down from the given score. Dr. Vaught similarly stated in her report that it is “typical and Nos. 02-5032; 08-5644 Black v. Bell Page 8 expected” under the prevailing standard of practice “to consider the [SEM] for any given test in order to determine if a patient’s score could fall below 70.” The experts also disagree about the relevance of Black’s 2001 I.Q. scores. Dr. Vaught conceded that, based on these most recent I.Q. scores, Black “currently meets the first criterion for mental retardation.” Black, 2005 WL 2662577, at . But she and Dr. Engum were suspicious of the scores’ validity based on comparisons to other indications of Black’s level of intelligence. They suspected that Black was malingering (i.e., artificially deflating his scores) during these later tests. Black’s experts, on the other hand, specifically determined that he was not malingering, and they were highly critical of the opinion of the State’s experts that Black was malingering based solely on the written record, without having personally interviewed him. Black’s experts determined that his I.Q. fell in the mentally retarded range by the time he was age 18, but the State’s experts disagreed. Dr. Vaught, in particular, noted that although Black’s poor academic performance was “highly suggestive of learning disability or borderline intellectual capacity,” she found “no compelling evidence that the lower-functioning picture I see now in Mr. Black’s intellectual testing emerged prior to 18.”