Development of the Personnel Security Standards Psychological Questionnaire (PSSPQ) was started by Dr. LeRoy A. Stone in the mid-1980s and further refining research on it continues to the present time.  The PSSPQ is a short (i.e., 72 multiple-choice items) psychological type 'test' very accurately (at about a 95% accuracy rate) predicts whether an individual will be successful or not in the event that he/she is processed/adjudicated for high-level security clearance status.  Over the Internet, in 2001, Dr. Stone started to commercially offer administration, scoring and interpretation of the PSSPQ to interested individuals.  [Note - the PSSPQ 'homepage' can be found at:  http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/psspq.html; many links to additional PSSPQ sub-pages, that further explain details and matters pertaining to the test, are present on this 'home-page.']  The fee charged for and individual administration, scoring and interpretation of the PSSPQ has been unchanged since its commercial offering first began; the total amount has been $125.00.  Full instructions as to how to purchase administration/scoring/interpretation of the PSSPQ can be found at:  http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/howtotakepsspq.html.

     In the past couple of years, Dr. Stone has several times responded to inquires as to whether there might be some type of 'money-back-guarantee' possible when purchasing use of PSSPQ testing.  Up until now, the answer to such a question has always been "no."  Although the PSSPQ continues to show prediction accuracy of no less that about 95%, this in turn implies that about 5% of the resulting predictions do end up being wrong or incorrect.  However, people pay to be tested with all kinds of tests that are 'taken' because they are supposed to be diagnostic and are capable of predicting future behaviors and performances.  A good example of such situations are the various scholastic aptitude tests that are administered every year to young people who are planning on starting college in the next year or so.  Many of these tests (e.g., ACT, College Boards, SAT, etc.) provide prediction type information regarding whether the test-taker stands a good or poor chance of making it at various educational institutions and in various educational pursuit directions.  So far, the testing companies that offer these academic prediction testing instruments have yet to offer any 'money-back guarantees' in the event that their testing instrument predicted incorrectly.  At this point, in this presentation, it should be very clearly understood that the PSSPQ is much more highly correlated with actual success/failure of governmental granting of high-level security clearance status than are any of the validity correlations shown by the several major testing companies for their scholastic aptitude measuring instruments.  In other words, the PSSPQ is far more accurate with its predictions than could ever be expected with the scholastic aptitude instruments.  In fact, the PSSPQ has shown a much higher predictive validity status that just about all of the other available tests routinely utilized, for any purpose, by 'industrial/organizational psychologists throughout the world!

    Sales of individual administrations of the PSSPQ, in the past few years, have been sufficiently positive so that any kind of special inducement such as a money-back-guarantee has not be seen as fitting and needed.  The fee for PSSPQ administration, during these past three or so years, has been apparently viewed by PSSPQ 'customers' as being fair and appropriate.  Dr. Stone has viewed any possible use of a money-back-guarantee as being costly to introduce simply due to the fact that a very small number of PSSPQ service fees could be expect to have to be returned and especially that the administration of such a guarantee type program would most certainly add a significant amount of administrative work effort to the PSSPQ commercial offering program.   Up until now, Dr. Stone has promised and reassured PSSPQ customers that after he has communicated interpretations of their testing results to the customers themselves that he would then destroy (by shredding) their PSSPQ completed answer sheets and all documentations that contain anything that could be associated with their names and/or addresses.  This promise has been strictly adhered to and any money-back-guarantee type arrangement would require a quite different form of PSSPQ results record keeping.  In such a situation, Dr. Stone would be required to file and keep PSSPQ scored results linked to customer name/address until some specified time period (e.g., such as three years) had passed or until an involved PSSPQ customer informed Dr. Stone that the PSSPQ prediction of success/failure for being granted a security clearance had been correct or not.  The creation and maintenance of elaborate time associated filing of PSSPQ testing results would then have to then take place compared to up to now when no such filing arrangement is not wanted and does not exist.

     Another matter that would affect the PSSPQ testing charges is that, for example, in the event that a PSSPQ prediction was incorrect, how would this error be documented and accomplished so that fraud would not occur.  In other words, how would Dr. Stone truly know, if informed by a PSSPQ customer that the testing prediction was incorrect, that the involved security clearance status prediction really had  been incorrect.  No business person in his/her right mind would simply and solely rely upon information without some corroborative proof or additional evidence.

     Against his better judgment, Dr. Stone has recently succumbed to the continued mild pressure for offering a money-back-guarantee to those PSSPQ customers who would want and prefer such an arrangement associated with their 'taking' of the PSSPQ.  Due to matters presented in the two immediately preceding paragraphs, the fee for being administered and with being communicated the testing results, in association with a money-back-guarantee that the PSSPQ based prediction is correct, has been set at $200.00.

     Anyone desiring to be PSSPQ tested with the money-back-guarantee would have to agree with the following conditions.  The PSSPQ prediction is stated for only 30 month long time period following the date on which Dr. Stone would have communicated the testing results to the customer.  In the event that the government might take longer than this just stated time frame to inform the involved person that they were granted or denied their hoped for security clearance, then the money-back-guarantee no long would be considered as standing and valid. 

     In the event that the PSSPQ had been administered, under the already discussed money-back-guarantee, and that, within a 30 month time frame, the government had informed the PSSPQ customer that a security clearance adjudication decision had been made that was in conflict with the PSSPQ given prediction for same, then the original copy of the government document or a notarized copy of same would have to be submitted to  Dr. Stone when requesting a return of the $200.00 testing fee.  No exceptions to this arrangement would be accepted.  Customers who might want to request a return of the testing fee should be reminded that any submission of a forged or 'modified' government document is considered by most state laws and by federal law to be a felony.  It would hardly be word committing a felony for a fraudulent action when the money amount is only $200.00

     Therefore with these stated conditions, one can be administered the PSSPQ and, as of 1 October 2004, receive a money-back-guarantee pertaining to the accuracy of the PSSPQ prediction of probable government granted security clearance status.  With such a guarantee, the fee for being administered the PSSPQ and being communicated the results from such testing is $200.00.  Without the guarantee, the fee for the same testing service remains, as it has been for the past few years, to be $125.00. 

     In conclusion, it can be said that although now a money-back-guarantee arrangement is now available with purchase of PSSPQ testing, Dr. Stone is of the belief that the traditional arrangement for purchasing PSSPQ testing service involving only a $125.00 purchase fee should be considered the wisest purchase arrangement.   Regardless of what fee is paid, the product that is delivered is exactly the same.    Also, the anonymity arrangement for the purchasing party is far superior as Dr. Stone destroys all paper and computer records almost immediately following delivery of the PSSPQ product to the purchaser.  With the money-back-guarantee arrangement, PSSPQ 'records' have to be kept by Dr. Stone for no less than 30 months.

     For persons who may have some interest in Dr. Stone's 'vita' or CV, on his home/index page a link can be found to such information; the address to his home/index page is:  http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/home.html.