Prospects for faking believable memory deficits on neuropsychological tests and the use of incentives in simulation research.
The vulnerability of several neuropsychological memory tests--the Wechsler Memory Scale--Revised, Complex Figure Test, Auditory Verbal Learning Test, and Rey Memory Test--to faked deficits was evaluated. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Control (n = 28), Malingering with a financial incentive (n = 30), and Malingering without a financial incentive (n = 28). Overall, the performance of the Malingering Groups was not significantly different from one another, but both groups were significantly poorer than Controls. Discriminant functions with a reduced set of predictors correctly classified about 75% of cases in both the Control and the combined Malingering Groups on cross-validation. The results suggest that neuropsychological memory tests are vulnerable to faked deficits, and that recognition tasks are disproportionately affected. The use of incentives in simulation research is also discussed.
Bernard
L C
LC
Psychology Department, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA 90045.
D000328:Adult; D000647:Amnesia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005162:Factitious Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011939:Mental Recall; D009042:Motivation; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D014888:Wechsler Scales