Feigned intellectual deficits on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether individuals instructed to fake intellectual impairment on the WAIS-R employed common faking tactics and to assess the accuracy of detection of faking tactics employed.


METHODS
Two groups of participants were instructed to fake 'mental handicap' on the WAIS-R. The first group included incarcerated young offenders and the second group included postgraduate students and research fellows from a university psychology department.


RESULTS
Both groups produced faked mean IQ scores within the 'mental retardation' range. There were, however, unusual features in the answers of both groups, including unusual error types. The faking tactics employed were readily detected.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that an individual's WAIS-R performance should be interpreted with due consideration given to both the quantitative and the qualitative aspects of their presentation.
Johnstone
Lorraine
L
The Douglas Inch Centre and Glasgow Caledonian University, UK.
Cooke
David J
DJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011329:Prisoners; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014888:Wechsler Scales