title: Application of clinically-derived malingering cutoffs on the California Verbal Learning Test and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test-Revised to an analog malingering study.
abstract: This study examined the comparability of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) in clinically identified malingerers and undergraduates instructed to malinger in an analog design. Cutoffs on these measures were derived from various clinical samples of identified malingerers and were applied to these simulating malingerers to distinguish them from controls. Simulating malingerers performed significantly more poorly than controls on both tests and clinically derived cutoffs accurately discriminated between groups. As compared to the clinically-based findings from which these cutoffs were derived, sensitivity (detection of simulating malingering) tended to be lower, specificity (detection of not malingering) tended to be higher, but the overall classification rate was only slightly lower. These findings were consistent across the CVLT and subtests of the WAIS-R, several different sets of clinically derived cutoffs, and two base rates. Reasons for this pattern of findings are discussed, as are implications of the similarity between clinical and analog studies of malingering.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223-0001, USA. gdemakis@email.uncc.edu
authors.forename: George J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Demakis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014888:Wechsler Scales