title: The impact of cognitive and psychiatric impairment of psychotic disorders on the test of memory malingering (TOMM).
abstract: The author analyzes the scores of inpatient psychiatric patients with varying degrees of cognitive impairment who met criteria for a psychotic disorder on the following tests: the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition, Conner's Continuous Performance Test-Second Edition, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Expanded Version. Group 1 consisted of psychotic-disordered patients with significant concentration problems (concentration impersistence = 29). Group 2 consisted of psychotic disordered patients without significant concentration problems (no concentration impairment = 21). Although psychotic patients with concentration problems showed greater variability across TOMM trials, both groups obtained mean scores above 45 on Trial 2 and the retention trial on the TOMM. These findings indicate that cognitive impairment associated with psychosis generally does not negatively impair TOMM performance to such a level that would produce a false positive on the TOMM. Implications for forensic assessment, study limitations, and future directions are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duncan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*