Malingering on the RAVLT Part II. Detection strategies

Abstract

In this study two potential indices of malingering derived from the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) were evaluated as a means of detecting malingering. These were indices based on discrepancies between recognition-recall scores and differences in the serial position effect (SPE). Sixty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: malingerers, malingerers-with-warning, warning-only, and control. Incentives were offered to participants in all conditions to encourage faking in a believable manner (malingering conditions), or to encourage optimal performance (nonmalingering conditions). Two predictions were made. First, it was predicted that the serial position curve for subjects in malingering conditions would show suppression of primacy effects relative to nonmalingerers. Second, it was predicted that recall would be better than recognition for subjects in malingering conditions compared to nonmalingering conditions. The utility of these indices was also explored in the context of providing subjects' with warnings regarding use of methods to detect malingering. Results indicated that both indices failed to reliably differentiate between malingerers and nonmalingerers, and warnings failed to modify participants' behaviour.

The Rey AVLT Serial Position Effect: A Useful Indicator of Symptom Exaggeration?

“…TC simulators have been shown to engage in more sophisticated malingering compared to SC simulators (DiCarlo, Gfeller, & Oliveri, 2000). The present investigation extends previous research on the SPE on the RAVLT (e.g., Bernard, 1991;Suhr, 2002;and Sullivan et al, 2002) by varying the coaching paradigm across sophisticated malingering groups, by using more stringent criteria to define suppression of the primacy effect (described above), and by investigating the diagnostic utility (i.e., documenting the classification accuracy statistics) of the SPE (i.e., suppression of the primacy effect) in predicting poor effort.…”

“…Measures designed to assess memory or neuropsychological functioning can serve a dual role in the assessment process because of their ability to assess a patient's cognitive functioning as well as his or her level of effort or response style (Gfeller & Cradock, 1998;Greve, Bianchini, Mathias, Houston, & Crouch, 2003;Langeluddecke & Lucas, 2003;Mittenberg, Azrin, Millsaps, & Heilbronner, 1993). Numerous investigators have explored the utility of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT; Rey, 1964) for identifying suboptimal effort (e.g., Bernard, 1991;Bernard, Houston, & Natoli, 1993;Binder, Villaneuva, Howieson, & Moore, 1993;King, Gfeller, & Davis, 1998;Suhr, 2002;Sullivan, Deffenti, & Keane, 2002). For example, King et al (1998) investigated the validity of several markers of malingering based on component scores on the RAVLT, e.g., the total number of words recalled after a delay and the total number of intrusion errors during recognition testing.…”

Causality of Psychological Injury

“…These include the Finger Tapping Test (Arnold et al, 2005), the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test Sullivan, Deffenti, & Keane, 2002), the Halstead Category Test (Forrest et al, 2004), the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales , the Halstead-Reitan (Reitan & Wolfson, 2002) and Luria-Nebraska (Golden & Grier, 1996) neuropsychological batteries, the Test of Variables of Attention (Henry, 2005), the Stroop Test (Lu, Boone, Jimenez, & Razani, 2004), the Trail Making Test (Iverson, Henrichs, Barton, & Allen, 2002), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (King, Sweet, Sherer, Curtiss, & Vanderploeg, 2002), the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (Lu, Boone, Cozolino, & Mitchell, 2003), the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition (Langeluddecke & Lucas, 2003), the Memory Assessment Scales (Ross, Krukowski, Putnam, & Adams, 2003), and the Recognition Memory Test (RMT) (Millis & Putnam, 1994). Of note, this list is far from exhaustive and is only meant to illustrate the range of tests in which scores are currently being interpreted as measures of malingering/poor effort, and so forth.…”

Utilidad de los índices de memoria verbal para detectar simulación en población Española

“…Por otro lado, los patrones de ejecución de esta prueba han mostrado ser diferentes entre simuladores y no simuladores, especialmente en las variables relativas al recuerdo y al reconocimiento (Bernard, 1990;Greiffenstein, Baker y Gola, 1994;Powell, Gfeller, Hendricks y Sharland, 2004;Suhr, 2002;Suhr y Gunstad, 2000;Sullivan, Deffenti y Keane, 2002).…”