Relationships Between Eight Measures of Suspect Effort

Abstract

Previous studies have recommended that multiple measures be employed concurrently to provide converging evidence regarding the presence of suspect effort during neuropsychological assessment. However, if the tests are highly correlated they do not represent independent sources of information. To date, no study has examined correspondence between effort tests. The present study assessed the relationships between eight measures which can be used to assess effort (Rey 15-item, Rey Dot Counting Test, Rey Word Recognition Test, RAVLT recognition trial, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test effort equation, Digit Span, Warrington Recognition Memory Test-Words, and "b" Test) in a sample of 105 patients in litigation or attempting to obtain/maintain disability compensation and who displayed noncredible symptoms based on psychometric performance and behavioral criteria. Modest to moderate correlations were observed between test summary scores with only two measures sharing more than 50% score variance (Digit Span and Dot Counting). Moderate correlations were also observed between individual test scores reflecting indices of response time, free recall, recognition, and false positive errors, providing possible evidence that patients may use specific strategies when producing noncredible performances. Overall the results suggest that the use of these various tests generally provides nonredundant data regarding patient credibility in neuropsychological evaluations.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Assessing Response Style and Malingering

“…Often, these are below 0.30. Since most response-style tests have low to moderate sensitivities, many authors (Bush et al 2005;Iverson and Franzen 1996;Lynch 2004;Meyers and Volbrecht 2003;Nelson et al 2003) recommend employing multiple validity tests and procedures. Although Otto (2008) cautioned that using multiple highly correlated feigning measures increases the risk of a false-positive error, several neuropsychologists have argued that such tests have very small intercorrelations among clinical groups.…”

Do tests of malingering concur? Concordance among malingering measures

“…Given that the results of two or more malingering measures administered in conjunction are often proffered in legal contexts, such research is particularly important in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993), which requires examination of test reliability, validity, and accuracy in order to determine admissibility of scientific evidence. The topic has been addressed only by one recent study (Nelson et al, 2003), which focused solely on measures of neuropsychological effort. Nelson et al (2003) described correlations between multiple measures, but did not address the issue of classification accuracy.…”

“…The topic has been addressed only by one recent study (Nelson et al, 2003), which focused solely on measures of neuropsychological effort. Nelson et al (2003) described correlations between multiple measures, but did not address the issue of classification accuracy. Because these authors examined test scores drawn only from suspected malingerers (without including honest respondents), likely restricting the variance in their data, their failure to detect significant correlations between tests is perhaps not surprising.…”

“…Because these authors examined test scores drawn only from suspected malingerers (without including honest respondents), likely restricting the variance in their data, their failure to detect significant correlations between tests is perhaps not surprising. Further, Nelson et al (2003) did not include newer, more sophisticated malingering tests (such as the Test of Memory Malingering, TOMM; Tombaugh, 1996; or the Validity Indicator Profile, VIP; Frederick, 1997) in their analyses. The present study sought to assess the inter-test correlations and consistency of malingering classifications among several commonly used malingering measures instruments, including measures of both general psychopathology and neuropsychological deficit, using ecologically valid data drawn from real-world evaluations.…”

Avaliação da simulação ou esforço insuficiente com o Rey 15-Item Memory Test (15-IMT): Estudos de validação em grupos de adultos idosos

“…Existem alguns estudos a apontarem a inexistência de um efeito da idade (Boone et al, 2002;Nelson, Boone, Dueck, Wagener, Lu, & Grills, 2003), enquanto noutros se observa um efeito significativo desta variável (Schretlen et al, 1991), bem como da escolaridade (Boone et al, 2002;Nelson et al, 2003). Por outro lado, à semelhança do constatado por Nelson e colaboradores (2003), no presente trabalho também não foram encontradas diferenças entre os desempenhos de homens e mulheres.…”