Are brain-damaged patients inappropriately labeled as malingering using the 21-item Test and the WMS-R Logical Memory Forced Choice Recognition Test.

Abstract

This study examined the false positive hit rate of the 21-item Test and the WMS-R Logical Memory Forced Choice Recognition Test and compared the relationship between the measures in classifying biased responding/malingering. Of 40 patients referred for comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation, 18 were classified as brain-damaged based on independent neurological or neuroradiological examination. The remaining 22 patients could not be so classified on neurological or neuroradiological evidence and thus served as a medical control group. Findings indicated the brain-damaged group performed more poorly than did the control group across measures, and both groups, on the average, performed markedly better than that required to suggest biased responding. Also, taking both tests together, no individual patient was classified as malingering.