Clinical and Counseling Psychology

Despite increasing interest in the use of performance validity tests with youth, relatively little is known about how children and adolescents with neurological diagnoses perform on these measures. The purpose of this study was to examine performance on the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) in a general pediatric neurologic sample. Data were obtained from 266 consecutive patients (mean age = 13.0, SD = 3.7, range = 5-18) referred for a neuropsychological assessment in a tertiary care pediatric hospital. As part of a broader neuropsychological battery, patients were administered the TOMM. In this sample, 94% of children passed the TOMM. Pass rate was 87% for 5-7 year-olds but was ≥ 90% for all other ages. Children with a history of stroke had the lowest pass rate (86%), with other diagnostic groups scoring ≥ 90%, including epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and hydrocephalus. Lower TOMM performance was related to slower processing speed and weaker memory performance. The results suppo...

The goal of the study was to further analyze data collected using eye measurements while taking the Word Memory Test (WMT; Green, 2003) in both a genuine and feigning performance. Specifically, we further examined the data if the subject had correctly responded in the genuine condition.

Computerized batteries such as ImPACT and COGNISTAT , use recognition memory, and are required to simplify tasks due to limitation of the equipment. The California Verbal Learning Test – Second Edition (CVLT –II) is considered a gold standard when testing for memory and learning which is why it was used as a comparison in our task.

Embedded validity measures can screen for possible noncredible performance, but there is a paucity of literature with youth who have neurological disorders. The purpose of this study is to examine the California Verbal Learning Test, Children's Version (CVLT-C) recognition discriminability (RD) score as an embedded validity marker in a sample of youth with neurological diagnoses. Youth between 5-16 years old (N = 294; mean age = 11.3, SD = 3.4) completed the CVLT-C and the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM). Overall, 5.4% (n = 16) scored below the established cutoff on the TOMM; they were younger, had lower intellectual abilities, and worse performance on nearly all CVLT-C scores than those who scored above the TOMM cutoff. Using the CVLT-C RD score of z ≤ -0.5 (Baker et al. 2004), our sample had a sensitivity = .81 and specificity = .67. Using z ≤ -3.0 provided sensitivity at .44 with specificity at .90. A lower cutoff score of z ≤ -3.0 for CVLT-C RD is necessary in youth with n...

The study goal was to see if eye movements might aid in the causal determination of cognitive impairment versus feigning while taking the Word Memory Test (WMT; Green, 2003). Eye movements while engaged in the WMT predicted feigned vs. genuine performance. It may be helpful to examine this data in terms of added predictive ability in conjunction with the WMT. Future eye tracking research involving subjects in real-world conditions with documented disorders, such as TBI or PTSD, may help to ascertain if patients’ are performing to the best of their ability.

A web-based survey of validity test use by North American neuropsychologists was conducted, with 282 participants meeting inclusion criteria. Respondents indicated that they use a median of one stand-alone performance validity test (PVT), one embedded PVT, and one symptom validity test (SVT) per pediatric assessment. The vast majority of respondents indicated they give at least one PVT (92%) and at least one SVT (88%) during each pediatric assessment. A meaningful difference in validity use (i.e., at least a medium effect size) was only found for those who engage in forensic work, with those clinicians giving more stand-alone PVTs than those who do not conduct forensic work. The most frequently used validity measures in pediatric assessments are presented, as are reasons participants reported for both using and not using validity tests. Limitations and qualitative comparisons to other surveys on validity test use with adults are discussed.