Biomaterial Database

Concurrent validity of three forced-choice measures of symptom validity. 2011

Bradley N Axelrod, and Christian Schutte

Psychology Section, John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, Detroit, Michigan 48201, USA. bradley.axelrod@va.gov

Forced-choice measures of recognition memory are used to assess the validity of an evaluation by using cutoff scores that discriminate individuals demonstrating good effort from those who are intentionally performing suboptimally. The current study evaluated three measures of motivation in a clinical sample of over 150 individuals. The Forced-Choice subtest from the California Verbal Learning Test and the Test of Memory Malingering generated comparable percentages of poor effort at 23% and 21%, respectively, yet they did not have complete concordance. Overall detection of poor performance using the 85% cut score on the three easy subtests from the Medical Symptom Validity Test (MSVT; Green, 2004) fell at 37%. When the MSVT cut score was lowered to 70%, the failure rate dropped to 21%, consistent with the other two measures and embedded measures of effort. The data are discussed in terms of adjusting the MSVT cut score and examining comparability in detection rates across these measures of symptom validity.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008306	Malingering	Simulation of symptoms of illness or injury with intent to deceive in order to obtain a goal, e.g., a claim of physical illness to avoid jury duty.
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009042	Motivation	Those factors which cause an organism to behave or act in either a goal-seeking or satisfying manner. They may be influenced by physiological drives or by external stimuli.	Incentives,Disincentives,Expectations,Disincentive,Expectation,Incentive,Motivations
D009483	Neuropsychological Tests	Tests designed to assess neurological function associated with certain behaviors. They are used in diagnosing brain dysfunction or damage and central nervous system disorders or injury.	Aphasia Tests,Cognitive Test,Cognitive Testing,Cognitive Tests,Memory for Designs Test,Neuropsychological Testing,AX-CPT,Behavioral Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome,CANTAB,Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery,Clock Test,Cognitive Function Scanner,Continuous Performance Task,Controlled Oral Word Association Test,Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System,Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment,Hooper Visual Organization Test,NEPSY,Neuropsychologic Tests,Neuropsychological Test,Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test,Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status,Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure,Symbol Digit Modalities Test,Test of Everyday Attention,Test, Neuropsychological,Tests, Neuropsychological,Tower of London Test,Neuropsychologic Test,Test, Cognitive,Testing, Cognitive,Testing, Neuropsychological,Tests, Cognitive
D011237	Predictive Value of Tests	In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test is a true positive (i.e., has the disease), is referred to as the predictive value of a positive test; whereas, the predictive value of a negative test is the probability that the person with a negative test does not have the disease. Predictive value is related to the sensitivity and specificity of the test.	Negative Predictive Value,Positive Predictive Value,Predictive Value Of Test,Predictive Values Of Tests,Negative Predictive Values,Positive Predictive Values,Predictive Value, Negative,Predictive Value, Positive
D002755	Choice Behavior	The act of making a selection among two or more alternatives, usually after a period of deliberation.	Approach Behavior,Approach Behaviors,Behavior, Approach,Behavior, Choice,Behaviors, Approach,Behaviors, Choice,Choice Behaviors
D003072	Cognition Disorders	Disorders characterized by disturbances in mental processes related to learning, thinking, reasoning, and judgment.	Overinclusion,Disorder, Cognition,Disorders, Cognition
D004185	Disability Evaluation	Determination of the degree of a physical, mental, or emotional handicap. The diagnosis is applied to legal qualification for benefits and income under disability insurance and to eligibility for Social Security and workmen's compensation benefits.	Disability Evaluations,Evaluation, Disability,Evaluations, Disability
D005260	Female		Females