Wisconsin Card Sorting Test embedded validity indicators developed for adults can be extended to children

ABSTRACT

Past studies have examined the ability of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) to discriminate valid from invalid performance in adults using both individual embedded validity indicators (EVIs) and multivariate approaches. This study is designed to investigate whether the two most stable of these indicators—failures to maintain set (FMS) and the logistical regression equation S-B_LRE—can be extended to pediatric populations.

The classification accuracy for FMS and S-B_LRE was examined in a mixed clinical sample of 226 children aged 7 to 17 years (64.6% male, MAge = 13.6 years) against a combination of established performance validity tests (PVTs).

The results show that at adult cutoffs, FMS and S-B_LRE produce an unacceptably high failure rate (33.2% and 45.6%) and low specificity (.55–.72), but an upward adjustment in cutoffs significantly improves classification accuracy. Defining Pass as <2 and Fail as ≥4 on FMS results in consistently good specificity (.89–.92) but low and variable sensitivity (.00–.33). Similarly, cutting the S-B_LRE distribution at 3.68 produces good specificity (.90–.92) but variable sensitivity (.06–.38). Passing or failing FMS or S-B_LRE is unrelated to age, gender and IQ.

The data from this study suggest that in a pediatric sample, adjusted cutoffs on the FMS and S-B_LRE ensure good specificity, but with low or variable sensitivity. Thus, they should not be used in isolation to determine the credibility of a response set. At the same time, they can make valuable contributions to pediatric neuropsychology by providing empirically-supported, expedient and cost-effective indicators to enhance performance validity assessment.

KEYWORDS:

• Performance validity testing
• Embedded validity indicators
• WCST
• Effort testing
• Pediatric neuropsychological assessment
• Pediatric PVTs

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.