Feigned neurocognitive deficit: Taxon or dimension?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the latent structure of feigned neurocognitive deficit. Scores on the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), Letter Memory Test (LMT), and Victoria Symptom Validity Test (VSVT) served as indicators in a taxometric investigation of 527 compensation-seeking adults using three taxometric procedures—mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC), maximum covariance (MAXCOV), and latent-mode factor analysis (L-Mode). All three procedures showed evidence of dimensional latent structure. The fact that feigned neurocognitive symptomatology is ordered along a continuum rather than bifurcating into distinct categories has important implications for theory, research, and clinical practice.

Keywords:

• Taxometric
• Malingering
• Effort measures
• Feigned neurocognitive deficit

The assertions and opinions contained herein are the private views of the authors and should not be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Federal Bureau of Prisons or the United States Department of Justice.

Notes

¹The second trial of the TOMM, the total VSVT score, and the total LMT score were combined with the MMPI Fp scale, MMPI Dissimulation scale, and SIRS total score in the 506 participants from the present study with complete data on all six measures. Taxometric analyses revealed consistent evidence of dimensional latent structure: summed input MAMBAC (CCFI = .203), traditional MAXCOV (CCFI = .399), L-Mode (CCFI = .260−.282, M = .268, for .01 increments between base rates of .27 and .32)