A preliminary investigation of the utility of the Word Memory Test immediate Recognition trial as a screener for noncredible performance

Abstract

The assessment of performance validity is an important consideration to the interpretation of neuropsychological data. However, commonly used performance validity tests such as the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) and Word Memory Test (WMT) have lengthy administration times (20–30 minutes). Alternatively, utilizing a screener of performance validity (e.g., the TOMM T1 or TOMMe10) has proven to be an effective method of assessing performance validity while conserving time. The present study investigates the use of the WMT Immediate Recognition (IR) Trial scores as a screening measure for performance validity using an archival mTBI polytrauma sample (n = 48). Results show that the WMT IR demonstrates a high degree of accuracy in predicting WMT Delayed Recognition (DR) Trial performance across a range of base rates suggesting that the WMT IR is a useful screening measure for noncredible performance. Clinical implications and selection of optimal cutoff are discussed.

Keywords:

• Clinical
• mTBI
• performance validity
• polytrauma
• word memory test

Disclosure statement

The contents of this publication do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government. None of the authors have financial conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.