TY - JOUR
T1 - Some Caveats in Using the Rey 15-Item Memory Test to Detect Malingered Amnesia
AU - Schretlen, David
AU - Brandt, Jason
AU - Krafft, Laura
AU - Van Gorp, Wilfred
PY - 1991/12
Y1 - 1991/12
N2 - A procedure devised to detect malingered amnesia has received increasing attention as a useful clinical method to identify exaggerated claims of memory impairment. However, none of the published studies regarding its utility has included subjects faking amnesia or genuine amnesics. In this study, we administered the Rey 15-Item Memory Test to 76 subjects faking various mental disorders, 148 patients with amnesia, dementia, severe mental illness, or another neuropsychiatric disorder, and 80 normal control subjects. Performance was found to correlate highly with IQ r = .55 and Mini-Mental State Examination scores r = .81. Fewer than 15% of subjects faking mental disorders were identified by this procedure, and 27% of patients scored in the "malingering" range. Problems with the uncritical application of cutoff scores to detect malingering with this procedure are discussed.
AB - A procedure devised to detect malingered amnesia has received increasing attention as a useful clinical method to identify exaggerated claims of memory impairment. However, none of the published studies regarding its utility has included subjects faking amnesia or genuine amnesics. In this study, we administered the Rey 15-Item Memory Test to 76 subjects faking various mental disorders, 148 patients with amnesia, dementia, severe mental illness, or another neuropsychiatric disorder, and 80 normal control subjects. Performance was found to correlate highly with IQ r = .55 and Mini-Mental State Examination scores r = .81. Fewer than 15% of subjects faking mental disorders were identified by this procedure, and 27% of patients scored in the "malingering" range. Problems with the uncritical application of cutoff scores to detect malingering with this procedure are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1037/1040-3590.3.4.667
DO - 10.1037/1040-3590.3.4.667
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0000927159
SN - 1040-3590
VL - 3
SP - 667
EP - 672
JO - Psychological Assessment
JF - Psychological Assessment
IS - 4
ER -