The two-alternative forced-choice principle, which has been used to detect malingering and “hysterical” symptoms, was applied to the assessment of criminal responsibility in an analog study. Prison inmates and university students completed forced-choice tests of general knowledge and moral reasoning on which below-chance scores indicate dishonest performance. Subjects were assigned randomly to one of three groups: control, naive faking, and coached faking. Significantly greater proportions of subjects in the naive and coached faking groups than in the control group scored significantly below chance on each test. Cutoff scores to maximize accuracy of classification were established for both tests. Implications of the findings for detecting individuals who fake a lack of criminal responsibility are considered, as well as directions for future research with other populations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Albert, S. , Fox, H., & Kahn, M. (1980). Faking psychosis on the Rorschach: Can expert judges detect malingering?Journal of Personality Assessment, 44, 115-119.
2.
American Psychiatric Association . (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
Binder, L. M. , & Pankratz, L. (1987). Neuropsychological evidence of a factitious memory complaint. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 9, 167-171.
4.
Binder, L. M. , & Willis, S. C. (1991). Assessment of motivation after financially compensable minor head trauma. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 3, 175-181.
5.
Brady, J. P. , & Lind, D. L. (1961). Experimental analysis of hysterical blindness. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 331-339.
6.
Cleckley, J. (1976). The mask of sanity (5th ed.). St. Louis: C. V. Mosby.
7.
Daniel, A. E. , Beck, N. C., Herath, A., Schmitz, M., & Menninger, K. (1984). Factors correlated with psychiatric recommendations of incompetency and insanity. Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 12, 527-544.
8.
Faust, D. , Hart, K., Guilmette, T. J., & Arkes, H. R. (1988). Neuropsychologists' capacity to detect adolescent malingerers. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 42, 508-515.
9.
Grosz, H. , & Zimmerman, J. (1965). Experimental analysis of hysterical blindness. Archives of General Psychiatry, 13, 225-260.
10.
Hare, R. D. (1980). A research scale for the assessment of psychopathy in criminal populations. Personality and Individual Differences, 1, 111-119.
11.
Heaton, R. K. , Smith, H. H., Jr., Lehman, R. A., & Vogt, A. (1978). Prospects for faking believable deficit on neuropsychological testing. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 892-900.
12.
Hiscock, C. K. , Branham, J. D., & Hiscock, M. (1993). Detection of feigned cognitive impairment: The two-alternative forced-choice method compared with selected conventional tests. Manuscript submitted for publication.
13.
Hiscock, M. , & Hiscock, C. K. (1989). Brief report: Refining the forced-choice method for the detection of malingering. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 11, 967-974.
14.
Holden, R. R. , & Kroner, D. G. (1992). Relative efficacy of differential response latencies for detecting faking on a self-report measure of psychopathology. Psychological Assessment, 4, 170-173.
15.
Kellogg, C. E. , & Morton, N. W. (1978). Revised Beta Examination (2nd ed.). San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.
16.
Lezak, M. D. (1983). Neuropsychological assessment (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
17.
Norris, C. L. (1987). Offenders with mental disease or defect: Implications of recent federal law. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 5, 21-32.
18.
Pankratz, L. (1979). Symptom validity testing and symptom retraining: Procedures for the assessment and treatment of functional sensory deficits. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 409-410.
19.
Pankratz, L. , Fausti, S. A., & Peed, S. (1975). A forced-choice technique to evaluate deafness in the hysterical or malingering patient. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 421-422.
20.
Prigatano, G. P. , & Amin, K. (1993). Digit Memory Test: Unequivocal cerebral dysfunction and suspected malingering. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 15, 537-546.
21.
Rogers, R. (1987). Structured interview of reported symptoms (SIRS). Toronto: Clarke Institute of Psychiatry.
22.
Rogers, R. (1988). Clinical assessment of malingering and deception. New York: Guilford.
23.
Rogers, R. (1990). The SIRS as a measure of malingering: A validation study with a correctional sample. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 8, 67-74.
24.
Rogers, R. , Thatcher, A. A., & Cavanaugh, J. L. (1984). Use of the SADS diagnostic interview in evaluating legal insanity. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40, 1537-1541.
25.
Schretlen, D. J. (1986). Malingering: The use of a psychological test battery to detect two kinds of simulation. Dissertation Abstracts International, 42, 3125B. (University Microfilms No. 86-23, 860)
26.
Schretlen, D. J. (1988). The use of psychological tests to identify malingered symptoms of mental disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 451-476.
27.
Schretlen, D. J. , & Arkowitz, H. (1990). A psychological test battery to detect prison inmates who fake insanity or mental retardation. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 8, 75-84.
28.
Siegel, S. (1956). Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill.
29.
Smith, S. M. (1983). Competency. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 6, 635-650.
30.
Theodor, L. H. , & Mandelcorn, M. S. (1973). Hysterical blindness: A case report and study using a modern psychophysical technique. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 82, 552-553.
31.
Walters, G. D. (1988). Assessing dissimulation and denial on the MMPI in a sample of maximum security, male inmates. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52, 465-474.
32.
Walters, G. D. , White, T. W., & Greene, R. L. (1988). Use of the MMPI to identify malingering and exaggeration of psychiatric symptomatology in male prison inmates. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 111-117.
33.
Wylie, T. F. , & Ruff, R. M. (1990). Detection of simulated malingering on neuropsychological tests [Abstract]. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 12, 58.
