Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to examine the efficacy of using the Recognition Memory Test (RMT), Digit Span subtest (WAIS-R), and Knox Cube Test as markers for malingered memory deficits. Participants were 100 subjects from three general populations: university students, federal inmates, and patients with head injuries. Twenty students, 20 inmates, and 20 patients with head injuries resulting in memory impairment were instructed to try their best on the assessment procedures. The remaining 20 students and 20 inmates were instructed to malinger memory impairment on the procedures. The experimental-malingerers (i.e., students and inmates) performed more poorly than the patients with head injuries on nearly every score derived from the three tests. Discriminant function analyses using the age-corrected Digit Span scale score, the Knox Cube Test total score, and the RMT raw scores for words and faces as predictors of group membership resulted in an overall 98% correct classification rate and 100% correct on cross-validation. Simultaneously applying two empirically-derived RMT cutoff scores resulted in an overall correct classification rate of 100%. The extraordinarily high classification rates in this study were likely influenced by the experimental design and procedures.
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