اثر انگیزه و زمان آماده سازی و طبقه بندی بر عملکرد دقت آزمون حافظه استاندارد و تمارض خاص

The effects of incentive and preparation on performance and classification accuracy of standard and malingering-specific tests were investigated in a simulation study using a 2 (no incentive vs. a $20 incentive) × 2 (immediate vs. delayed preparation) factorial design. Eighty undergraduate students and 15 individuals with traumatic brain injury were administered standard (viz., Digit Span and Visual Memory Span from the WMS-R) and malingering-specific (viz., the Rey 15-Item Memory Test and the Multi-Digit Memory Test) memory tests. Preparation time was found to have a significant effect on performance and classification accuracy on a number of these tests, but incentive was found to have a significant effect on the performance but not the classification accuracy of one test (viz., the Multi-Digit Memory Test). These findings suggest that extra-test variables such as incentive and preparation time should be taken into consideration in evaluating the utility of standard and malingering-specific memory tests in detecting malingering.

Neuropsychologists have used standard and malingering-specific tests to detect malingering of memory impairment. The classification accuracy of these various tests has been compared in simulation studies, in which some participants are asked to perform as a brain-injured person would. Although much is learned about the utility of these tests from the results of simulation studies (see review by Vickery, Berry, Inman, Harris, & Orey, 2001), recent evidence suggests that the classification accuracy indices of these tests may be affected by extra-test variables such as monetary incentives and opportunity to prepare before testing (Bianchini, Mathias, & Greve, 2001).