| Within the last decade, research on neuropsychological assessment and effort assessment has increased dramatically. The detection of malingering and suboptimal effort is crucial not only to the clinician but also to the general population as rates of disability claims increase (U.S. Social Security Administration 2000; 2009). Previous research has demonstrated that litigating individuals fail validity assessment more often than non-litigating individuals do (e.g., Meyers & Volbrecht, 1998; Green, Rohling, Lees-Haley, & Allen, 2001); however, effort assessment is not 100% accurate. The purpose of the current study was to compare the Word Memory Test with validity checks within the Meyers Neuropsychological Battery to determine which has better internal validity in the assessment of effort. Participants in the study were a combination of litigating and non-litigating individuals who were administered the Word Memory Test and Meyers Neuropsychological Battery. Results of the study show the WMT has a higher sensitivity than the MNB, and the MNB has a higher specificity than the WMT. Furthermore, the WMT showed a higher overall correct classification rate than the MNB. It is recommended that more than one symptom validity test be used in order for practitioners to determine the validity of test scores. |
