Identification of malingered head injury on the Wechsler Memory Scale--Revised.

Abstract

39 head-injured outpatients were compared with 39 age-matched Ss who were instructed to malinger head trauma symptoms on the Wechsler Memory Scale—Revised (WMS—R) and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R). Head-injured Ss were selected who were not involved in litigation or pursuing a Worker's Compensation claim. Groups did not differ significantly on IQs or memory indexes. Discriminant function analyses based on the WMS—R subtests and indexes were able to accurately classify 91% and 83% of the cases, respectively. Decision rules were cross-validated on published data from several independent studies and statistically by means of the jackknife procedure. Head-injured Ss appear to show a pattern of WMS–R scores that can be discriminated from the profile produced by individuals who attempt to malinger head trauma symptoms.