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Detecting malingering: The current state of the art (such as it is)

Detection of Malingering During Head Injury Litigation. C.R. Reynolds (Ed.). 1997. New York: The Plenum Press. 291 pp., $45.00.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2000

Nils R. Varney
Affiliation:
Staff Neuropsychologist, Iowa City VA Medical Center and Associate Professor of Psychology, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Daushen Ju
Affiliation:
Senior Staff Psychologist, University Counseling Service, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Abstract

While the fact of litigation in neuropsychological assessment is about as subtle as a horse in a bedroom, it does not necessarily follow that the nature of malingering behaviors is also obvious or that the logic and techniques of malingering assessment have achieved “mature” validity. Despite the dramatic increase in studies on malingering in recent years, detection of malingering in head injury litigation continues to be a challenge for neuropsychologists. Numerous studies, most published since 1994, have attempted to search for the best technique for identifying malingering and/or malingerers. Unfortunately, this effort has been hampered by the lack of clinical data regarding the complexity and diversity of malingering behaviors themselves. In addition, the research is being conducted by clinical neuroscientists who, in various ways, are somewhat unsophisticated in their views of malingering detection statistics, paradigms and proofs (vs. forensic psychologists, maybe?).

Type
BOOK REVIEWS
Copyright
© 2000 The International Neuropsychological Society

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