Adapting symptom validity testing to evaluate suspicious complaints of amnesia in
medicolegal evaluations.
R. I. Frederick, M. Carter and J. Powel,
Bull. Amer. Acad. Psychiatry & the Law
23(2): 231-7, 1995.
Symptom validity testing was adapted to assess suspicious complaints of amnesia. In the adaptation,
two-alternative, forced-choice memory questions were generated for subject matter claimed to be
forgotten. The number of questions correctly answered was then compared to the expected number
of questions to be correctly answered if no knowledge actually existed. Three case studies are
presented, two of competency-to-stand-trial evaluees and one of an insurance medical examinee. In
each case, the use of this procedure generated the conclusion that the knowledge claimed to be
forgotten was actually remembered; however, not all individuals were classified as malingerers.