The Performance of Schizophrenics on Three Cognitive Tests of Malingering, Rey 15-Item Memory Test, Rey Dot Counting, and Hiscock Forced-Choice Method

Abstract

The performance of individuals with severe psychiatric disturbance such as schizophrenia on tests designed to detect malingering of cognitive symptoms (e.g., Rey 15-Item Memory Test, RMT; Rey Dot Counting Test, RDC; Hiscock Forced-Choice, F-C, method) has not been formally investigated. Some malingerers feign cognitive impairment in the context of a pseudopsychotic presentation; thus, it is essential that we understand how actual psychotic individuals perform on these measures. In our sample of 30 schizophrenic patients, 13% failed the RMT, 13% failed the RDC, and 27% failed the F-C measure. The RMT performance appeared to be significantly affected by lowered educational level. In contrast, both RDC and F-C performances were related to presence of cognitive impairment, and the RDC was also significantly affected by increasing age. No test score was significantly related to psychiatric disturbance.