Feigning ≠ Feigning a Memory Deficit: The Medical Symptom Validity Test as an Example

Abstract

The Medical Symptom Validity Test (MSVT) is a widely used memory test with three built-in effort measures that aim to detect feigning. We evaluated the merits of the MSVT as a broad screening tool for symptom validity. In study 1, we interviewed participants (N = 54) about the symptoms that they would and would certainly not feign. Non-specific somatic symptoms and depression were mentioned most frequently. Nearly 10% of the participants stated that they would certainly not feign memory problems. Study 2 contrasted the diagnostic accuracy of the MSVT with that of a broad index of symptom exaggeration (Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology; SIMS) in experimental malingerers (N = 42) who were free to choose which psychological symptoms to feign. Although both tests correctly identified all honest controls (100% specificity), the SIMS surpassed the MSVT in correctly identifying experimental malingerers (91% versus 45%). In study 3, we explored the overlap between MSVT effort parameters and SIMS scores in a psychiatric sample (N = 21). Only one MSVT parameter (Delayed Recognition) was significantly related to SIMS scores (φ = -.52, p