The impact of cognitive and psychiatric impairment of psychotic disorders on the test of memory malingering (TOMM).

Full Abstract

The author analyzes the scores of inpatient psychiatric patients with varying degrees of cognitive impairment who met criteria for a psychotic disorder on the following tests: the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition, Conner's Continuous Performance Test-Second Edition, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Expanded Version. Group 1 consisted of psychotic-disordered patients with significant concentration problems (concentration impersistence = 29). Group 2 consisted of psychotic disordered patients without significant concentration problems (no concentration impairment = 21). Although psychotic patients with concentration problems showed greater variability across TOMM trials, both groups obtained mean scores above 45 on Trial 2 and the retention trial on the TOMM. These findings indicate that cognitive impairment associated with psychosis generally does not negatively impair TOMM performance to such a level that would produce a false positive on the TOMM. Implications for forensic assessment, study limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Author information

Author/s: Duncan, Alexander (A);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Assessment (Assessment), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2005-Jun; vol 12 (issue 2) : pp 123-9

Dates: Created 2005/05/25; Completed 2005/10/31;

PMID: 15914714, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.