Limitations of the Rey Fifteen-Item test in the detection of malingering

Abstract

The capacity of Rey's (1964) Fifteen-Item Test (FIT) to detect feigned memory impairment in a group of clinical malingerers was investigated. Seven malingerers were identified by significantly below chance performance on a forced-choice memory measure, the Recognition Memory Test, and were given the FIT. A reference group of 7 patients with acute moderate and severe traumatic brain injuries was also given the FIT. The brain-injured subjects recalled significantly more items on the FIT than the malingering subjects. Using a cutoff score of 7, the FIT was able to detect only 57% of the malingerers but did not misclassify any brain-injured subjects. Although possessing good specificity, the FIT appears to lack adequate sensitivity to detect feigned impairment when used as a single measure. The FIT may be sensitive primarily to blatant deceptive strategies.

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