Detecting malingering in head injury litigation with the Word Memory Test.

The Word Memory Test (WMT) is a relatively new computer-based test that is designed to measure both verbal memory and biased responding (i.e. malingering). The purpose of this study was to examine the performance of a large sample of patients involved in head injury litigation on the WMT measures of biased responding. The patients were divided into two groups, those with relatively mild head injuries (n = 234) and those with moderate or severe brain injuries (n = 64). The patients with less severe injuries performed significantly poorer on the WMT measures of biased responding.