Neuropsychology and malingering: comment on Faust, Hart, and Guilmette (1988)

Faust, Hart, and Guilmette (1988) recently reported on the inability of neuropsychologists to detect malingering in children who were asked to "fake bad" on a battery of neuropsychological measures. Because of methodological issues, implications of their research are not generalizable to the actual clinical setting. Limitations of the questionnaire format in detecting factitious results are discussed along with the inherent bias of such a research design to overinterpret pathology. The competency of the clinical neuropsychologist judges and their selection process are questioned. Last, some guidelines are offered for future research dealing with the issue of detection of malingering in neuropsychological practice.