Abstract
We analyzed error patterns during digit span (DS) testing in four experiments. In Experiment 1, error patterns analyzed from a community sample of 427 subjects revealed strong primacy and recency effects. Subjects with shorter DSs showed an increased incidence of transposition errors in comparison with other error types and a greater incidence of multiple errors on incorrect trials. Experiment 2 investigated 46 young subjects in three test sessions. The results replicated those of Experiment 1 and demonstrated that error patterns of individual subjects were consistent across repeated test administrations. Experiment 3 investigated 40 subjects from Experiment 2 who feigned symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with 80% of malingering subjects producing digit spans in the abnormal range. A digit span malingering index (DSMI) was developed to detect atypical error patterns in malingering subjects. Overall, 59% of malingering subjects with abnormal digit spans showed DSMIs in the abnormal range and DSMI values correlated significantly with the magnitude of malingering. Experiment 4 compared 29 patients with TBI with a new group of 38 control subjects. The TBI group showed significant reductions in digit span. Overall, 32% of the TBI patients showed DS abnormalities and 11% showed abnormal DSMIs. Computerized error-pattern analysis improves the sensitivity of DS assessment and can assist in the detection of malingering.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 721-734 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2011 |
Keywords
- Adaptive
- Concussion
- Digit span
- Malingering
- Memory
- Short-term
- Traumatic brain injury
- Verbal
- Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
- Working
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology
- Neurology
- Clinical Psychology