Impact of somatoform symptomatology on credibility of cognitive performance

Although the detection of conscious fabrication (i.e., malingering) of cognitive symptoms has been the recipient of burgeoning interest within the last 10 years in the empirical and clinical neuropsychological literature, whether conversion/somatization results in similarly noncredible cognitive profiles has not been formally investigated. Two thirds (13 of 19) of subjects with cognitive complaints and 1-3/3-1 code types on the MMPI/MMPI-2 showed evidence of noncredible cognitive performance (i.e., failure on malingering tests and/or a "malingering" pattern on standard neuropsychological tests). These results suggest that symptom fabrication associated with somatization/conversion personality orientations can extend to noncredible cognitive complaints and not just the oft-described physical manifestations.