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Symptom validity testing of feigned amnesia for a mock crime
Marko Jelicic1, Harald Merckelbach, Saskia Van Bergen
1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. m.jelicic@psychology.unimaas.nl
Summary
Symptom Validity Testing (SVT) may help identify feigned amnesia for crimes. Most participants faking memory loss performed below chance on the SVT, suggesting its potential utility in forensic neuropsychology.
Area of Science:
- Neuropsychology
- Forensic Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Assessing the veracity of crime-related amnesia claims presents challenges for neuropsychologists.
- Feigned amnesia can complicate legal and clinical evaluations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the efficacy of Symptom Validity Testing (SVT) in detecting feigned crime-related amnesia.
- To determine if SVT can differentiate genuine memory loss from fabricated claims.
Main Methods:
- Undergraduate students (N=39) committed a mock crime and were instructed to feign amnesia.
- Participants completed a 25-item forced-choice test on the crime, with correct answers provided.
- Bogus questions with equally plausible alternatives were intermixed to prevent chance performance.
Main Results:
- A significant majority (59%) of participants scored below chance level on the critical SVT items.
- Performance below chance suggests the inability to consistently feign amnesia under these conditions.
- Debriefing revealed no correlation between understanding the SVT rationale and chance performance.
Conclusions:
- Symptom Validity Testing demonstrates potential as a tool for identifying feigned crime-related amnesia.
- SVT procedures may offer objective measures to assess the credibility of memory loss claims in forensic contexts.