College Students' Normative and Sub-optimal Performance on Three Brief, Public Domain Performance-Validity Measures...

Area of Science:

• Neuropsychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Performance Psychology

Background:

• Performance validity tests (PVTs) are crucial for assessing the reliability of cognitive test data.
• Existing PVTs vary in their ability to detect suboptimal performance across different cognitive domains.
• Normative data for brief, public-domain PVTs are needed for diverse populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish normative data for three public-domain PVTs in non-athlete college students.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of Rey's Word Recognition Test (WRT), Rey's Dot Counting Test (DCT), and A Random Letter Test of Auditory Vigilance (A-Test) in detecting suboptimal performance.
• To compare performance between honest effort, simulated poor performance, and student-athlete groups.

Main Methods:

• 154 non-athlete college students were randomly assigned to Honest-Effort, Fake-Bad, or Instructed Fake-Bad groups.
• 50 student-athletes were recruited for comparison.
• Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was used to determine cut scores for identifying suboptimal performance (SOP).

Main Results:

• The DCT Combination Score and A-Test Omission Errors demonstrated significant differences between honest effort and SOP groups.
• WRT measures showed significant differences but fell short of adequate predictive accuracy based on Area Under the Curve (AUC).
• Student-athletes performed significantly differently from both SOP groups.

Conclusions:

• The DCT Combination Score and A-Test Omission Errors are valid indicators of suboptimal performance.
• Combining multiple PVT failures improves the identification of suspect performers while minimizing false positives.
• The WRT measures require further investigation for their utility as standalone PVTs.