Detecting Malingered Memory Impairment in a Japanese Population

Over 60% of individuals who pursue personal injury litigation malinger or show poor test taking motivation during formal assessment. Adequate detection of test taking motivation and malingered performance, especially among persons claiming memory impairment following mild head trauma, is an important topic for investigation. Two measures that are frequently used for this purpose in North America are the Rey 15-Item Memory Test (Rey-15) and the Wechsler Digit Span subtest. Although popular among western psychologists, these procedures have yet to be utilized in Japan to detect malingering. Therefore, this study attempted to determine if the Rey-15 and Digit Span test could detect malingering among Japanese adults.