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Assessment of dissimulation of reading ability using a modified Stroop test: A case report
Author(s) -
Bramham Jessica,
Dalgleish Tim
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/1099-0879(200011)7:5<411::aid-cpp273>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - stroop effect , psychology , reading (process) , subject (documents) , test (biology) , cognitive psychology , significant difference , linguistics , cognition , computer science , statistics , psychiatry , paleontology , philosophy , mathematics , library science , biology
A difficulty arises in assessing level of functioning using standardized tests when it is advantageous for the subject to perform poorly or to ‘fake bad’. A forensic case is described where, in order to circumvent ‘faking bad’ when investigating a subject's reading ability, a modified Stroop test (Stroop, 1935) was used. The subject was required to name the ink colour in which crime‐related words (that he claimed to be unable to read) and also non‐word control stimuli were written. There was a significant difference between the proportional retardation of the subject's performance on crime‐related words relative to non‐words, when compared with reading‐age‐matched controls. The subject's relatively retarded latency in colour‐naming crime‐related words suggested that he was able to read at least some of these words, contrary to his claims. The modified Stroop task is therefore a potentially useful tool when investigating cases of dissimulation of true reading ability. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.