Premium
Feigned intellectual deficits on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐Revised
Author(s) -
Johnstone Lorraine,
Cooke David J.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
british journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0144-6657
DOI - 10.1348/01446650360703401
Subject(s) - psychology , wechsler adult intelligence scale , mental handicap , intellectual disability , intelligence quotient , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , cognition
Objectives: To examine whether individuals instructed to fake intellectual impairment on the WAIS‐R employed common faking tactics and to assess the accuracy of detection of faking tactics employed. Method:Two groups of participants were instructed to fake ‘mental handicap’ on the WAIS‐R. The first group included incarcerated young offenders and the second group included postgraduate students and research fellows from a university psychology department. Results:Both groups produced faked mean IQ scores within the ‘mental retardation’ range. There were, however, unusual features in the answers of both groups, including unusual error types. The faking tactics employed were readily detected. Conclusions:The results suggest that an individual's WAIS‐R performance should be interpreted with due consideration given to both the quantitative and the qualitative aspects of their presentation.