Forensic Neuropsychological Determinations of Malingering: Science or Junk Science?

Presented by Chris Leonhard Ph.D., ABPP

Forensic neuropsychological determinations of malingering have tremendous social, legal, and economic importance. A positive finding of malingering in a neuropsychological exam may, for example, lead to a forensic examinee being denied a large financial settlement in a tort case or receiving a harsher criminal sentence including the death penalty in a criminal case. Dr. Leonhard will present his work on statistical and research methodological issues in the forensic neuropsychological determination of malingering based on performance and symptom validity tests and inconsistencies which puts into question whether such malingering determinations meet widely accepted scientific standards of validity.

Learning Objectives  

• Define the key problem at hand in the forensic neuropsychological determination of malingering
• Identify problems with the four “Slick” criteria
• Understand the problem of collinearity among Performance and Symptom Validity Tests as predictors of malingering
• Identify the key element required to evaluate if any method can validly determine malingering status.

ACCREDITATION

This program has been approved by the Ontario Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists and psychological associates.  This program meets the criteria for 2 continuing education credits.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Christoph Leonhard, PhD, ABPP, earned his degree in clinical psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno and completed his internship and postdoc at Harvard Medical School (McLean and Mass General Hospitals). He is Board Certified in Behavioral Psychology. His research focuses on Behavioral Medicine, physical activity promotion, and health disparities. For the past four years he has also been writing about statistical and methodological flaws in the neuropsychological determination of malingering. This work has been published in Neuropsychology Review and in the Georgia Law Review. Dr. Leonhard is Emeritus Professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Canada-related fun fact: He completed is undergraduate work at Concordia University in Montreal and St. Mary's University in Halifax.