Laszlo A Erdodi

University of Windsor · Department of Psychology

There are growing concerns that increasing the number of performance validity tests (PVTs) may inflate the false positive rate. Indeed, the number of available embedded PVTs increased exponentially within the last decades. However, the standard for declaring a neurocognitive profile invalid (≥ 2 PVT failures) has not been adjusted to reflect this c...

This study was designed to evaluate the utility of the Atypical Responses (ATR) scale of the Trauma Symptom Inventory – Second Edition (TSI-2) as a symptom validity test (SVT) in a medicolegal sample. Archival data were collected from a consecutive case sequence of 99 patients referred for neuropsychological evaluation following a motor vehicle col...

Because the actuarial evidence base for symptom validity tests (SVTs) is developed in a specific population, it is unclear whether their clinical utility is transferable to a population with different demographic characteristics. To address this, we report here the validation study of a recently developed free-standing SVT, the Inventory of Problem...

This study was designed to evaluate the susceptibility of various performance validity tests (PVTs) to limited English proficiency (LEP). A battery of free-standing and embedded PVTs was administered to 95 undergraduate students at a Romanian university, randomly assigned to the control (n = 65) or experimental malingering group (n = 30). Overall c...

The Conners’ Continuous Performance Test – Second Edition (CPT-II) has demonstrated utility as a performance validity test (PVT). Early research also identified several benefits of repeat administration. This study was designed to evaluate the potential of repeat administrations of the CPT-II to enhance its clinical utility in detecting ADHD or non...

This editorial article introduces a special issue of Psychology & Neuroscience dealing with performance and symptom validity testing (SVTs). We first discuss the importance of assessing the credibility of observed performance on cognitive tasks and of symptoms reported in questionnaires or clinical interviews, both in research and in clinical and f...

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of limited English proficiency (LEP) on neurocognitive profiles. Method: Romanian (LEP-RO; n = 59) and Arabic (LEP-AR; n = 30) native speakers were compared to Canadian native speakers of English (NSE; n = 24) on a strategically selected battery of neuropsychological tests. Results: As pre...

This study was designed to empirically evaluate the classification accuracy of various definitions of invalid performance in two forced-choice recognition performance validity tests (PVTs; FCR CVLT-II and Test of Memory Malingering [TOMM-2]). The proportion of at and below chance level responding defined by the binomial theory and making any errors...

Objective This study was design to evaluate the potential of the recognition trials for the Logical Memory (LM), Visual Reproduction (VR), and Verbal Paired Associates (VPA) subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scales–Fourth Edition (WMS-IV) to serve as embedded performance validity tests (PVTs). Method The classification accuracy of the three WMS-IV s...

This study sought to provide a direct comparison between old and new versions of the Trail Making Test (TMT). Eighty-five undergraduate student volunteers were administered the old and new TMT. A third of them were instructed to feign neuropsychiatric deficits. The classification accuracy of the TMTs was evaluated against experimentally induced and...

This study was designed to expand on a recent meta-analysis that identified ≤42 as the optimal cutoff on the Word Choice Test (WCT). We examined the base rate of failure and the classification accuracy of various WCT cutoffs in four independent clinical samples (N = 252) against various psychometrically defined criterion groups. WCT ≤ 47 achieved a...

This study was designed to evaluate the classification accuracy of the Memory module for the Inventory of Problems (IOP-M) in a sample of real-world patients. Archival data were collected from a mixed clinical sample of 90 adults clinically referred for neuropsychological testing. The classification accuracy of the IOP-M was computed against psycho...

Caregiver report is the most feasible way to assess early childhood development but is susceptible to the influences of response style and sociodemographic factors. In a sample of 571 caregiver-infant dyads (47.8% female; 48% White), we compared caregiver reports on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-Third Edition (ASQ-3) with reports on a novel, we...

Objective The purpose of the present study was to further investigate the clinical utility of individual and composite indicators within the CPT-3 as embedded validity indicators (EVIs) given the discrepant findings of previous investigations. Methods A total of 201 adults undergoing psychoeducational evaluation for ADHD and/or Specific Learning D...

This study was designed to compare the validity of the Inventory of Problems (IOP-29) and its newly developed memory module (IOP-M) in 150 patients clinically referred for neuropsychological assessment. Criterion groups were psychometrically derived based on established performance and symptom validity tests (PVTs and SVTs). The criterion-related v...

Base rates of failure (BRFail) on performance validity tests (PVTs) were examined in university students with limited English proficiency (LEP). BRFail was calculated for several free-standing and embedded PVTs. All free-standing PVTs and certain embedded indicators were robust to LEP. However, LEP was associated with unacceptably high BRFail (20–5...

Objective The study was designed to expand on the results of previous investigations on the D-KEFS Stroop as a performance validity test (PVT), which produced diverging conclusions. Method The classification accuracy of previously proposed validity cutoffs on the D-KEFS Stroop was computed against four different criterion PVTs in two independent sa...

Objective: This study was designed to replicate previous research on critical item analysis within the Word Choice Test (WCT). Method: Archival data were collected from a mixed clinical sample of 119 consecutively referred adults (Mage = 51.7, Meducation = 14.7). The classification accuracy of the WCT was calculated against psychometrically defi...

This study was designed to examine the classification accuracy of the Erdodi Index (EI-5), a novel method for aggregating validity indicators that takes into account both the number and extent of performance validity test (PVT) failures. Archival data were collected from a mixed clinical/forensic sample of 452 adults referred for neuropsychological...

Objective The objective of the present study was to examine the neurocognitive profiles associated with limited English proficiency (LEP). Method A brief neuropsychological battery including measures with high (HVM) and low verbal mediation (LVM) was administered to 80 university students: 40 native speakers of English (NSEs) and 40 with LEP. Res...

Background: Abbreviated neurocognitive tests offer a practical alternative to full-length versions but often lack clear interpretive guidelines, thereby limiting their clinical utility. Objective: To replicate validity cutoffs for the Boston Naming Test —Short Form (BNT–15) and to introduce a clinical classification system for the BNT–15 as a measu...

Background: Delirium is a common neurologic manifestation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19) in older adults who present to the emergency department (ED). Objective: To investigate clinical characteristics associated with delirium as a presenting symptom of COVID–19 in older adults and develop a logistic regression to predict the likelihood of...

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the cross-cultural validity of two freestanding performance validity tests (PVTs), the Test of Memory Malingering - Trial 1 (TOMM-1) and the Rey Fifteen Item Test (Rey-15) in Romanian-speaking patients. Methods: The TOMM-1 and Rey-15 free recall (FR) and the combination score incorporating the re...

To examine the potential of the Five-Variable Psychiatric Screener (V-5) to serve as an embedded symptom validity test (SVT). In Study 1, 43 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to a control or an experimental malingering condition. In Study 2, 150 undergraduate students were recruited to examine the cognitive and emotional sequelae of sel...

This systematic review was performed to summarize existing research on the symptom validity scales within the Trauma Symptom Inventory–Second Edition (TSI-2), a relatively new self-report measure designed to assess the psychological sequelae of trauma. The TSI-2 has built-in symptom validity scales to monitor response bias and alert the assessor of...

This study was designed to examine alternative validity cutoffs on the Boston Naming Test (BNT). Archival data were collected from 206 adults assessed in a medicolegal setting following a motor vehicle collision. Classification accuracy was evaluated against three criterion PVTs. The first cutoff to achieve minimum specificity (.87-.88) was T ≤ 35,...

This study was designed to examine the effect of limited English proficiency (LEP) on the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R). The HVLT-R was administered to 28 undergraduate student volunteers. Half were native speakers of English (NSE), half had LEP. The LEP sample performed significantly below NSE on individual acquisition trials and d...

Introduction The need for an efficient, low-cost, comprehensive measure to track infant/toddler development and treatment outcomes is critical, given the importance of early detection and monitoring. This manuscript describes the protocol for the development and testing of a novel measure, PediaTrac, that collects longitudinal, prospective, multido...

Objective : Replicate previous research on Logical Memory Recognition (LMRecog) and perform a critical item analysis. Method : Performance validity was psychometrically operationalized in a mixed clinical sample of 213 adults. Classification of the LMRecog and nine critical items (CR-9) was computed. Results : LMRecog ≤20 produced a good combinat...

This study was designed to determine the clinical utility of embedded performance validity indicators (EVIs) in adults with intellectual disability (ID) during neuropsychological assessment. Based on previous research, unacceptably high (>16%) base rates of failure (BRFail) were predicted on EVIs using on the method of threshold, but not on EVIs ba...

Objective This project was designed to cross-validate existing performance validity cutoffs embedded within measures of verbal fluency (FAS and animals) and develop new ones for the Emotion Word Fluency Test (EWFT), a novel measure of category fluency. Method The classification accuracy of the verbal fluency tests was examined in two samples (70 c...

Objective: This study was designed to empirically investigate the signal detection profile of various multivariate models of performance validity tests (MV-PVTs) and explore several contested assumptions underlying validity assessment in general and MV-PVTs specifically. Method: Archival data were collected from 167 patients (52.4%male; MAge = 3...

Objective This study was designed to investigate clinical characteristics associated with mortality and predictors of survival in older adults hospitalized with COVID-19 with a focus on neurological comorbidities and presenting neurological manifestations.Methods We compared clinical characteristics in an age- and gender-matched sample of 75 deceas...

Drug recognition and examination programs are widely used to detect drug impairment in motor vehicle operators. Visual tests are a key assessment in the detection of cannabis-related impairment. Participants were recruited via social media from the medical cannabis community in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Twenty-two participants completed the ful...

In this study we attempted to replicate the classification accuracy of the newly introduced Forced Choice Recognition trial (FCR) of the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) in a clinical sample. We administered the RCFT FCR and the earlier Yes/No Recognition trial from the RCFT to 52 clinically referred patients as part of a comprehensive neuropsycholog...

This study was designed to examine the relative contribution of symptom (SVT) and performance validity tests (PVTs) to the evaluation of the credibility of neuropsychological profiles in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). An archival sample of 326 patients with mTBI was divided into four psychometrically defined criterion groups: pass both SVT and...

The Inventory of Problems-29 (IOP-29) is a recently introduced free-standing symptom validity test (SVT) with a rapidly growing evidence base. Its classification accuracy compares favorably with that of the widely utilized Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomology (SIMS), and it provides incremental validity when used in combination with othe...

This study was designed to investigate the potential of extreme scores on the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Self-Report Version (BRIEF-A-SR) to serve as validity indicators. The BRIEF-A-SR was administered to 73 university students and 50 clinically referred adults. In the student sample, symptom validity was operationaliz...

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the classification accuracy of the recently introduced forced-choice recognition trial to the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test - Revised (FCR HVLT-R ) as a performance validity test (PVT) in a clinical sample. Time-to-completion (T2C) for FCR HVLT-R was also examined. Method: Forty-three students were a...

We investigated the classification accuracy of the Inventory of Problems − 29 (IOP-29), its newly developed memory module (IOP-M) and the Fifteen Item Test (FIT) in an Australian community sample (N = 275). One third of the participants (n = 93) were asked to respond honestly, two thirds were instructed to feign mild TBI. Half of the feigners (n =...

This study was designed to cross-validate the V-5, a quick psychiatric screener, across administration formats and levels of examinee acculturation. The V-5 was administered twice (once at the beginning and once at the end of the testing session) to three samples (N = 277) with varying levels of symptom severity and English language proficiency, va...

To assess noncredible performance on the NIH Toolbox Cognitive Battery (NIHTB-CB), we developed embedded validity indicators (EVIs). Data were collected from 98 adults (54.1% female) as part of a prospective multicenter cross-sectional study at 4 mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) specialty clinics. Traditional EVIs and novel item-based EVIs were d...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of neurologic symptoms with a focus on altered mental status in a sample of deaths due to COVID-19. Methods: We reviewed neurologic symptoms in 71 deaths due to COVID-19 at the first US hospital with reported cases, of which 66 (93%) had medical comorbidities, 47 (66%) came from...

Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of neurologic symptoms with a focus on altered mental status in a sample of deaths due to COVID-19. Methods We reviewed neurologic symptoms in 71 deaths due to COVID-19 at the first US hospital with reported cases, of which 66 (93%) had medical comorbidities, 47 (66%) came from...

A growing literature indicates that to evaluate the credibility of a clinical presentation it would be optimal to rely on multiple sources of information, and use both symptom validity tests (SVTs) and performance validity tests (PVTs) whenever possible. In this paper, we present the development and initial validation of a PVT module designed to be...

Objective This study was designed to replicate previous research on embedded validity indicators (EVIs) in the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test – Revised (HVLT-R) and introduce a new forced choice recognition trial (FCR). Method Undergraduate research volunteers were randomly assigned (M Age = 21.7; M Education = 14.5 years, 85% female) to either the...

Objective: To create novel Immediate Post-Concussion and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT)-based embedded validity indicators (EVIs) and to compare the classification accuracy to 4 existing EVIImPACT. Method: The ImPACT was administered to 82 male varsity football players during preseason baseline cognitive testing. The classification accuracy of exist...

This study was designed to replicate earlier reports of the utility of the Boston Naming Test-Short Form (BNT-15) as an index of limited English proficiency (LEP). Twenty-eight English-Arabic bilingual student volunteers were administered the BNT-15 as part of a brief battery of cognitive tests. The majority (23) were women, and half had LEP. Mean...

Objective: This study was designed to examine the classification accuracy of verbal fluency (VF) measures as performance validity tests (PVT). Method: Student volunteers were assigned to the control (n = 57) or experimental malingering (n = 24) condition. An archival sample of 77 patients with TBI served as a clinical comparison. Results: Among stu...

This observational study examined the acute cognitive effects of cannabis. We hypothesized that cognitive performance would be negatively affected by acute cannabis intoxication. Twenty-two medical cannabis patients from Southwestern Ontario completed the study. The majority (n = 13) were male. Mean age was 36.0 years, and mean level of education w...

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the classification accuracy of a multivariate model of performance validity assessment using embedded validity indicators (EVIs) within the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). Method: Archival data were collected from 100 adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) consecutively...

Cognitive reserve could mask the deleterious effects of neurodegenerative disorders in older adults with high premorbid functioning, resulting in false negatives on cognitive screening tests. Failing to detect early signs of cognitive decline may result in missing a critical period of intervention with disease modifying drugs or making informed dec...

This study was designed to examine the effect of various criterion measures on the classification accuracy of Trial 1 of the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM-1), a free-standing performance validity test (PVT). Archival data were collected from a case sequence of 91 (MAge = 42.2 years; MEducation = 12.7) patients clinically referred for neuropsycho...

This study was designed to develop validity cutoffs by utilizing demographically adjusted T-scores on the trail making test (TMT), with the goal of eliminating potential age and education-related biases associated with the use of raw score cutoffs. Failure to correct for the effect of age and education on TMT performance may lead to increased false...

This study was designed to develop validity cutoffs within the Finger Tapping Test (FTT) using demographically adjusted T-scores, and to compare their classification accuracy to existing cutoffs based on raw scores. Given that FTT performance is known to vary with age, sex, and level of education, failure to correct for these demographic variables...

This study was designed to replicate previous reports of elevated false-positive rates (FPR) on the Word Memory Test (WMT) in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to evaluate previous claims that genuine memory deficits and non-credible responding are conflated on the WMT. Data from a consecutive case sequence of 170 patients with mi...

Regional fluctuations in cognitive ability have been reported worldwide. Given perennial concerns that the outcome of performance validity tests (PVTs) may be contaminated by genuine neuropsychological deficits, geographic differences may represent a confounding factor in determining the credibility of a given neurocognitive profile. This pilot stu...

This study was designed to introduce and validate a forced choice recognition trial to the Rey Complex Figure Test (FCR RCFT ). Healthy undergraduate students at a midsized Canadian university were randomly assigned to the control (n = 80) or experimental malingering (n = 60) conditions. All participants were administered a brief battery of neurops...

Objective: To replicate previous research on Conners' Continuous Performance Test - Second Edition subscales as performance validity tests (PVTs) in children. Method: Classification accuracy for the Omissions (OMI), Hit Reaction Time (HRT), and Perseverations (PER) subscales was computed for 414 children and adolescents. Results: Overall, OMI,...

This study was designed to replicate an earlier report on the link between low scores on the Grooved Pegboard test (GPB), invalid responding, and elevated self-reported psychiatric symptoms. A fixed battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to 100 consecutively referred outpatients (MAge = 38.3, MEducation = 13.6 years) following traumat...