Setting empirical cut-offs on psychometric indicators of negative response bias: a methodological commentary with recommendations

Malingering in neuropsychological assessment has been the subject of intense research for more than a decade and the detection methods arising from this work are diverse and sophisticated. However, the empirical findings are often presented in ways that limit the clinical utility of these techniques and may threaten their admissibility into legal proceedings. The purpose of this paper is to outline an approach for setting cut-offs on techniques designed to identify the presence of negative response bias. The use of this approach will result in the explicit specification of the error rate(s) of a given technique which can easily be applied by clinicians in the course of their practice and be admissible in court.