Assessment of dissimulation of reading ability using a modified Stroop test: A case report

✍ Scribed by Jessica Bramham; Tim Dalgleish

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 53 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1063-3995
• DOI: 10.1002/1099-0879(200011)7:5<411::aid-cpp273>3.0.co;2-f

✦ Synopsis

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.