EXPLANATORY MODELS OF MALINGERING - A PROTOTYPICAL ANALYSIS

Rogers (1990a, 1990b) proposed three models to explain why certain per sons malinger mental illness: pathogenic, criminological, and adaptati onal. Highly experienced forensic experts (N = 320) performed prototyp ical ratings on attributes associated with each model; the highest rat ings were given to the adaptational model. In addition, a principal co mponents analysis provided initial empirical support for these three e xplanatory models. The relevance of these findings to theory and clini cal practice is discussed.