Impact of somatoform symptomatology on credibility of cognitive performance

Although the detection of conscious fabrication (i.e., malingering) of cogn itive symptoms has been the recipient of burgeoning interest within the las t 10 years in the empirical and clinical neuropsychological literature, whe ther conversion/somatization results in similarly noncredible cognitive pro files has not been formally investigated. Two thirds (13 of 19) of subjects with cognitive complaints and 1-3/3-1 code types on the MMPI/MMPI-2 showed evidence of noncredible cognitive performance (i.e., failure on malingerin g tests and/or a "malingering" pattern on standard neuropsychological tests ). These results suggest that symptom fabrication associated with somatizat ion/conversion personality orientations can extend to noncredible cognitive complaints and not just the oft-described physical manifestations.