Skip to content

Response Style

Definition

The systematic approach an individual uses in reporting symptoms and behaviour during assessment; includes genuine, amplification, fabrication, defensiveness, and random responding.

Related terms

Below-Chance Performance
Performance on a two-alternative forced-choice task below the 50% chance level; statistically impossible through genuine impairment; meets SSI Criteria Group A for...
Factitious Disorder
Intentional production of symptoms motivated by psychological need to assume the sick role, without external incentive; distinct from malingering in motivation; not...
M-FAST
Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test; 25-item brief screen for feigned psychopathology; designed for jail and pretrial settings where full SIRS-2 is...
MAL (Malingering Index)
PAI configuration-based supplementary index developed for forensic populations to detect feigned psychopathology; used alongside NIM and clinical scales.
Malingering
Intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated symptoms motivated by external incentives; a DSM-5 V-code (not a mental disorder) applicable when incentive...
Performance Validity Test (PVT)
Any test designed to detect inadequate effort or deliberate underperformance in cognitive assessment; TOMM is the leading example for memory; embedded PVTs...
Rogers Detection of Deception Model
Multi-source, hypothesis-testing framework for response-style assessment; requires convergent evidence from at least two data sources and explicit consideration of alternative hypotheses before...
SIRS-2
Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms, Second Edition; 172-item structured interview with eight primary scales for detecting feigned psychiatric symptoms; yields genuine, indeterminate,...
Slick-Sherman-Iverson Criteria
1999 classification framework for Malingered Neurocognitive Dysfunction; four levels (Definite, Probable, Possible, Not MND) based on convergent evidence criteria.
Symptom Amplification
Exaggeration of genuine symptoms beyond their actual severity; common and does not automatically meet the malingering threshold; requires integration with all assessment...
TOMM
Test of Memory Malingering; 50-item forced-choice visual recognition task; Trial 2 score below 45/50 indicates performance invalidity; most widely validated memory PVT.

Explained in

  • Malingering and Response-Style DetectionThe systematic approach an individual uses in reporting symptoms and behaviour during assessment; includes genuine, amplification, fabrication, defensiveness,...

Your journey to becoming a forensic professional starts here.

Practice with mock tests, learn from structured notes, and get your questions answered by a global forensic community, all in one place.