Detecting malingered memory problems in the civil and criminal arena

摘要

Feigning a psychiatric or neurological disorder may be an attractive strategy to obtainall sorts of privileges or disability benefits. In the criminal arena, feigning memory lossfor a crime (crime-related amnesia) may be a way for defendants to gain sympathy or topromote a diminished capacity defence. Although crime-related amnesia may, undersome circumstances, be genuine, in many cases it is more likely to be malingered.Malingered memory problems are a subtle form of deception and what is true fordeceptive behaviour in general is also true for malingering memory loss: on the basis ofclinical intuition alone, it is difficult to detect. Fortunately, there are methods and toolsto evaluate the authenticity of memory problems. It is important that forensic andclinical psychologists familiarize themselves with these techniques.