Detection of malingering behavior at different levels of task difficulty in Hong Kong Chinese

Objective: To investigate whether detection of malingering behavior differs as a function of level of task difficulty. Study Design: A 2 X 2 within-subject simulation design. Participants: Thirty-eight Chinese university freshmen. Outcome Measures: The Digit Memory Test at 2 levels of difficulty. Results: Significantly different performance between simulated malingering and control conditions, F(1, 37) = 43.19, p = .00, was found at both levels of difficulty, F(l, 37) = 237.19, p = .00. Malingering and control conditions were maximally distinguishable from each other at the higher level of task difficulty, t(37) = 5.45, p = .00. Conclusion: Classification accuracy was higher at a higher level of difficulty.