Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

been an absence of conceptual and empirical research

in this area. Specifically, there is a need for cognitive

and neuropsychological models of TC, assessment

instrument development, and empirical clinical studies.

Daniel C. Marson

and Katina R. Hebert

See alsoCompetency, Foundational and Decisional;

Financial Capacity; Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI);

Forensic Assessment; Guardianship; Psychological

Autopsies

Further Readings

American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging &

American Psychological Association. (2005). Assessment

of older adults with diminished capacity: A handbook for

lawyers. Washington, DC: Authors.

Greiffenstein, M. F. (1996, May). The neuropsychological

autopsy. Michigan Bar Journal,424–425.

Marson, D. C., Huthwaite, J., & Hebert, K. (2004).

Testamentary capacity and undue influence in the elderly:

A jurisprudent therapy perspective. Law and Psychology

Review, 28,1–96.

Spar, J. E., & Garb, A. (1992). Assessing competency to

make a will. American Journal of Psychiatry,

149,169–174.

Spar, J. E., Hankin, M., & Stodden, A. (1995). Assessing

mental capacity and susceptibility to undue influence.

Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 13,391–403.

Walsh, A. C., Brown, B. B., Kaye, K., & Grigsby, J. (1997).

Mental capacity: Legal and medical aspects of assessment

and treatment(2nd ed.). Deerfield, IL: Clark, Boardman,

& Callaghan.

TEST OFMEMORY

MALINGERING (TOMM)

The issue of malingering is becoming increasingly

important in the field of forensic psychology, particu-

larly in cases involving traumatic brain injury, where

alleged memory impairment is often used to seek per-

sonal compensation or as a defense against prosecu-

tion for various types of crimes. The Test of Memory

Malingering (TOMM) was developed by the author to

provide an objective, criterion-based test that is able

to discriminate between individuals with bona fide

memory impairment and those with feigned symp-

toms of impaired memory. The acronym TOMM was

selected to emphasize that the test was developed

with a definite, preconceived notion—to determine

whether or not an individual is feigning or malinger-

ing a memoryimpairment. Thus, the TOMM should

not be viewed as a malingering test per se.

The TOMM consists of two learning trials and a

retention trial. The learning trials consist of a learning

phase and a test phase. The study portion of each learn-

ing trial contains 50 line-drawn pictures (targets), each

presented for 3 seconds with a 1-second interval

between pictures. The same 50 pictures are used on

each learning trial. However, they are presented in a dif-

ferent order on the second trial. During the test phase,

each target is paired with a new line drawing (distrac-

tor). The position of the target is counterbalanced for

the top and bottom positions. The person is required to

select the correct picture (i.e., target) from each panel.

For each answer, the examiner provides feedback about

the correctness of the response. A delayed retention

trial, consisting only of the test phase, is administered

approximately 15 to 20 minutes after completion of the

two learning trials. The TOMM is available in a com-

puterized as well as a paper-and-pencil format.

Development and Validation

The TOMM was initially validated with 475 community-

dwelling adults ranging in age from 17 to 84 years and

187 neuropsychological assessments from patients clas-

sified as follows: no cognitive impairment (n=13), cog-

nitive impairment (n=42), aphasia (n=21), traumatic

brain injury (TBI) (n=45), depression (n=26), and

dementia (n=40). Inspection of the distribution of cor-

rect responses for the cognitively intact participants and

the clinical patients showed that most nondemented indi-

viduals achieved a perfect score on Trial 2 and the reten-

tion trial. Moreover, rarely did a nondemented patient

obtain a score lower than 45. In view of these results, the

criterion score of 45 on Trial 2 or on the retention trial

was selected. That is, any score lower than 45 should

raise concern that an individual is not putting forth the

maximum effort and is likely malingering. The criterion

score correctly classified 100% of the community-

dwelling participants and 95% of the nondemented clin-

ical patients (cognitively impaired =90%; aphasia =

95%; TBI =98%; depressed =100%; and dementia =

73%). Thus, the only clinical sample with a relatively

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