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Editorial Volume 5 Issue 5
Effort Testing in Child Cognitive and Neuropsychological Testing
Robert Perna
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Clinical neuropsychologist, TIRR Memorial Hermann, USA
Correspondence: Robert Perna, Clinical neuropsychologist, TIRR Memorial Hermann, Texas Medical Center Houston, 2450 Holcombe Blvd #1, Houston, TX 77021, USA, Tel 706-750-2572
Received: October 27, 2016 | Published: November 3, 2016
Citation: Perna R (2016) Effort Testing In Child Cognitive and Neuropsychological Testing. J Pediatr Neonatal Care 5(5): 00194. DOI: 10.15406/jpnc.2016.05.00194
Editorial
Assessing clinicians often understand the need to utilize reliable tests that are validated for a specific purpose and population and which have various norms that should be selected for appropriateness; however, many pediatric clinicians don’t understand the need for effort testing. Effort testing has become, in some peoples view, equal to testing for malingering. These measures are much more than that. Empirical research clearly shows that children do not always provide adequate effort on cognitive and neuropsychological testing. Effort testing in the context of cognitive or neuropsychological testing serves the purpose of allowing the clinician to be reasonably confident that sufficient effort was provided by the examinee and therefore the acquired data is likely accurately representative of the persons cognitive functioning at that time. Adults and children have been shown to provide inconsistent effort on various tests and assessments. Considerable research suggests that behavioral observations do not reliably allow a clinician to know if a full effort was provided, except for extremely obvious cases. Though most psychologists and neuropsychologists administer effort tests as part of their evaluation procedures, many who work with children continue to feel this is unneeded. A consequence of this situation is that inadequate effort on testing can result in an abnormal score profile and perhaps incorrect conclusions regarding impairments and diagnoses. Some empirical research1 has found the when neuropsychologists assess children that were instructed to malinger, the neuropsychologists were inclined to believe that adequate effort was provided. Specifically, 78% to 83% of neuropsychologists in these studies interpreted malingering children’s test scores as impaired and reported a high level of confidence in their conclusions.
A cost benefit analysis will always favor the administration of at least one appropriate performance validity test as part of an assessment battery.
Acknowledgments
None.
Conflicts of interest
Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
References
©2016 Perna. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.
Citations
International Childhood Cancer Day is observed on 15 February 2026 to raise awareness about childhood cancers and to highlight the medical, developmental, and supportive care needs of affected children and their families. This day emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis, pediatric care, and continued research to improve survival and quality of life in children with cancer.
Researchers and healthcare professionals are encouraged to submit their original research articles, reviews, and clinical studies related to pediatric oncology, neonatal care, and child health. Manuscripts submitted on the occasion of International Childhood Cancer Day will be eligible for a special publication discount of 30–40% in the Journal of Pediatrics & Neonatal Care (JPNC).
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