Residual Effects of Feigning ADHD and the Influence of Corrective Feedback

Jäger, Johanna Sophie (2022) Residual Effects of Feigning ADHD and the Influence of Corrective Feedback. Master thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

Feigning Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is a common phenomenon. The disorder is associated with various accommodations, such as extra time for exams or stimulant medication. This is an attractive incentive for healthy individuals to feign symptoms to also profit from these benefits. Feigning symptoms of psychiatric disorders has been shown to lead to residual effects, meaning self-deception due to the belief that one is genuinely experiencing the symptoms. This effect is explained by cognitive dissonance, which alleviates internal conflict through self-deception. These residual effects can potentially be reduced by corrective feedback given after invalid test responses. In the current study, a sample of 119 college students was asked to feign symptoms of ADHD and answer the Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS). Afterwards participants received either validating (validating reported symptoms), invalidating (blaming invalidity on reduced effort of participant), or neutral feedback (blaming invalidity on an external cause) and were then asked to complete the CAARS again, but this time honestly. Test results were compared to a control condition, which answered honestly on all occasions. Data Analysis revealed no residual effect of feigning ADHD in the current sample, with a negligible effect size for Inattention symptoms and a small effect size for Hyperactivity/Impulsivity symptoms. In addition, the different types of feedback did not yield different ADHD symptoms scores with a negligible effect size for Inattention symptoms and a medium effect size for Hyperactivity/Impulsivity symptoms. Future research should focus on generating more cognitive dissonance. Furthermore, a non-feedback condition should be included.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Fuermaier, A.B.M.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Clinical Neuropsychology (CN) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	12 Jul 2022 11:29
Last Modified:	12 Jul 2022 11:29
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/891

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