ABSTRACT
It is fairly typical for children or adolescents to show fluctuations in their level of engagement in testing during the neuropsychological evaluation. This may be due to a number of reasons, including boredom, disinterest, or fatigue, that develop after a lengthy period of cognitive testing. It is also the case that some children or adolescents show poor participation across the evaluation, perhaps due to their unwillingness to undergo evaluation, or due to behavioral issues. These potential obstacles to a valid neuropsychological evaluation in pediatric settings are well known. Perhaps less known is that children and adolescents can feign psychological and neuropsychological symptoms. While there are certainly situations with clear incentives for a child or adolescent to falsify symptoms (e.g., academic accommodations, monetary compensation, parental attention or approval), there has always been some doubt as to whether this young population would even conceive of engaging in this form of deception, as well as whether children have the skills necessary to intentionally engage in deceptive behavior. Regarding the latter, there is research that has shown that preschool age children are capable of intentionally deceiving an adult stranger and can do so in a manner that is difficult for the adult to detect. The deceptive behavior of the very young child is not complex, taking the form of unelaborated denials or acknowledgements to questions posed by the adult. After the age of six, however, children become capable of deception that is more elaborate. By adolescence, the ability to control emotional responses and facial expressions is well developed, and this allows for more skillful deceptive behavior (McCann, 1998; Oldershaw & Bagby, 1997).
