Validation of the Coin in Hand-Extended Version Among Older Adults With and Without Dementia

Objective: The current study aimed to validate the Performance Validity Test Coin in Hand-Extended Version (CIH-EV) in groups of healthy older adults and older adults with dementia. Method: Using an analog simulation paradigm, the healthy control group and the clinical group were instructed to perform to the best of their ability, whereas the feigning older adults were instructed to simulate a memory deficit to obtain allowance, financial aid, or early retirement. Results: Results showed that the control and clinical groups performed more optimally than the feigning group, although the clinical group had superior response times. The CIH-EV was insensitive to sociodemographic variables and neurocognitive functioning in all groups, demonstrated good convergent validity with other performance validity measures, and showed a reduced rate of false positives. Conclusions: This study corroborates the CIH-EV's effectiveness in detecting the simulation of cognitive deficits in healthy older adults and older adults with dementia.