any type of testing in which symptoms of a condition are intentionally caused or reproduced in a patient or other person presenting for evaluation. This can be done to test the effectiveness of treatments for the condition, to rule in or rule out the possibility of a similar diagnosis, or in the case of psychogenic disorders, to test the veracity of the condition. For example, provocative testing has been used somewhat controversially in distinguishing nonepileptic seizures from neurologically based epileptic seizures.