Can neuropsychological testing produce unequivocal evidence of brain damage? II. Testing for right vs. left differences.

Sensation and perception, as well as motor functions, have played an important role in the history of psychology. Although tests of these abilities are sometimes included in neuropsychological assessments, comparisons of intraindividual performances on the two sides of the body (as a basis for drawing conclusions and comparisons about the functional status of the two cerebral hemispheres) are in many instances neglected or considered only casually. This study, utilizing several motor and sensory-perceptual tests, compared intraindividual differences on the two sides of the body in a group of controls and a group of persons with brain damage.

Can neuropsychological testing produce unequivocal evidence of brain damage? I. Testing for specific deficits.

Neuropsychological tests that produce continuous distributions routinely show some degree of overlap between groups with and without brain damage, and there is an inevitable degree of uncertainty in group differentiation when using statistical inferential methods. Recognizing these circumstances, Pliskin, Ramati, and Sweeney (2007) recently stated that neuropsychological testing alone does not address the underlying basis (or brain damage) for cognitive changes that may be inferred from test results. The present study proposed that brain-based specific deficits, evaluated on a "present" or "absent" basis, might prove to be a valuable resource in supplementing interpretation of tests based on continuous distributions by providing, in many instances, unequivocal evidence of brain damage.

The use of serial testing in evaluating the need for comprehensive neuropsychological testing of adults.

The aim of this study was to develop brief neuropsychological testing procedures that would identify adults (aged 15 and older) who need comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. The tests used for screening were selected to (1) initially provide a broad catchment procedure followed by (2) a more diversified basis for prediction. The total time required to administer the screening measures is about 45 minutes.

Serial testing of older children as a basis for recommending comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation.

The aim of this study was to develop a short screening battery that would predict whether older children would show significant impairment on comprehensive neuropsychological testing. The screening battery was subdivided into two phases. Phase 1 was intended as a broad catchment effort; Phase 2 was designed to be a more detailed and selective procedure.

The use of serial testing to identify young children in need of comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation.

This study was designed to use a short, two-phase testing procedure to predict the outcome of a comprehensive neuropsychological examination among young children (aged 5-8 years). Phase 1, requiring less than 10 minutes to administer, predicted Phase 2 results and results of comprehensive testing with acceptable accuracy. Phase 2 testing evaluated both lower-level (sensory-motor) and higher-level functions, required about 45 minutes to administer, and also closely predicted the outcome of comprehensive testing.

The effect of age and education transformations on neuropsychological test scores of persons with diffuse or bilateral brain damage.

Heaton, Grant, and Matthews (1991) published procedures for adjusting raw scores on various neuropsychological tests according to the individual's age and education. Despite rather widespread use of these score conversions in both clinical work and research publications, there have been very few investigations to evaluate the accuracy or limitations of these score transformations. This study was based on 52 persons with brain damage who had a range of verified brain injuries or disease.

The effect of conation in determining the differential variance among brain-damaged and nonbrain-damaged persons across a broad range of neuropsychological tests.

Conation, or the ability to apply one's abilities purposefully, persistently and effectively as required by the task at hand, has been considered historically to be an important element of psychology, but has been relatively neglected in clinical neuropsychology. Nevertheless, conation may well be a significant missing variable in predicting a person's success in practical situations based on neuropsychological test scores. This study listed 19 tests from the Halstead-Reitan battery in order of their predicted dependence on conation.

The Houston Conference revisited.

This paper presents a review and critique of the Houston Conference on Specialty Education and Training in Clinical Neuropsychology, together with an informal summary of opinions of a number of neuropsychologists. Issues regarding the role of the Clinical Neuropsychology Synarchy (CNS) and the applicability of the conference policies are offered. Several deficiencies and limitations of the policy statement are discussed.

Use of the Progressive Figures Test in evaluating brain-damaged children, children with academic problems, and normal controls.

This study explores the use of the Progressive Figures Test as an instrument for broad initial screening of children in the 6- through 8-year age range with respect to the possible need for more definitive neuropsychological evaluation. Considering earlier results obtained in comparison of brain-damaged and control children [Clinical Neuropsychology: Current Applications, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., Washington, DC, 1974, p.

The Trail Making Test as an initial screening procedure for neuropsychological impairment in older children.

This study was designed to explore the possibility of using a brief neuropsychological test for broad-band initial screening of children with academic problems who might have neuropsychological deficits that should be more completely evaluated. Part B of the Trail Making Test was selected as the instrument for investigation. Three groups of children, aged 9-14 years, were composed for this study to represent (1) children with diagnosed brain damage or disease, (2) children who were medically normal but who were of serious concern to parents and teachers because of inadequate academic progress, and (3) a normal control group.

The differential effect of conation on intelligence test scores among brain-damaged and control subjects.

Conation, or the ability to apply effective effort in completing a task over time, has been shown to be impaired in brain-damaged subjects. Various intelligence tests differ in the apparent extent to which they require conative ability. In this study we compared results earned by brain-damaged and control groups on three measures of intelligence: Wechsler Verbal IQ (VIQ), Wechsler Performance IQ (PIQ), and the Henmon-Nelson Test (HNT) of Mental Ability.

The significance of sensory-motor functions as indicators of brain dysfunction in children.

Sensory-perceptual and motor functions are closely dependent on the integrity of the brain and nervous system. Standardized tests have been developed to assess these functions, but such tests are not routinely used to evaluate children who are suspected of having a neuropsychological basis for their difficulties. Higher-level functions (such as verbal and academic abilities, executive functioning, etc.

Using the Tactile Form Recognition Test to differentiate persons with brain damage from control subjects.

The Tactile Form Recognition (TFR) Test, which evaluates stereognosis in each hand and requires less than 15 min for administration, was given individually to 50 persons with brain damage and 50 controls who were essentially equivalent in age and education. Scores for the two groups yielded mean values that were different at a statistically significant level. Evaluation of the two distributions of scores yielded a cutoff score that had an accuracy rate of 82% for the controls and 84% for the persons with brain damage.

A consideration of the comparability of the WAIS and WAIS-R.

The WAIS-R continues to be used on a widespread basis as a substitute for the WAIS in neuropsychological assessment, in spite of cautions that have been published (Bornstein, 1987). Although differences in results obtained with the two instruments have been reported, a feeling seems to exist that content differences between the two tests are minimal. This paper presents a detailed comparison of the subtests and reports that substantial differences in content are often present.