Abstract
Most neuropsychological tests are blatantly explicit. By this, we mean that most of the tests we administer focus upon the concept and assumptions of conscious cognitive control. In addition, many of these tasks appear to be artificial, and the results of these measures are difficult to correlate with day-to-day activities. For example, during the course of the day, people are not repeating digits forwards and backwards; they are not sorting cards into categories or solving “tower” tests; they are not connecting circles in numerical order with a pencil line, etc. Nevertheless, based upon interpretations of test results, we attempt to identify symptoms and diagnose pathology. The neuropsychologist then attempts to predict how the patient may present the in the “real world,” making inferences from test interpretation. From this, the clinician attempts to devise meaningful interventions that will support the patient in treating and/or compensating for their deficiencies; however, many of the tasks that are administered in a neuropsychological battery are not practical, and thus performance on the measure may not translate or generalize well in terms of a patient’s neurobehavioral presentation outside of the clinical setting. Some tests utilize game-like formats. Other tasks are administered conveying academic overtones, and still other tasks are administered within a question-answer format. So the inferences and predictions we make are always indirect.
“Concentration: put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket.”
Andrew Carnegie
“Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities- always see them, for they’re always there.”
Norman Vincent Peale
“Truth has no special time of its own. Its hour is now- always.”
Albert Schweitzer
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Koziol, L.F., Beljan, P., Bree, K., Mather, J., Barker, L. (2016). Tradition and Innovation: Making the Neuropsychological Evaluation a More Powerful Tool. In: Large-Scale Brain Systems and Neuropsychological Testing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28222-0_6
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