Neuropsychology has become an increasingly active participant in forensie issues over the past decade. This has been the result of increased recognition by psychologists of the potential role they can play in evaluating patients involved in lawsuits and the increasing sophistication of lawyers who have recognized that damages can go beyond claims of physical and motoric impairment. However, this increase in involvement has not always been matched by a more sophisticated recognition of how the client (whether plaintiff or defendant) can best be served by the neuropsychologist. I have...

The inter-comparison of specific skills as represented by performance on neu- psychological tests is at the heart of the neuropsychological assessment process. However, there is a tendency to regard the interpretation of single tests as a process that is independent of performance on other tests, with integration of test information representing a summary of these individual test performances. As neuropsychology has become increasingly sophisticated, it has been recognized that many factors influence the performance on any given test. The meaning of the same score may vary considerably from...

The inter-comparison of specific skills as represented by performance on neu- psychological tests is at the heart of the neuropsychological assessment process. However, there is a tendency to regard the interpretation of single tests as a process that is independent of performance on other tests, with integration of test information representing a summary of these individual test performances. As neuropsychology has become increasingly sophisticated, it has been recognized that many factors influence the performance on any given test. The meaning of the same score may vary considerably from...

This book focuses on the importance of using a brain-behavior relationship framework for the successful use of neuropsychological evaluations for courtroom purposes. It stresses the need to understand the offender as a unique individual assessed accordingly from cognitive and personality perspectives. The desired goal is to reach a more nuanced evaluation rather than a compilation of test scores. This book clearly explains the circumstances that prevent proper testing including batteries that are confusing or frustrating to the person being tested or those that cause fatigue thus interfering...

In the last decade, neuropsychology has grown from a small subspecialty to a major component in the practice of clinical and medical psychology. This growth has been caused by advances in psychological testing (such as the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological battery, as discussed in Chapter 5) that have made evaluation techniques in the field available to a wider audience, by advances in neuroradiol ogy and related medical areas that have enabled us to better understand the struc ture and function of the brain in living individuals without significant potential harm to those individuals, and...

Clinical neuropsychology has become a field of major prominence dur ing the past several years, as well as a field of great complexity. As a result of the extensive amount of activity that neuropsychology has experienced recently, two major developments have emerged. First, several approaches have evolved regarding comprehensive neuro psychological assessment. There are presently several standard test bat teries in common use, as well as an approach to assessment that does not make use of standard batteries, but rather fits the evaluation accom plished to the particular diagnostic problems...

Neuropsychology has become an increasingly active participant in forensie issues over the past decade. This has been the result of increased recognition by psychologists of the potential role they can play in evaluating patients involved in lawsuits and the increasing sophistication of lawyers who have recognized that damages can go beyond claims of physical and motoric impairment. However, this increase in involvement has not always been matched by a more sophisticated recognition of how the client (whether plaintiff or defendant) can best be served by the neuropsychologist. I have...