Hoofdstuk 6 The neuropsychological examination

Question 1

How is testing different from other forms of psychological data gathering?

Answer 1

It brings out behavior samples in a standardized and replicable and restrictive situation. Each subjects has the same test situation so you can compare behaviour between individuals

Question 2

To be neuropsychologicaly meaningful, a test score schould represent as few/ as many kinds of behaviour or dimensions of cognitive functions as possible

Answer 2

As few (if a score is overinclusive, as in the case of summed batery scores, ir becomes impossible to know what bevahioral or cognivitve characteristic it represents)

Question 3

What are some common interpretation errors?

Answer 3

• Problem of overgeneralizing
• Problem of false negatives
• Confirmatory bias
• Misuse of salient data: over- and underinterpretation
• Underutilization or misutilization of base rates
• Effort effects

Question 4

What is confirmatory bias?

Answer 4

Tendency to seek and value supportive evidence at the expense of contrary evidence

Question 5

What do we mean by underutilization or misutilization of base rates?

Answer 5

Our tendency to give more weight to the event-specific information than we should, and sometimes even ignore base rates entirely (base rate = the naturally occurring frequency of a phenomenon in a population)

Question 6

Four themes underlying the interpretation and reporting of test scores and neuropsychological findings are:?

Answer 6

1. The acceptability of the normative data for the test administered
2. Measurment error like ceiling and floor effects (occur when the tests or scales are relatively easy or difficult)
3. What represent normal variability
4. What represents a significant change over time with sequential testing

Question 7

Standard scores are based on the mean and ….. The z-scores represents ….?

Answer 7

The standard deviation. Z-scores resprents the amount a score deviates from the mean of the population from which is is drawn.

Question 8

What are examples of demographically based norms?

Answer 8

Norms based on age and education

Question 9

Estimates of premorbid level of a patient’s functioning is important in determining whether a given test performance represents impairment. Some neuropsychologist use ….. than the mean of a normative sample

Answer 9

1 or more SD lower than the mean

Question 10

What are sensitivity and specitivity?

Answer 10

Sensitivity: the ability of a test to correctly identify patients with a disease. Specificity: the ability of a test to correctly identify people without the disease

Question 11

What are cutting scores?

Answer 11

The scores that seperate the normal/ not impaired from the abnormal/ impaired ends of a continuum of test scores, which marks the cut off point

Question 12

Discrepancy, or variability, in the pattern of successes and failures in a test performance is called?

Answer 12

Scatter

Question 13

Variability within a test is called …, variability between the scores of a set of tests is called ….

Answer 13

Intratest scatter, intertest scatter

Question 14

Except for test scores, what must be taken into account in patients with brain impairment?

Answer 14

Emotional impact of the brain damage on the individual patient’s cognitive functioning and how fatigue may alter performance