11 - A Cognitive Neuropsychology Assessment System

Abstract

This chapter explains a cognitive neuropsychology assessment system. Neuropsychological assessment in North America has often been faulted as being atheoretical and quantitative in approach. This reliance can be traced to the need for measures that would predict general brain damage and specificity of localization. A new generation of radiological diagnostic techniques has decreased the need for neuropsychological methods that would localize damage. However, rarely is the neurologist or neurosurgeon able to predict functional outcomes of localized brain damage; neuropsychological assessment is needed for this purpose. The Dean–Woodcock Neuropsychological Assessment System, which includes the WJ III, is based on a cognitive neuropsychological assessment model. The complete D-WNAS offers a unifying portrayal of human cognitive, sensory-motor, and affective functions and their assessment. The method of scaling utilized by the system may be especially useful for describing the presence and severity of functional impairments in neuropsychological assessment. Finally, the functional levels can be used to describe the ease or difficulty with which the patient will find similar, real-world, tasks.