3 - The Neuropsychological Basis of Assessment

Abstract

This chapter deals with the theoretical relationship between brain functioning and neuropsychological testing. This relationship has recently received a great augmentation by the introduction of scanning techniques in neurology. Until the development of scanning methods, the functioning of the brain was considered to exist in a black box so that it could not be perceived. Psychology developed tests unrelated to brain functioning, and neuroscience examined brain functioning with little emphasis on tests. However, although scanning determines the location of a function, it does not determine the nature of that function. This nature of a function is determined by the form of neuropsychological tests. The test is a task that the brain is required to perform and that demonstrates the function of a particular area of the brain. Thus, the relationship between neuropsychological tests and brain functioning can be determined with greater precision than previously.