Chapter 13 - Clinical and Medical Uses of Chronometry

Abstract

This chapter presents the clinical and medical uses of chronometry. It describes the normative and ipsative applications. Response time (RT) itself seldom holds center stage in the overwhelming majority of these studies, as RT is usually included in a battery along with various psychometric tests, while the main focus is on the particular medical condition. Theoretical interpretations of the relationship between the particular medical condition and RT is typically nil or unsystematic. The distinction between normative and ipsative measurements is useful in discussing two broad classes of the medical uses of chronometry—diagnosis of a condition and monitoring the effects of treatment. The diagnostic use of chronometry is more problematic, particularly when it depends on normative data. The practical application in healthcare for which chronometry is probably most ideally suited is monitoring temporal changes in cognitive functions in the normal course of aging, the progression of some brain pathology that affects cognition, and the response to treatment by drugs, physiotherapy, or other remedial interventions.