Neuropsychological Assessment of Abstract Reasoning

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Abstract reasoning is no doubt the most advanced of the cognitive abilities. While animals may be capable of problem-solving, only humans can abstract. Thus, ab­ straction and problem-solving are not synonymous, and problems can be solved without abstraction. However, formation of an abstract concept is often the most elegant way of solving a problem. The word abstraction connotes abstracting some unifying idea or principle on the basis of observation of diverse material. It is therefore an activity that is removed from direct sensory experience, and consti­ tutes a representation of such experience. The term abstraction is often contrasted to concreteness, the latter term indicating cognitive activity associated with direct experience, and without such representation. Concreteness is direct interaction with the "real world" without additional processing. The relationship between brain function and abstract reasoning was probably first discussed during the late 19th century by the neurologists Henry Head and Hughlings Jackson. However, this relationship had its first full theoretical develop­ ment in the work of Kurt Goldstein and Martin Scheerer, and is best articulated in their 1941 monograph on abstract and concrete behavior (Goldstein & Scheerer, 1941). As an orientation for this chapter, we will use their eight points describing the abstract attitude.