Observations on the validity of neuropsychological and personality assessment testing

Abstract

The validity of neuropsychological testing is evaluated in the context of a growing controversy surrounding personality assessment. Claims made by a committee established by the American Psychological Association are disputed (e.g., that psychological tests are as valid as medical tests). Also, normative data for projective techniques and neuropsychological tests are contrasted. Normative data is not available for many projective techniques, and norms for the Rorschach Comprehensive System (Exner, 1993) have been seriously flawed. In contrast, norms for neuropsychological tests are widely available and fundamentally sound. Finally, with regard to the validity of judgments made by psychologists, results for projective techniques have been disappointing while results for neuropsychological tests have generally been positive.This article is based on a Keynote Address presented at the 7th Annual Conference of the Australian Psychological Society College of Clinical Neuropsychologists in Melbourne, Australia on 5th October 2001.