The Neuropsychological Assessment

Abstract In its extreme form, the quantitative method of assessment involves the standardized use of a set group, or battery, of tests. These tests are scored quantitatively, and the resulting data are compared with normative data from a group of non-brain-damaged people, preferably matched to the patient in regard to important variables such as age, sex, socioeconomic group, culture, and years of formal education. To establish whether a patient’s scores are typical of the scores of other people with similar disorders, comparisons with the scores of groups of patients with similar disorders or lesions in a similar area of the brain can sometimes be made. The advantage of the quantitative method is that the assessment can be conducted by a trained technician (psychometrist) who does not necessarily need to understand the concepts underlying the tests or their interpretation; a computer can score the tests and even interpret them according to the most likely pathology based on the best fit with normative and research data. The Halstead-Reitan Battery (Halstead 1947; Reitan and Davison 1974) is designed to be used in this way.