Neuropsychological Assessment

Although it has been known for more than a hundred years that subtle damage to specific brain areas can result in reading, listening comprehension, and expressive speech problems, the topic of brain-behavior relationships has only recently become of interest to psychologists and others serving children with learning problems. Comprehensive batteries for neuropsychological assessment of children, such as the Reitan-Indiana and Luria-Nebraska Children's Batteries, have demonstrated diagnostic validty, with agreement between findings on the two Batteries in the range of 90%. For those wishing to assess some aspects of children's neuropsychological functioning without the use of a comprehensive battery, guidelines are proposed for the neuropsychological interpretation of assessment instruments commonly used by school psychologists and educational diagnosticians.