Abstract
Formulation is a clinical process which does not tend to feature explicitly in neuropsychological literature. Despite this low conceptual profile, clinical decision-making in neuropsychological practice can be seen to involve formulation in some way. In particular, hypothesis-testing approaches to assessment implicitly embrace the construct, integrating aspects of history, test findings, and qualitative behaviour in order to understand the case; in contrast, psychometric approaches appear to rely less on formulation. This chapter outlines a process which takes a middle-ground perspective, advocating for interpretation of psychometric test data in a framework described by cognitive constructs. Such cognitive neuropsychological formulation adapts the perspective taken towards understanding the normal thinking processes in the field of cognitive neuropsychology, and is guided by strategic consideration of dependencies across domains of cognition, and of features of test structure. It seeks to arrive at a parsimonious characterisation of a case’s neuropsychological state which relates fundamentally to the referral question and the history, and is expressed in cognitive terms which are understandable by the referrer, the treatment team/family, and the patient. Two cases with challenging features are presented to illustrate principles of cognitive neuropsychological formulation—one with significant deafness, cultural-linguistic issues and hemiplegia, and another with an extremely high premorbid intellectual level.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
WAIS-IV process score norms were consulted for forward and backward Digit Span (adding two points to equate the backward score), as they reflect the total achieved rather than longest span (with longest span being blind to errors committed throughout the trials).
References
Baddeley, A., Emslie, H., & Nimmo-Smith, I. (1994). Doors and People. Bury St Edmunds: Thames Valley Test Company.
Bowden, S. C. (1995). Hypothesis-testing in Australian neuropsychology. Australian Psychologist, 30(1), 35–38.
Burgess, P. W., & Shallice, T. (1997). The Hayling and Brixton tests. Thurston: Thames Valley Test Company.
Caine, D. (1995). Some determinants of method in neuropsychology. Australian Psychologist, 30(1), 39–41.
Crowe, S. F. (2010). Evidence of absence: A guide to cognitive assessment in Australia. Bowen Hills: Australian Academic.
Delis, D. C., Kramer, J. H., Kaplan, E., & Ober, B. A. (2000). California Verbal Learning Test (2nd ed.). (Adult Version). San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.
Delis, D. C., Kaplan, E., & Kramer, J. H. (2001). The Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS). San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.
Kaplan, E. F., Goodglass, H., & Weintraub, S. (2001). The Boston Naming Test (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Kaufman, A. S. (1990). Assessing adolescent and adult intelligence. Needham: Allyn and Bacon.
Lin, F. R., Metter, E. J., O’Brien, R. J., Resnick, S. M., Zonderman, A. B., & Ferrucci, L. (2011). Hearing loss and incident dementia. Archives of Neurology, 68(2), 214–220.
Mapou, R. L. (1995a). A cognitive framework for neuropsychological assessment. In R. L. Mapou & J. Spector (Eds.), Clinical neuropsychological assessment: A cognitive approach (pp. 295–337). New York: Plenum Press.
Mapou, R. L. (1995b). Introduction. In R. L. Mapou & J. Spector (Eds.), Clinical neuropsychological assessment: A cognitive approach (pp. 1–13). New York: Plenum Press.
Meyers, J. E., & Meyers, K. R. (1995). Rey complex figure test and recognition trial. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Pearson. (2009). Advanced clinical solutions for the WAIS-IV and WMS-IV: Administration and scoring manual. San Antonio: Author.
Rey, A. (1958). L’examen clinique en psychologie. Paris: Presse Universitaire de France.
Riddoch, M. J., & Humphreys, G. W. (Eds.). (1994). Cognitive neuropsychology and cognitive rehabilitation. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Robertson, I. H., Ward, T., Ridgeway, V., & Nimmo-Smith, I. (1994). The Test of Everyday Attention. Bury St Edmunds: Thames Valley Test Company.
Saling, M. M. (1995). Neuropsychology in the clinic: A comment on Caine (1995) and Bowden (1995). Australian Psychologist, 30(1), 42–44.
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. Neuropsychologia, 47(10), 2015–2028.
The Psychological Corporation. (2001). Wechsler Test of Adult Reading. New York: Author.
Walsh, K. W. (1991). Understanding brain damage: A primer of neuropsychological evaluation (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
Walsh, K. (1992). Some gnomes worth knowing. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 6(2), 119–133.
Walsh, K. (2001). ASSBI’s founding president reminisces. Brain Impairment, 2(1), 39–47.
Warrington, E. K., & James, M. (1991). Visual Object and Space Perception Battery. Bury St Edmunds: Thames Valley Test Company.
Wechsler, D. (1997a). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (3rd ed.). San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.
Wechsler, D. (1997b). Wechsler Memory Scale (3rd ed.). San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.
Wechsler, D. (2008). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (4th ed.). San Antonio: Pearson.
Wechsler, D. (2009). Wechsler Memory Scale (4th ed.). San Antonio: Pearson.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Editor and Authors
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Savage, G. (2016). Cognitive Neuropsychological Formulation. In: Macniven, J. (eds) Neuropsychological Formulation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18338-1_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18338-1_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-18337-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-18338-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)