It is a privilege to be asked to write the foreword for so excellent a book, so timely and so much needed by the field. Not only is it most unusual these days to have a single authored volume on so broad a topic, but Dr. La Rue has done a superb job of providing both a scholarly treatise and a practical handbook. With a burgeoning elderly population and the corresponding increase in geriatric psychopathology, the needs of mental health services are exceeding by far the supply of appropriate providers. In an effort to meet this need, psychiatry, medicine, neurology, pharmacology, psychology, nursing, and social work have all made the provision of training in geriatrics and gerontology a high priority-but I fear we are losing the race. For example, multidisciplinary teams that assess, diagnose, and treat mental health disorders in elderly patients are incomplete without clinical psychologists and neuropsy chologists, and yet there is barely a handful of clinical psychologists trained in dealing with geriatric patients. We can count on our fingers the additional ones graduated each year. In hospitals, clinics, and private practices across the country, otherwise skilled psychologists are unprepared to respond to the special mental health needs of the elderly. A few CME programs are helping to address this need, but they are clearly not enough.

Evidence-based practice has become the benchmark for quality in healthcare and builds on rules of evidence that have been developed in psychology and other health-care disciplines over many decades. This volume aims to provide clinical neuropsychologists with a practical and approachable reference for skills in evidence-based practice to improve the scientific status of patient care. The core skills involve techniques in critical appraisal of published diagnostic-validity or treatment studies. Critical appraisal skills assist any clinician to evaluate the scientific status of any published study, to identify the patient-relevance of studies with good scientific status, and to calculate individual patient-probability estimates of diagnosis or treatment outcome to guide practice. Initial chapters in this volume review fundamental concepts of construct validity relevant to the assessment of psychopathology and cognitive abilities in neuropsychological populations. These chapters also summarize exciting contemporary development in the theories of personality and psychopathology, and cognitive ability, showing a convergence of theoretical and clinical research to guide clinical practice. Conceptual skills in interpreting construct validity of neuropsychological tests are described in detail in this volume. In addition, a non-mathematical description of the concepts of test score reliability and the neglected topic of interval estimation for individual assessment is provided. As an extension of the concepts of reliability, reliable change indexes are reviewed and the implication of impact on evidence-based practice of test scores reliability and reliable change are described to guide clinicians in their interpretation of test results on single or repeated assessments. Written by some of the foremost experts in the field of clinical neuropsychology and with practical and concrete examples throughout, this volume shows how evidence-based practice is enhanced by reference to good theory, strong construct validity, and better test score reliability.

Leaders in neuropsychology, behavioral neurology, speech and language science, neuropsychiatry, and many other disciplines contribute to this volume, the first comprehensive review of knowledge in the field. They discuss a wide range of disorders, including areas of recent research - such as frontal lobe dementias and the neuropsychological aspects of late life depression - and clinical problems typically given insufficient consideration in other works, such as seizure disorder, head injury, and mental retardation. Normal aging is also covered in detail, and assessment procedures and clinical interventions are given thorough treatment. Other highlights include discussions of guardianship and caregiving personality and behavior, psychotic disorders, Alzheimer's, and head trauma.

With the aging of the baby boomers and medical advances that promote longevity, older adults are rapidly becoming the fastest growing segment of the population. As the population ages, so does the incidence of age related disorders. Many predict that 15% - 20% of the baby-boomer generation will develop some form of cognitive decline over the course of their lifetime, with estimates escalating to up to 50% in those achieving advanced age. Although much attention has been directed at Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, it is estimated that nearly one third of those cases of cognitive decline result from other neuropathological mechanisms. In fact, many patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease likely have co-morbid disorders that can also influence cognition (i.e., vascular cognitive impairment), suggesting mixed dementias are grossly under diagnosed. The Clinical Handbook on the Neuropsychology of Aging and Dementia is a unique work that provides clinicians with expert guidance and a hands-on approach to neuropsychological practice with older adults. The book will be divided into two sections, the first addressing special considerations for the evaluation of older adults, and the second half focusing on common referral questions likely to be encountered when working with this age group. The authors of the chapters are experts and are recognized by their peers as opinion leaders in their chosen chapter topics. The field of neuropsychology has played a critical role in developing methods for early identification of late life cognitive disorders as well as the differential diagnosis of dementia. Neuropsychological assessment provides valuable clinical information regarding the nature and severity of cognitive symptoms associated with dementia. Each chapter will reinforce the notion that neuropsychological measures provide the clinician with sensitive tools to differentiate normal age-related cognitive decline from disease-associated impairment, aid in differential diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction in older adults, as well as identify cognitive deficits most likely to translate into functional impairments in everyday life.

Originally published in 1992, this is a wide-ranging text concerned with the principles and practice of neuropsychological assessment in adults. It combines a flexible hypothesis testing approach to assessment with information on specialised test batteries. The book covers the major areas of memory, language, perception, attention, and executive dysfunctions, and includes chapters on dementia, alcohol, drug and toxic conditions, stroke and closed head injury. Assessment of dysfunction in cases involving claims for compensation and chapters on specialised assessment techniques, including automated test procedures, are provided. The book presents a sound introduction to this complex area and gives guidelines for the clinician who may need concise information on a specialised topic.

A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests, Fourth Edition is one of the most well-established reference texts in neuropsychology. This newly-revised, updated, and expanded fourth edition provides a comprehensive overview of essential aspects of neuropsychological practice along with 100 test reviews of well-known neuropsychological tests for adults. The aim of the Compendium is to provide a comprehensive yet practical overview of the state of the field while also summarizing the evidence on the theoretical background, norms, reliability, and validity of commonly-used neuropsychological tests. Based on extensive review of the clinical and research literature in neuropsychology, neurology, and related disciplines, its comprehensive critical reviews of common neuropsychological tests and standardized scales include tests for premorbid estimation, dementia screening, IQ, attention, executive functioning, memory, language, visuospatial skills, sensory function, motor skills, performance validity, and symptom validity. Tables within each test review summarize important features of each test, highlight aspects of each normative dataset, and provide an overview of psychometric properties. This essential reference text also covers basic and advanced aspects of neuropsychological assessment with chapters on psychometric concepts and principles, reliability in neuropsychology, theoretical models of test validity, and an overview of critical concepts pertaining to performance and symptom validity testing and malingering. Of interest to neuropsychologists, clinical psychologists, educational psychologists, neurologists, and psychiatrists as well as trainees in these areas, this volume will aid practitioners in gaining a deeper understanding of fundamental assessment concepts in neuropsychology while also serving as an essential guidebook for selecting the right test for specific clinical situations and for helping clinicians make empirically-supported test interpretations.

Neuropsychological assessment is a difficult and complicated process. Often, experienced clinicians as well as trainees and students gloss over fundamental problems or fail to consider potential sources of error. Since formal test data on the surface appear unambiguous and objective, they may fall into the habit of overemphasizing tests and their scores and underemphasizing all the factors that affect the validity, reliability, and interpretability of test data. But interpretation is far from straightforward, and a pragmatic application of assessment results requires attention to a multitude of issues. This long-awaited, updated, and greatly expanded second edition of the Clinician's Guide to Neuropsychological Assessment, like the first, focuses on the clinical practice of neuropsychology. Orienting readers to the entire multitude of issues, it guides them step by step through evaluation and helps them avoid common misconceptions, mistakes, and methodological pitfalls. It is divided into three sections: fundamental elements of the assessment process; special issues, settings, and populations; and new approaches and methodologies. The authors, all of whom are actively engaged in the clinical practice of neuropsychological assessment, as well as in teaching and research, do an outstanding job of integrating the academic and the practical. The Clinician's Guide to Neuropsychological Assessment, Second Edition will be welcomed as a text for graduate courses but also as an invaluable hands-on handbook for interns, postdoctoral fellows, and experienced neuropsychologists alike. No other book offers its combination of breadth across batteries and approaches, depth, and practicality.

This revised text provides coverage of research and clinical practice in neuropsychology. The 4th edition contains new material on tests, assessment techniques, neurobehavioral disorders, and treatment effects.

Since the late 1800s psychologists have been interested in discerning the strategies subjects employ to solve psychological tests (Piaget, 1928, Werner, 1940, Gesell, 1941). Much of this work, however, has relied on qualitative observations. In the 1970s, Edith Kaplan adopted this approach to the analysis of standardized neuropsychological measures. Unlike her predecessors, Dr. Kaplan and her colleagues emphasized the application of modern behavioral neurology to the analysis of the test data. Her approach was later termed the Boston Process Approach to neuropsychological assessment. While Edith Kaplan's work generates a great deal of enthusiasm, the qualitative nature of her analyses did not allow for its adoption by mainstream neuropsychologists. However, in recent years this limitation has begun to be addressed. Clinicians and researchers have developed new methodologies for quantifying the Boston Process Approach, leading to the emergence of a new field, which is collectively termed the Quantified Process Approach. Quantified Process Approach to Neuropsychological Assessment outlines the rationale for the emergence of this new approach and reviews the state of the art research literature and up to date clinical applications as they pertain to the evaluation of neuropsychiatric, head injured, and learning disabled patients. When available, norms and scoring forms are included in the appendices.

Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, Ninth Edition tackles both the biological and environmental influences on behavior and the reciprocal interface between changes in the brain and behavior that span the adult lifespan. This information is very important to many features of daily life, from workplace to family, and in public policy matters. It is complex and new questions are continually raised about how behavior changes with age. Providing perspectives on the behavioral science of aging for diverse disciplines, the handbook explains how the role of behavior is organized and how it changes over the course of life. Along with parallel advances in research methodology, it explicates in great detail, patterns and sub-patterns of behavior over the lifespan, and how it affects biological, health and social interactions. Covers preclinical neuropathology Examines age and sex differences in the process of aging Considers financial decision-making and capacity Explores mental health issues related to death and dying Discusses technology for older adults