This course is a critical foundational course for the practice of clinical neuropsychological psychology. Its primary focus is on providing students with the academic and practical background needed to begin the supervised practice of ethical, technically competent, culturally competent, and empirically supported cognitive and neuropsychological assessment.
The primary goal of the second portion of the class is for students to develop the ability to administer, score, interpret and utilize standardized measures of neuropsychological functioning. There will be emphasis placed on various neurological anomalies and disorders and application of standardized tools for measurement of functioning. The course will also address neuroanatomy, issues in neuropsychological assessment, neuropsychological conditions leading to the call for assessment, methods of neuropsychological examination, how to utilize neuropsychological assessment for differential diagnosis questions, report-writing, assessment administration skills and controversies and ethical issues in testing. You will learn the fundamentals of testing and why and when to choose certain testing instruments as well as how to administer and score the tests. Students will develop a working understanding of basic domains of cognitive functioning (attention, memory, learning, memory etc) and how clinical neuropsychologists measure these functions. You will be asked to do a considerable amount of reading and practice for this course.
You will need to recruit volunteers and work together to practice administration of the various instruments covered. It is important to understand that it is your responsibility to find these subjects and I suggest you not wait until the last minute.