Plenary C: Developing Tools for Global Neuropsychological Assessment
David J. Schretlen, PhD
Professor of Medical Psychology and Radiology
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Location: Town & Country Ballroom A
Credit Hours: 1.0
Level of Instruction: Intermediate
Plenary C: Developing Tools for Global Neuropsychological Assessment
Abstract & Learning Objectives:
During the 20th century, neuropsychology emerged as a research and clinical specialty, predominantly—though not exclusively—in Western Europe and North America. Formation of the International Neuropsychological Society has done much to foster globalization of the discipline, though we have yet to develop neuropsychological assessment instruments that are suitable for worldwide use. Test publishers have few financial incentives to undertake the development, standardization, and normative data collection required to create cognitive tests for worldwide use. And health-related funding organizations typically prioritize disease-focused etiologic, mechanistic, and treatment research in their resource allocation. Thus, developing such tools will likely require clinical data and other contributions from the entire international community of neuropsychologists. In this address, I will focus on two approaches to developing tests and norms that are suitable to global use, along with ongoing efforts and progress to date in each. I will also appeal to every member of the international community of neuropsychologists to help turn this vision into a reality now.
Upon conclusion of this course, learners will be able to:
1. Describe two fundamental approaches to developing neuropsychological tests that are appropriate for international use.
2. Explain at least one strength and limitation of each approach to global test and regression-based norms development.
3. Assess how to personally engage in a project that aims to provide contributors with free access to a global neuropsychological test battery that is suitable for use worldwide in multiple languages.
Speaker Biography:
David Schretlen, PhD is a Professor and Director of the Division of Medical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Radiology. He is a board-certified neuropsychologist and Fellow of the APA and APS. Dr. Schretlen completed his doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Arizona in 1986, an internship at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and a post-doctoral residency in neuropsychology at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. He has served as a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. He authored 400 articles, monographs, book chapters, and abstracts, along with three neuropsychological tests and software designed to increase the precision of neuropsychological measures for persons of diverse backgrounds. Dr. Schretlen founded and directs the International Neuropsychological Normative Database Initiative (INNDI; www.inndi.org), and Global Neuropsychology, Inc. (GNI; https://gninc.org/), both of which are developing global norms for neurocognitive tests.