PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

Psychological testing can include neuropsychological testing or psychoeducational testing and involves the administration of a series of empirically derived tests aimed at answering particular questions and providing answers about a person’s cognitive, academic, emotional, and interpersonal abilities and functioning. These may include achievement tests, intelligence tests, neuropsychological tests, and personality tests. Achievement tests are used to measure the amount of knowledge that a person has acquired in a particular area. Intelligence tests attempt to measure a person’s intelligence. Neuropsychological tests measure deficits (or strengths) in various aspects of cognitive functioning (e.g. memory, attention, visual-spatial skills, processing speed, etc.) Personality tests evaluate personality structure and identify deficits/strengths in personality functioning.

When a client is evaluated using a neuropsychological battery or a psychoeducational battery, a detailed written report is produced which integrates the testing results, including the relevant background information and any other gathered information, and provides formal feedback to answer the questions raised. It also provides specific recommendations for remediation of any identified difficulties.

Both adults and children require psychological testing for many reasons. Poor school functioning is one of the most often identified reasons that parents request testing for their children. A thorough neuropsychological evaluation or psychoeducational evaluation with an experienced psychologist can be invaluable in helping to identify strengths and weaknesses, possible learning disabilities, or unidentified emotional difficulties. A comprehensive evaluation can evaluate academic performance, adaptive functioning, attention executive functioning, intellectual/general cognitive functioning, language, learning and memory, motor skills, visual-spatial skills and social emotional functioning. It can offer much-needed important recommendations for intervention, accommodation, or remediation. Adults often request psychological testing for issues relating to diagnostic clarification, career concerns, personality assessment, or for medical/legal reasons.