The Reitan Society recognizes that adhering to the scientific method in conducting clinical neuropsychological evaluations is integral to neurodiagnostic accuracy. The role of science in clinical studies is discussed with specific reference to the scientific features of the Halstead-Reitan Test Battery (HRB). The diagnostic precision of the HRB across a wide range of neuropathological states is presented as a product of rigorous scientific interplay between empirical observation and the development of a conceptual model over more than five decades.
Sweeney and Johnson found that individuals that sustained mild traumatic brain injury without impact to the head (Nonimpact) demonstrated significantly slower performance than participants that suffered mild traumatic brain injury with impact to the head and normal controls on the Tactile Form Recognition Test (TFR). The current study explored the spatial cognition of three groups of Nonimpact participants classified as Deficient, Perfectly Normal, and Normal on the basis of TFR response time. Dependent variables consisted of neuropsychological tests requiring tactile- and/or visual-spatial perception and memory. Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVAs) were carried out, with false positive findings controlled by adjusting p-values using the False Detection Rate. Deficient TFR individuals performed at significantly inefficient levels relative to both Perfectly Normal and Normal TFR patients on tactile-spatial tests requiring the perception and recognition of multiple geometric configurations with the left hand, tactile-spatial memory for these shapes, and identification of numbers traced on the fingertips of the right hand. TFR Deficiency appeared to negatively affect performance on visual-spatial tests involving memory for abstract concepts and rapid association of numbers and geometric shapes, but only in relation to Perfectly Normal participants.
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