ABSTRACT
Assessments are carried out in order to answer questions. Consequently, the nature of the question determines the assessment procedure. So we would use different tests and procedures for testing out a theoretical model than we would for trying to predict the likelihood of successful return to work for a brain-injured patient. An example of the former is the work of Baddeley, Logie, Bressi, Della Sala, and Spinnler (1986), who were trying to support or refute their hypothesis that patients with Alzheimer’s disease had a deficit in the central executive component of the working memory model (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974). An example of the latter is Shallice and Burgess’s (1991) six elements test which requires participants to plan and organise their activity over a 15-minute period while following certain rules. Mayes (1986) discusses the different concerns of researchers and clinicians with regard to memory assessments but his views are equally relevant to assessments of executive functioning. When thinking about frontal lobe or executive functioning clinicians are likely to be concerned with answering such questions as:
1. Does this person have cognitive impairments that are typically associated with the Dysexecutive syndrome (DES)?
