ABSTRACT
Neuropsychologists in hospital, clinic, and private-practice settings have long been recognized for their expertise in the measurement and assessment of neurocognitive change associated with known or suspected illnesses or injuries affecting brain functioning. In these settings, issues of reliability and validity have been largely examined within the context of group studies in terms of the diagnostic accuracy of a given neuropsychological assessment compared to some external criterion of brain impairment (i.e., neuroimaging or electrophysiological abnormality). However, as neuropsychologists have begun to increasingly offer their expertise within the courtroom, the emphasis has shifted to diagnostic accuracy in the individual case, and the issues of reliability and validity have come under “public” rather than “scientific” scrutiny (Matarazzo, 1987).
