ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the importance of knowing the limitations and advantages of different approaches to research. It presents the questions of epistemology. The chapter deals with the clinical assessment of executive dysfunction. This, in some cases, may be driven by theory, but also, especially recently, by the observed everyday behaviour of the patient. The clinical aim of testing is most often to predict the patient’s strengths and weaknesses which reflect on their everyday abilities. The chapter also discusses the relationship between executive dysfunction and the personality of the patient. This in some instances is an introduction to issues of emotional dysfunction and personality that are treated more thoroughly in the chapter on emotional disorders. The chapter focuses on to the patients who have sub-cortical damage to the basal ganglia. It also focuses on clinical issues such as the case of frontotemporal dementia and rehabilitation.
