A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests: Administration, Norms, and Commentary [Hardcover]

Otfried Spreen (Author), Esther Strauss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0195054393 | ISBN-13: 978-0195054392 | Edition: 3rd Printing

This book provides thorough descriptions of a wide range of neuropsychological tests, including the Stanford-Binet, MMPI, Purdue Pegboard and PASAT, that are commonly used to assess general intellectual ability, scholastic achievement, attention and memory, language, visual, auditory, and tactile ability, motor skill and personality. Means of administration, approximate time for administration, scoring procedures, sample score sheets, normative data, and information on reliability and validity are presented. The authors also discuss when a given test may be of particular use and emphasize clinically useful means for making inferences about the functional integrity of brain regions. A very practical resource, the book will help clinicians evaluate and treat neuropsychological disorders. It will also alert clinicians and researchers to the psychometric properties of their instruments.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The present volume is welcome because the authors include several excellent often used but unpublished tests as well as a few 'old reliable' ones. . . .Writing is simple and descriptive." --Perceptual and Motor Skills

"A valuable addition for institutions with graduate neuropsychology programs, and useful as well for upper-level undergraduates studying psychological testing, as it provides many samples of test materials that students otherwise might not find available." --Choice

"Numerous tables of normative data not available in published test manuals are reproduced in this volume. Consequently, publication of this compendium is especially timely and informative....The extensive experience of the authors as clinical neuropsychologists and supervisors of graduate students is reflected in their comment toward the end of each test entry that includes caveats on administration, interpretation, and limitations of the normative data....This book complements the reference work by Lezak and the book by Heilman and Valenstein with a minimum of redundancy....The writing style is clear, lively, and succinct, thus inviting the reader to refer frequently to this book for reference."--Archives of Neurology

"Well organized and easy to use. . . . a valuable source of information for neurobehaviorists and neuropsychologists." --Rebecca Rausch (Univ of California, Los Angeles), Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology

"With this book Spreen and Strauss have performed a very useful service for the clinical neuropsychologist....The contribution to neuropsychological assessment made by the authors and their co-workers over the years means that their proposed standards should be given very serious consideration....There is sufficient unique material in the present book to more than justify its place on the clinician's shelf." --John R. Crawford, Flinders University of South Australia

"Well organized and easy to use. . . . a valuable source of information for neurobehaviorists and neuropsychologists." --Rebecca Rausch (Univ. of California, Los Angeles), Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology

In 1996, The Clinical Neuropsychologist journal published the results of its survey of the members of the American Board of Professional Psychology Diplomates. They were asked to propose a list of "Essential Books and Journals in North American Clinical Neuropsychology". Out of 162 titles, only 11 met the inclusion criteria of being endorsed by at least 15% of the respondents. Spreen and Strauss's A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests was one of them!

"The present volume is welcome because the authors include several excellent often used but unpublished tests as well as a few 'old reliable' ones....Writing is simple and descriptive."--Perceptual and Motor Skills

About the Author

Esther Strauss, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3rd Printing edition (April 18, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195054393
• ISBN-13: 978-0195054392
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,453,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Resource for Neuropsych Clinicians, May 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests: Administration, Norms, and Commentary (Hardcover)

This is an excellent source for beginning and advanced clinicians. The descriptions of the tests and test administration are concise and easy to understand. In addition, the norms for each test are included. The tests are grouped by the what specific areas they measure (i.e., Intelligence, Achievement, Memory, and Sensory and Motor areas). Since this text covers a wide array of tests, it is well worth the investment.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars it certainly is a "compendium", March 2, 2008

By 

Paul Gertler (Sydney, AUS) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests: Administration, Norms, and Commentary (Hardcover)

The millenial version of "Spreen and Strauss" is guaranteed not to disappoint. Again this is an encyclopaedic collection of data which is essential in making informed decisions about purchasing and selecting tests. In my mind there are two particularly great features of this book:
1. the authors provide instructions and norms for various tests which are in the public domain and usually have norms which are quite recent, so you are not tied to published tests, or paying for "test kits" on tests which have been around for years.
2. there is a wealth of data all in one place for other tests that we rely very heavily on such as the Wechsler tests. There is alot of information relating to RCI (Reliable Change Indices) which is essential if you are re-testing.
Another interesting aspect is that the authors include purchasing information for commercially available tests. I live in Australia and was shocked to discover that we pay 2 or 3 times as much for tests than people in North America. This is despite the fact that the Aussie dollar is worth much more than it used to be. Unfortunately the test distribitors in the USA will not sell to customers in other countries where they have distribution deals. As a consequence the WAIS-III costs AUD$2,772 in Australia while in the US it costs equivalent of AUD$909

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of 3rd Edition, A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests, May 13, 2007

By 

Janet M. Stacey (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests: Administration, Norms, and Commentary (Hardcover)

In the 3rd revision of this text, which has become a vital source of information for both practising and research neuropsychologists, the authors have extended further their previously established tradition of providing information about the norms, psychometric properties, and utility of a wide range of tests used in neuropsychological assessment. Of particular value to the clinician is not only the clear summaries of the psychometric atributes of the various tests but also the authors' critical appraisal of the reviewed techniques that facilitates the selection of the most appopriate test for a particular patient or given research situation.