Issue 4
Vol. 42
2000

Methodological aspects of neuropsychological assessment: the case of childhood epilepsy
M. Noeker, F. Haverkamp

The text outlines and discusses basic methodological problems in neuropsychological research  exemplified in the field of childhood epilepsy. For that purpose it integrates four areas of research concerning:
theoretical concepts on the correspondance of entities of neuropsychological functioning and their localization and lateralization in specific brain structures;
the definition and classification of neuropsychological functions and their implications for development, operationalization and administration of psychometric tests in the context of different assessment approaches;
an illustration of the multiple risks of confoundation and concomitant sample bias problems inherent to clinical neuropsychological studies on risk factors and outcome in childhood epilepsy;
the perspectives to minimize such methodological difficulties by the investigation of prototypical disorders that promise a better within-group homogenity concerning pathogenesis, topology of lesion, and severity of symptoms, here illustrated on the example of Rolando epilepsy in children.
These four issues are intertwined to highlight the relevance of reliable classifications of neuropsychological functions, on the one side, and of neuropsychological disease entities, on the other side,  for the validity of empirical study results. Clinical neuropsychological studies, on the other side, do not only reveal information on disease-specific outcome parameters but may also be used to enhance the reliability of classification systems.

Key words: neuropsychology, developmental neuropsychology, childhood epilepsy, Rolando epilepsy, neuropsychological assesment

Psychologische Beiträge, Volume 42, 4/2000

Dr. phil.  Meinolf Noeker, Dipl.Psych.
Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. Fritz Haverkamp, Dipl.-Psych.
Zentrum für Kinderheilkunde der Universität Bonn
Adenauerallee 119
D-53113 Bonn