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Updates

2007: A New Test Booklet, A New Manual

In a recent survey, Rabin, Barr and Burton found that Cognistat was among the top 20 most widely used test instruments employed by neuropsychologists in the United States and Canada. It was used by neuropsychologists more frequently than the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The new 2007 Manual will help you evaluate, understand and treat your patients. Our website www.cognistat.com provides periodic updates of the literature on Cognistat and its use in a variety of settings.

The newly-revised 2007 Cognistat Test Booklet has been strengthened by the inclusion of a new section on page 4 that systematically addresses a series of “state variables” and offers a brief Comment section for each. These state factors vary from one test situation to another and represent important “atmospheric” or “contextual” forces that can affect a patient’s performances on cognitive testing. Circling Y for yes does not mean that this factor is affecting test performance, but rather that it may be affecting test performance. While examiners who are not physicians or psychologists may feel uncomfortable interpreting the degree to which such factors have influenced a particular performance, their observations concerning the presence or absence of these state variables are an essential part of administering Cognistat.

Testing must always be interpreted within a broad clinical context. Our new section addressing state variables represents a serious attempt on our part to discourage the administration of Cognistat in a rote fashion. We wish to promote a kind of “ecological mindfulness” on the part of examiners.

The 2007 Cognitive Manual includes an extensively updated list of articles about Cognistat’s many uses in specific populations. This list will be helpful to clinicians and researchers alike. Among the clinical situations in which Cognistat has been used are the following: dementia assessments, post-surgical assessment of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients, evaluations of substance abuse patients, and the assessments of driving skills. Cognistat appears to be meeting the needs of many different clinicians!

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Rabin LA, Barr WB, Burton LA. Assessment practices of clinical neuropsy- chologists in the United States and Canada: A survey of INS, NAN and APA Division 40 members. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. 2005; 20:33-65.

 
Did You Know?
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In a recent survey, Rabin, Barr and Burton found that Cognistat was among the 20 most widely used test instruments employed by neuropsychologists in the United States and Canada.
FROM THE DOCTORS
The Concept of Disability
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