Neuropsychological functioning and assessment

¶ … domains of neuropsychological functioning: The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test

versus the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS)

The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test is one of the five or six most frequently-used tests of mental functioning. The test involves showing the test-taker a series of geometric designs, after which he or she must copy the figures using a simple pencil on a plain sheet of paper, without any other aids except an eraser. The Bender-Gestalt tests motor skills, visual discrimination, the ability to negotiate between motor and visual fields, and frustration tolerance, all of which can be lacking in individuals with neuropsychological impairments. However, the subjective nature of scoring this test and the complexity of learning the different types of scoring required for the children's and adult's versions of the test have caused the Bender to be subject to a great deal of criticism, and all clinicians agree that it must be used with other information on the patient before a definitive diagnosis is made (Groth-Marnat, 2009, p. 500). The test has been successfully used to screen Alzheimer's patients, brain-injured patients, patients with dementia, and other patients from control groups but more subtle deficits in patients with schizophrenia or epilepsy often elude the Bender (Groth-Marnat, 2009, p. 503).

The RBANS is another test used to assess individuals possibly suffering from dementia, brain injury, stroke or other neuropsychological impairments. It involves asking the test subject to recall word lists, details from a paragraph, and replicating complex designs. It is also brief, under 30 minutes, and often praised for its ability to be tailored to suit different conditions (dementia, brain injury, a loss of cognitive capacity due to Parkinson's, HIV, are some examples). The RBANS has been found to be both reliable and valid in a variety of cultural as well as clinical settings (Groth-Marnat, 2009, p. 514). Because it is highly sensitive to cognitive impairment, it can be used to track subtle improvements or losses of functioning, although it must be cautioned that, like the Bender, it is not a complete test of all neuropsychological domains, despite the fact that it consists of five separate subsections (Groth-Marnat, 2009, p. 515).