Ten-Year Follow-up Survey of Clinical Neuropsychologists: Part I. Practices and Beliefs

Abstract

A 21-item questionnaire previously used to survey practices and beliefs of clinical neuropsychologists (Sweet & Moberg, 1990; Sweet, Moberg, & Westergaard, 1996) was mailed in February 1999 to all ABPP Diplomates in clinical neuropsychology and a larger sample of randomly selected non-ABPP members of Division 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology) of the American Psychological Association. Results were compared with data previously collected in 1989 and 1994. Across 10 years there have been some persistent differences between neuropsychologists based on board certification status. These differences include degree of involvement in neuropsychological practice and forensic practice, involvement in research and teaching, frequency of subscribing to or regularly reading a variety of relevant journals, employment settings, use of assistants, and use of projective assessment. There are also a number of areas of shared belief and common practice. These important areas of agreement are unrelated to board certification status and are interpreted as signs of cohesiveness and maturity in the continuing evolution of the subspecialty. Shared beliefs and common practices include: appropriate field of training, type of degree, assessment philosophy, most types of information to be gathered in evaluations, and time spent per assessment. In general, the use of assistants is correlated significantly with the number of evaluations performed per month. Although sometimes viewed as exclusively providing assessment, the majority of neuropsychologists are also involved in treating patients with brain dysfunction. Survey data appear useful in characterizing and monitoring professional status and trends of clinical neuropsychology.