Neuropsych Assessemnt over the lifespan

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This unit introduces professional coursework students who are studying a clinical or clinical neuropsychological discipline to the principles and practice of neuropsychological assessment, covering childhood, adulthood, and old age adulthood. The main aim is to contextualise the practice of neuropsychological assessment within the substantive knowledge base and theoretical orientation of lifespan development, and the disorders which affect it. For the purposes of this unit, neuropsychological assessment is defined as all aspects of the clinical encounter which lead to case formulation and diagnosis. Assessment techniques covered include formal tests of intellectual abilities, attention, and memory in children and adults, as well as special approaches to the problems of aging, including dementia and capacity.

• To provide an overview of the principal criteria in terms of which practising psycholgists evaluate the quality of psychological data, as they relate to the clinical assessment of individuals;
• To develop an understanding of the essential issues in psychological test theory, as they apply to assessment problems across the lifespan;
• To provide familiarity with a variety of assessment techniques applicable to the clinical problems of childhood, adulthood and older age adulthood; and
• To develop an understanding of formulation and diagnosis appropriate to clinical neuropsychological problems across the lifespan.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Writte,oral and interpersonal communication skills

Analytic, information integration and synthesizing skills.