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Division of Clinical Neuropsychology
Newsletter 40
American Psychological Association
Volume 16, Number 2 Summer/Fall 1998
PRESIDENT:
Linas Bielauskas, PhD
PRESIDENT-ELECT:
Cecil R. Reynolds, PhD
SECRETARY:
Ann C. Marcotte, PhD
TREASURER:
Wilfred G. Van Gorp, PhD
MEMBERS-AT-LARGE:
Kerry Hamsler, PhD
Richard Berg, PhD
C. Munro Cullum, PhD
COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES:
Gerald Goldstein, PhD
Thomas J. Boll, PhD
Antonio Puente, PhD
COMMITTEE CHAIRS(STANDING COMMITTEES):
FELLOWS:Stan Berent, PhD
MEMBERSHIP:William B. Meneese, PhD
ELECTIONS:Eileen B. Fennell, PhD
PROGRAM:Mark Bondi, PhD
Glenn Smith, PhD
COMMITTEE HEADS:(AD HOC COMMITTEES/TASK FORCES):
SCIENCE ADVISORY:Russel Bauer, PhD
EDUCATION ADVISORY:Kerry Hamsher, PhD
PRACTICE ADVISORY:Joseph D. Eubanks, PhD
PUBLIC INTEREST ADVISORY:Barbara C. Wilson, PhD
ETHICS:Bruce Becker, PhD
MINORITY AFFAIRS:
Duane E. Dede, PhD
Patricia Perez-Arce, PhD
NEWSLETTER:John DeLuca, PhD
TRAINING PROGRAMS DATA BANK:Lloyd Cripe, PhD
AWARDS COMMITTEE:Ida Sue Baron, PhD
CPT CODE:Antonio Puente, PhD
DIVISION 40 ARCHIVIST:Darlyne Nemeth, PhD
ASHA/DIV. 40 TASK FORCE LIASON:Jill Fischer,
PhD
DIV. 40 LIASONS TO APA COMM. ON GAY, LESBIAN
&
BISEXU
On the History of Neuropsychology
An Interview with Oscar A. Parsons, Ph.D.
(Editor's Note: This is the third in our series' of interviews with eminent neuropsychologists, who have been instrumental in the development of our discipline. Dr. Parsons has a long and distinguished career as a neuropsychologist, teacher, and researcher. He has made numerous contributions to our understanding of the neuropsychology of alcoholism, among other areas. It was a particular honor to have interviewed him at the 1997 Convention of the American Psychological Association in Chicago, Illinois, where Dr. Parsons was the recipient of Division 40's 1997 Distinguished Arthur Benton Lectureship).
Ed: How did you first get interested in neuropsychology?
OAP: I had always been interested in biology, starting with a
high school teacher who taught a very interesting course in biology, including
dissections and the like. I also belonged to a microscope club in high
school and had my own small microscope. We used to get pond water, put
hay in it, and smelled up the house! Microscopy was a hobby for me in those
years. Then another factor I think was that I studied fencing under an
Italian fencing master, Valetino Argento. He started teaching me with his
preferred right hand but he began to have trouble controlling it so he
shifted to the left hand. After a while, it turned out that he had a brain
tumor in the left hemisphere, of which he eventually died. That piqued
my interest in the brain at that time. Then I went into the Navy in 1944
and became a hospital corpsman and then a medical lab technician, so I
had a continual interest in the biological aspects of people. But I was
also interested in psychological areas. After I got out of high school,
my Dad had a heart attack and I had to help support the family so I could
not go on to college. I went to work for a couple of years but in my spare
time read omnivorously. I read Freud, Bertrand Russell, John Dewey and
H.L. Mencken, among others. So at that point I had both psychological and
biological interests.
After I got out of the Navy, I got my BA from Temple
University. At Temple, I majored in Science, which was for persons who
were going on for graduate degrees in professions such as medicine, dentistry,
psychology, and the like. I had several courses in Psychology, including
Experimental and Abnormal. Dr. James Page taught Abnormal and had written
a text on Abnormal with Camey Landis
Continued on page 2
[Page 2]
Newsletter 40
From the Editor
We are very pleased to present the Summer-Fall issue
of Newsletter 40, which brings the Division 40 and 22 programs for the
APA Convention in San Francisco. As you will see, the programs look outstanding
this year, and bring together current clinical, research, and professional
issues of interest to all. It looks like its going to be a spectacular
meeting!
This issue brings another installment in our series
on the history of clinical neuropsychology. We are honored to have interviewed
last yearis Benton Award recipient, Dr. Oscar A. Parsons. Dr. Parsons has
had a major impact on our field, especially on the cognitive sequelae of
alcoholism.
We also have our regular columns on the science
scene (Dr. William Barr) and Executive Committee minutes, as well as letters
from the membership, and interesting news concerning the Luria Conference
and other announcements.
We hope you enjoy this issue of your Newsletter.
Please keep the correspondence coming and hope to see you in San Francisco!
Joel E. Morgan, Ph.D.
Associate Editor
On the History of Neuropsychology
Continued from page 1
who, incidentally, had been influential in Dr. Arthur Benton's career,
as his dissertation mentor at NY State Psychiatric Institute. - Ed.) that
I found very interesting. I was originally considering going into medicine
but when the time came to take the medical school aptitude test my Dad
was again a semi-invalid and I figured, well, I can't see spending that
much more time in getting an advanced degree. Besides, my courses in psychology
had stimulated my interest in that field, so I decided to go for a Master's
degree in Psychology. The clinically oriented courses steered me toward
clinical psychology.
After obtaining my MA, on the advice of Dr. Page,
I applied for and was accepted at Worcester State Hospital, in Worcester,
Massachusetts for a clinical internship. Worcester was the fountainhead
of clinical psychology internship training, started by David Shakow, and
was a very interesting and intellectually stimulating place. This was in
1948 and with a Master's Degree you could go on an internship without being
in a Ph.D. program. Temple did not have a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology
at that time. At Worcester I saw psychiatric patients, especially depressives,
schizophrenics and organic brain syndrome patients. I also got a thorough
introduction to psychodynamic psychology and projective techniques.We used
the Goldstein-Scheerer tests, the Wechsler-Bellevue Scale of Intelligence,
the Wechsler Memory Scale, Rorschach, Bender-Gestalt, TAT, Draw-A-Person
and other tests. Schizophrenia and brain damage cases were of great interest
to me. At the end of the internship, I got married to Mildred Benson who
was an 0.T. at Worcester.
The head of our Psychology Group at Worcester was
Dr. Elliot Rodnick, a Clark Hull trained Ph.D. from Yale. That year, he
decided to join the Faculty at Duke University and head up their training
program in Clinical Psychology. I was looking for a Ph.D. program to continue
my training and applied to four or five Universities. I was accepted at
Duke and Western Reserve (now Case Western Reserve -Ed.). I chose Duke.
It was a most fortunate choice because the Duke program required-a minor
area and it was recommended that for clinical students you split the minor
between cultural anthropology and
Continued on page 5
[Page 3]
Presidents Message
You have now all had a chance to review thepublication of the policy statement from the Houston Conference. Though there will no doubt be continuing discussion regarding this document, I would like to make surethat misconceptions or falsehoods concerning the conference and its product not lead us astray. For that purpose, I present a number of statements and questions which I have heard expressed, along with factual responses which I trust will answer most queries and concerns.
1. Statement: The Houston Conference was organized by a small group of self-appointed individuals who wish to be in world control of Clinical Neuropsychology.
Fact: The Houston Conference was conceived as a necessary next step following designation of Clinical Neuropsychology as a specialty by the American Psychological Association in the summer of 1996. The conference was proposed by the Clinical Neuropsychology Synarchy (CNS), an informal group which represents a forum for discussion for the major groups within Clinical Neuropsychology. The members of CNS are: the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN), the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology (ABCN), the Association for Doctoral Education in Clinical Neuropsychology (ADECN), the Association of Internship Training in Clinical Neuropsychology (AITCN), the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN), the Division of Clinical Neuropsychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 40), and the National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN)_ Each of these associations endorsed the need for this conference and appointed a delegate to serve on the planning committee for the conference. Thus, the planning committee was composed of the delegated representatives of each of these organizations. They were not self-appointed.”
2. Statement: Selection of delegates for the conference was secretive and exclusionary. Most neuropsychologists were not notified of the occurrence of the conference.
Fact: An announcement of the conference which invited applications was
sent to all training programs listed in The Clinical Neuropsychologist
. An announcement was also planned for publication in the APA Monitor since
it was felt that this would have the widest distribution to psychologists.
There
was some delay with the Monitor announcement-and it was not in the
form or place that the Planning Committee had expected, once it did appear.
After some initial concerns were raised about insufficient circulation
of the announcement to interested clinical neuropsychologists, invitations
to apply for delegate status were sent to all members of Division 40 and
NAN, with sufficient time to respond. Altogether, 177 applications were
received and processed.
3. Statement: The Houston Conference was not "open ” to all interested members and was thus exclusionary.
Fact: As any psychologist knows, it is not possible to have a deliberative conference with unlimited numbers of delegates. It was decided to plan the conference according to the format so successfully followed in the previous national conferences on professional psychology training at the graduate, internship, and post-doctoral levels, and the scientist-practitioner conference (see conference proceedings for references). Six breakout groups were formed in order to promote intensive small group discussion.The optimal number per working group was determined to be seven, again in keeping with group size in earlier conferences. The five financially sponsoring organizations from CNS (AACN, ABCN, APPCN, Division 40, and NAN) were invited to name one delegate, and did so based on their own internal decision-making. Thirty-seven delegates were then chosen from among the applicants to fill out the number to 42. The six members of the Planning Committee would also be delegates but were not expected to attend the breakout group sessions and could not vote in them. Planning Committee members could, however, make comments in the large plenary sessions and could vote in these sessions. Since a member of the Planning Committee was serving as parliamentarian and could not make any comments in any session or vote, the actual possible voting delegate number was to be 47. This was reduced by one to 46 for the reasons given below. The 37 delegates from among the applicants were chosen to be broadly representative of the field. Practice setting, region of the country, primary level of training interest, practice setting, gender, seniority, ethnic diversity, and subspecialization within the field were all considered in the selections. The selected delegates
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Newsletter 40
blended and covered the diverse characteristics of the total pool of applicants quite well. Six alternate delegates were also selected to be available in case any of the selected delegates was unable to attend. All but one of the selected delegates accepted the invitation to participate in the conference and one other delegate could not attend due to a last minute injury. An alternate filled one delegate position on short notice. Every breakout group mirrored the demographic characteristics on which the delegates had been selected as much as was possible. Please note: All the noted characteristics, including primary setting in independent practice, were represented among the delegates.
4. Statement: The Houston Conference set guidelines which will disenfranchise many of those now practicing neuropsychology.
Fact: The Houston Conference recognized that the construction of an integrated training model is a progressive event. The language in the document specifically states that the espoused model is not intended to apply to neuropsychologists trained in the past or those who are currently in training. It is intended to set the standards for the future, even though most practicing Clinical Neuropsychologists meet these standards now.
5. Statement: Continuing education is not viewed by the Houston Conference as a worthwhile enterprise.
Fact: The Houston Conference document states that all specialists in Clinical Neuropsychology are expected to engage in continuing education as a way of updating knowledge and validating skills. However, the conference does clearly indicate that continuing education is not the primary vehicle for attaining specialization in Clinical Neuropsychology. There is no other similar profession which permits specialization solely by continuing education or distance learning. The conference specified that training for specialization must occur through appropriate graduate training, internship, and residency.
6. Statement: The Houston Conference was designed only for and by "academic psychologists” and disenfranchises "real psychologists, ” i.e., those involved primarily in practice.
Fact: The promotion of a distinction between "academic” and "practicing”
neuropsychologists is artificial and divisive, yet it is often repeated.
The Houston Conference accomplished something few other professions have
been able to do - it produced an integrated training model, unanimously
ratified, by an extremely diverse conference body. The conference represents
an instance where delegates from many different areas and settings of neuropsychology
came together and jointly spoke with one voice. This is an accomplishment
of which we can be proud and which produced a truly unifying ideal - a
training model which applies to all yet which also recognizes the areas
of variation which exist. Those who tout a distinction between academic”
and practicing” neuropsychologists do our profession a significant disservice;
the Houston Conference training model stresses the unifying nature of our
training backgrounds.
Altogether, the product of the Houston Conference
is a document which outlines the appropriate model of training for specialization
in Clinical Neuropsychology. As we have matured and become recognized as
a specialty, the development of such a model became integral to our professional
identity. A profession without a model commands no respect, from anyone.
The Houston Conference document reflects the result of deliberations by
delegates and sponsorship from all relevant neuropsychology organizations
and sets appropriate education and training standards which our patients
can expect we have met. I trust you will find it as valuable and satisfying
as I have and will work together to insure its implementation and continuing
development.
Linas Bieliauskas, PhD
It is with sadness that we announce the passing of
Dr, Charles G. Matthews, Professor of Neuropsychology in the Department
of Neurology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, who died
on April 19, 1998, after a lengthy illness. Dr. Matthews, 68, was a distinguished
clinician, teacher, and researcher who made numerous; significant contributions
to the discipline of Clinical Neuropsychology from its very inception.
until his death, His diligent work helped, tci define Clinical Neuropsychology
as a specialty discipline; and to bring about preeminence within APA. .Dr.
Matthews' leadership is evident by hi past service as president of all
the major neuropsychological. organizations, including:
American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology;
Division of Clinical Neuropsychology (40), Continued on page 8
[Page 5]
On the History of Neuropsychology
continued from page 2
neuroanatomy. The neuroanatomy course was taught by a Professor, originally
from Johns Hopkins, who taught the medical school neuroanatomy course.
I mention that because I went on to take another course from him, brain
modeling, which consisted of 120 hours of working on specimens of the brain,
and building our own models of the brain according to the Johns Hopkins
model. So that really did solidify my interest in the brain and neurological
conditions.
I spent two years in graduate school finishing up
everything except my dissertation. My wife and I wanted to start a family
and the research service at Worcester State wanted me to come back as a
researcher and promised that I could do my dissertation there. So back
we went in 1951! I worked on a schizophrenia research project studying
stress and performance. I also participated in the training and supervision
of the clinical psychology interns. Interestingly, Charlie Spielberger
and Ray Fowler, both future Presidents of APA, came through their internships
at Worcester at that time. I was a member of the working team with the
Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, a very hot scientific group
at the time. Hudson Hoagland, who had worked on potassium levels and the
brain, headed the foundation. His co-leader was Gregory Pincus who helped
develop the pill”, and there was Fred Elmadjian, who introduced me to his
primary area of work, noradrenalin. My first papers on stress responses
came out of this research project and led to my dissertation on, Status
Needs and Performance under Failure.” I completed the dissertation under
Dr. Rodnick and defended it in April of 1954. A month or so later, I was
asked to join the Faculty at Duke. I happily accepted and we and our two
young children moved back to Durham.
My appointment at Duke was the best of all possible
worlds, two-thirds in the Department Psychiatry and one-third in the Department
of Psychology. I worked under Dr. Louis Cohen, a really good experienced
clinical psychologist who was in charge of our clinical psychology section
in the Department of Psychiatry. I was in charge of outpatient and then
inpatient psychological services, so I had frequent referrals from neurology.
We had three top drawer neurologists at that time, two of them had trained
under Dr. Harold Wolff, an eminent neurologist in New York City, and believe
it or not, was a Pavlovian oriented neurologist! I also had a lot of referrals
from internists and of course from our own inpatient psychiatry ward.
I was doing clinical evaluations then and running
the assessment seminar for our clinical interns.
Ed: Were you doing neuropsychology then?
OAP: At that time, we talked about assessing for brain damage,
not neuropsychology. I was on the Faculty at Duke for five years. One of
the most interesting and formative experiences I had was with another neurologist,
Albert Heyman, who is prominent today in dementia research. we were both
consultants at the Durham VA, which is almost on the Duke campus. He proposed
that we have a joint case conference with psychiatry at the VA. So we did
and it was one of the best case conferences I have ever experienced. On
a given patient, the neurology resident would present first, the psychiatry
resident second and the clinical psychology intern would present last.
This was a fascinating experience because it brought out many points of
interest for our various residents and interns and demonstrated vividly
the contributions from the three disciplines. At that time I also started
a research program, investigating cognitive psychological effects of brain
damage in multiple sclerosis patients.
So Duke provided many opportunities for experiences
with neurological and psychiatric patients. It also provided other experiences.
I recall the time that I arranged to have J.B. Rhine, Duke's famous investigator
of parapsychological phenomena, to talk to our Department of Psychiatry
Colloquim. He gave a wonderful talk, emphasizing the tentative state of
their theories and the need for careful scientific methods of study. The
reaction of the audience, including me, was perhaps we had misjudged the
man. Several weeks later, I happened to tune in to a radio address he was
giving to a woman's group.Well, the theories were no longer tentative and
scientific methods were not always appropriate to study this phenomena!
He sounded like a true believer.”
Ed: What was the thing that really started you getting into neuropsychology?
[Page 6]
Well, I was always interested in the brain
and behavior, let's put it that way. My interest became much more pronounced
after taking neuroanatomy and brain modeling.Then working with a neurologist
deepened my interest and my research on M.S. In that research I had gotten
into working with flicker fusion, attempting to correlate it with optic
pallor; it did. The results formed the basis for my first grant from NINDB,
plotting visual fields in brain damaged persons with flicker perimetry.
This was in 1958, because I brought the grant with me to Oklahoma in 1959,
and continued the work with Arthur Vega. We eventually used the technique
not only to identify impaired flicker detection in brain damaged patients,
but also to lateralize the lesion. It was a surprisingly good technique,
but it did take a lot of time. After that I kept getting grants from NINDB
and NIMH looking at various aspects of perceptual-cognitive changes in
brain damaged patients for many years.
This work was still not called 'neuropsychology'.
I was working in an area of clinical psychology that dealt with assessment
for brain damage, but I see that I have to retrace my steps a bit.
Another really important event in my development
in neuropsychology was the Halstead Battery. My first contact with the
Battery was when Ward Halstead came to the Worcester Foundation to give
a talk in 1952 or 1953. He also gave an informal talk at Wocester State
Hospital on his battery - how he could identify, lateralize, and localize
lesions with it. At that time we were still in the Goldstein era, you know,
saying that the most important thing that brain damage does is to impair
the abstract attitude.' Well, our consensus was that his presentation sounded
too good to be true.
My recollections of Halstead was that he was a very
well-dressed, silver-haired, well-spoken man. I did have the impression
that he was selling his battery. It turned out later that he was indeed
selling a console model of the battery. The rumor was that it was $5,000,
a hefty sum in those days. But he was a good scientist and thinker. He
theorized about the molecular basis of memory before anyone else did.
In 1956, at Duke, we were asked to develop a project
with our colleagues in Ob-Gyn. They were going to do a follow-up of a large
number of adolescents, some of whom had neonatal asphyxia at birth. We
wanted to get the best tests for brain damage that we could find. Well,
I had recently read Ralph Reitan's 1955 article on the validation of the
Halstead Battery. Dr. Cohen and I took a train out to Indianapolis to see
Ralph's set-up and data firsthand. Ralph graciously went through a lot
of the things at that time, lateralization and localization and so forth.
My impression was that he was doing some very impressive work in the measurement
of functions impaired by brain damage. As a clinical psychologist at that
time, I was disappointed in the lack of data addressing the differential
diagnosis of patients with schizophrenia or severe depressions, the kinds
of referrals that I was handling. Nonetheless, for our proposed project,
I invited him to give a talk at our Grand Rounds in our Department. The
psychiatrists and neurologists were deeply impressed, but we did not use
the battery on the project because of time constraints. Later, in 1960
or 61, after I had moved to Oklahoma, I took one of Ralph's first workshops
on the Battery. We obtained the battery in 1962 and have used it ever since.
Before we got the HRB, we used many of the same
tests that I mentioned using at Worcester, the Wechsler Scale of Intelligence,
Wechsler Memory Scale, Goldstein-Scheerer Tests, the Rorschach Test (with
Piotrowski signs), etc. We had added the MMPI based on my experience with
it at Duke where I found it to be a major aid in assessment, especially
where there were questions of differentiating brain damaged and functional
cases.
I should mention that in 1959, I had just been promoted
to Associate Professor with tenure at Duke, when I received a call from
Louis (Jolly) West, a young psychiatrist who had just assumed the Chair
at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University
of Oklahoma Medical School, inviting me to visit. To put it briefly, I
moved to Oklahoma as a Professor in that Department in October of 1959,
I transferred my grant on flicker fusion perimetry
to Oklahoma and was able to get my research going quickly. In 1961, I started
an internship in clinical psychology and we were accredited by APA in 1962.
The internship continues to this day. In 1966, with my colleagues I started
a Ph.D. experimental program in biological psychology, modeled after Halstead's
biological psychology program at the University of Chicago; neuropsychology
was one of the tracks, Amusingly, when the program started, I was on a
Fulbright Professorship at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. I was
teaching a seminar on neuropsychobgy with the clinical students, and it
was the first time I had taught a course under that
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Newsletter 40
name. When I returned to the U.S. I gave the course in our biopsych program.
Ed: How did you get into alcohol research?
OAP: In 1967, I was sitting at my desk in a suburb of Copenhagen
when I got a call from Jolly West, our Chair, asking me to write a grant
request as part of an Alcohol Center Grant request to NIMH. I went to the
library of the Department of Psychology at Copenhagen University and read
up on all of the relevant literature, and wrote the grant request. The
Center Grant was approved and we started our research in 1968. Later, when
NIAAA was created, our Center was shifted to that Institute, and I had
continuous grant support from NIAAA until I retired.
One of the reasons why research on alcoholism is
attractive to a neuropsychologist is that alcohol is a legal beverage in
western countries, so that drinking alcohol is not prohibited. Consequently
there are new potential alcoholics being born every minute! It is a natural
experiment, as it were, to see what happens to functions subserved by the
brain when a toxic substance is ingested and to see whether those functions
improve with sobriety. We started early enough in the neuropsychology of
alcoholism to be among the forefront of people working in that field. In
recent years, I have been concerned much of the time with the fact that
although about 70 % or so of alcoholics will perform poorer on any given
neuropsychological test, the remaining 20 to 30% do not. What factors or
variables account for that? In conducting a number of studies to try to
answer that question, among others, I received the 1997 Award of Distinguished
Research for 1997 from the research society on Alcoholism. Incidentally,
I have come to the conclusion that genetically determined individual differences
in the resistance of the brain to the toxic effects of alcohol is probably
the best answer. I have frequently used the example of Sir Winston Churchill
who drank a pint of brandy every evening but conducted a winning war and
wrote a prize winning history of England. Someone else who had drunk the
same amount could develop Korsakoff's Syndrome (alcohol amnestic disorder).
Ed: What do you consider your most important work?
OAP: Well, I think that there are several contributions to neuropsychology
that I consider
important, in addition to my years of teaching clinical and clinical
neuropsychology to several hundred graduate students and postdocs. In the
field of neuropsychology, per se, I think that the study Arthur Vega and
I published in 1967 in which we replicated and extended Reitan's 1955 study,
validating the Halstead Reitan Battery, is one. We were among the first
to emphasize that age and education should be considered, that regional
differences might occur, and that T-scores gave more information than cut-off
scores. The second contribution was the Parsons and Prigatano paper, Methodological
considerations in neuropsychological research”, that was published in the
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1978. In the first issue
of the Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology, now the Journal of Clinical
and Experimental Neuropsychology, the editors advised reading our article
before conducting and submitting studies for publication.A third contribution
was a chapter entitled,Clinical Neuropsychology”, published in 1970 in
Current Topics in Clinical and Community Psychology, edited by Charlie
Spielberger. In that article, I reviewed the progress and current status
of a new subspecialty” in clinical psychology. The chapter was one of the
first ever published under the title of Clinical Neuropsychology.” In it,
I predicted a glowing future for clinical neuropsychology, a prediction
that certainly has been fulfilled. In the area of alcoholism, I believe
that our systematic work showing that male and female alcoholics have similar
patterns of cognitive deficits has been a major contribution and also,
our consistent findings that the effects of alcohol abuse on cognitive
functions suggest a generalized diffuse effect as opposed to localized
effects.
Ed: How do you see neuropsychology today?
OAP: There is no question that clinical neuropsychology has emerged as one of the leading specialties in psychology. In fact, as Manny Meier pointed out in a recent issue of Newsletter 40, we are the only officially recognized specialty by APA. We have grown fantastically and I try to identify some of the reasons for this in my Benton Lecturer address. In terms of the future, I think the same problems that beset us are encountered by all of the health professions in the era of managed care, dwindling income, increased paper work, restricted access to patients, etc. And how are we going to support post-7
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Newsletter 40
doctoral training and clinical psychology internships? The future is only going to be as good as we make it. This means that we have to become advocates.We have to enter our State organizations and support the state and federal legislation that is being proposed to restrict some of the excesses of managed care. Over the past ten years there has been an increasing restriction of resources. The research output of medical school hospitals that have adopted managed care compared to those who have not, is strikingly reduced. This has had far reaching effects in all that we are doing. The other side of managed care, however, is that it placess a great emphasis on validation of techniques. We will be asked, How do you know this test is valid?, or, ...this treatment successful?' These are legitimate questions that should stimulate us.
Ed: A contemporary topic concerns the appropriate training of a neuropsychologist. What are your views?
OAP: I think the ideal program would be a biological/psychological
model. At the undergraduate level courses in biology, especially molecular
biology and genetics, with strong experimental courses in psychology, especially
cognitive psychology, psychometrics, and treatment. I would like to see
a continuity from undergraduate through graduate. In the clinical psychology
internship, a minor or specialized clinical neuropsychology track can be
taken. We have such an elective track in our internship and it works well.
In postdoctoral training, medical school level neuroanatomy, neurology
and neurosurgery rounds, and neuropathology experiences such as brain cuttings
should be taken. Today, the many advances in the technical aspects of brain
imaging and in all aspects of biological measurements of brain functions,
means that our neuropsychologist trainees have to have more than a passing
acquaintance with a variety of techniques. The explosion of research is
impossible to keep up with today; one cannot master the field. Rather,
you have to concentrate on certain areas.
Those trained in neurosciences often elect to have
clinical training after their Ph.D. - getting their clinical experiences
post-doctorally. The combination of clinical training and neuroscience
makes them attractive candidates for faculty positions or clinical neuropsychology
practice groups. About half of the biological psychology students who worked
with me have retreaded into clinical, or have gone to medical school, after
earning their Ph.D.s
From the Membership
Dear Dr. DeLuca:
Balderdash is my response to dr. Bieliauskas' President's
Message
in the Winter/Spring 1998 Newsletter 40. The Houston conference committee...resolutely
rejected the diversity of opinion. . . .In one well-orchestrated, but rhytmless
political move, the committee cut out the heart and soul of neuropsychology.
In the academicians succeed in quelling some of
the many voices that have existed in neuropsychology, the field will loose
its robustness. All neuropsychologists have ties to academia. the opinions
of those who work in the university setting should be heard, but not to
the exclusion of the voices of those who work in settings outside of universities.
Maybe some orchestration is needed, but do we have to loose the power that
comes from healthy debate among professionals of varied experience?
Susan Downs Parrish, Ph.D., Scottsdale, AZ
Charles G. Mathews, Ph.D., ABPP
continued from page 4
American Psychological Association:
International Neuropsychological Society
National Academy of Neuropsychology
Dr. Mathews earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology
at Perdue University and was continuously affiliated with the University
of Wisconsin since 1962.
Division 40, Clinical Neuropsychology, will honor
Dr. Mathews with a memorial session at the annual meeting of the American
Psychological Association in San Francisco, on Friday, August 14, noon
to 1:00 PM, Room 220, Muscone Center.
[Page 9]
Newsletter 40
News from the Practice Advisory Committee ..
Division 40 has a Practice Advisory Committee that
addresses issues regarding the -professional practice of clinical neuropsychology,
within the confined of the scope of the American Psychological Association.
The co-chairs are Dan Eubanks, Ph.D., ABPP, and Christopher Grote, Ph.D.,
ABPP.
The committee is currently working on several projects
including the Medicare ruling regarding incident to” services provided
in hospital settings, the use of psychometric technicians, investigation
into regional differences of Medicare interpretations of Health Care Financing
Administration (HCFA) rules, and White Papers” regarding professional practice
of clinical neuropsychology. The committee also has an ongoing relationship
with other practice divisions as well as with the Practice Directorate
of the American Psychological Association.
The committee was formed to serve the members of
the Division. Suggestions from the members of the Division are welcome
and will be taken into consideration. The committee will ask for assistance
from the members of the committee to become active in regional issues regarding
practice, such as lobbying members of congress to support legislation important
to the practice of psychology when they are in their home districts.
In an October 1996, memorandum from the Health Care
Financing Administration to its regional offices, it was reiterated that
there was a long-standing policy that precluded Part B Medicare payment
to practitioners for all incident to” services provided in the hospital
setting, even if the services are furnished incident to” those of a physician
or other practitioner whose own services are paid under Part B in the hospital
setting. Instead, only the hospital may bill its Medicare intermediary
for the services, as a bundled” payment under Part A, and neither the practitioner
nor the hospital can seek copayment from the beneficiary. The practitioner
can seek payment from the hospital for technical services. However, this
would typically require a contractual arrangement with the hospital and
the provider. This rule applies to all practitioners; psychologists are
not being singled out. The rule applies to” incident to” services for inpatients
and outpatients registered through the hospital.
This rule does not apply in a non-hospital setting.
Part B payment to the psychologist may be made for services provided incident
to” the psychologist's service for any covered non-hospitalized setting.
A Presidential Task Force, under the leadership of Linas Bieliauskas, Ph.D.,
ABPP, president of Division 40 is addressing this issue. At the present
time, however, the APA Director of Federal Regulatory Affairs, Amy Rabinove,
ID, advises that psychologists comply with the guidelines set forth above.
The regulation states that any services provided by non-Medicare-approved
psychologists in a hospital setting cannot be billed directly to Medicare.
For example, if a psychometrician or trainee administers a neuropsychological
protocol the psychologist can only bill for her/his direct patient contact
time including report writing but cannot bill for the time it took the
technician to administer and score the protocol itself
.H.R. 1415/S. 644: Patient Access to Responsible
Care (PARCA)This bill was introduced by Representative Charles Norwood
(R, Georgia) in the House of Representatives and by Senator Alfonse D'Amato
(R, NY) and co-sponsored by over two hundred Representatives and Senators.
The bill will promote accountability among managed care organizations that,
they believe, put profit over care. The major provisions are:
-Managed Health Plan Accountability. Managed health care plans act
as providers of care through utilization review and other cost containment
techniques. They can determine if and what type and quality of care a patient
receives. However, under Federal law (Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 or ERISA) these HMO's often cannot be held accountable for
injury to a patient caused by negligent treatment or cost containment.
ERISA shields the HMO's from negligence because it preempts the state any
cause of action. PARCA would remove ERISA shielding from ERISA regulated
managed care plans. This will allow patients to hold managed health care
plans accountable for their negligent actions.
-Patient Choice of Provider. Managed health care plans would be required to offer a Point of Service plan that would allow patients
[Page 10]
Newsletter 40 .
access to out-of-network providers by:
1. Allowing patients to continue current relationships with providers
if the patient has to change health care plans.
2. Acting as a quality check by permitting dissatisfied patients to
seek help from providers and specialists outside of the network
3. Allowing persons seeking mental health and substance abuse treatment
access to providers they know because it will strengthen trust, confidentiality
and hopefully, treatment success.
Provider Nondiscrimination. PARCA will prohibit managed health care
plans from discriminating against providers based solely on their state
licensure or certification. For example, HMO's will not be allowed to say
that neuropsychological services can only be provided by psychiatrists
or social workers and preclude neuropsychologists from providing these
services.
There are other provisions but these are the main
points that the bill addresses. The bill, as written, may never come to
the floor, but these three provisions will likely be included in some bill.
Please write to your Senators and Representatives to support this bill,
or at least these three provisions. If you need further information contact
your State Psychology Association, The Practice Directorate at APA, or
either of the co-chairs of the committee.
Dan Eubanks
Co-Chair, Practice Advisory Committee
Federal Advocacy Coordinator
Division 40
4410 Medical Drive, Suite 640
San Antonio, TX 78229
E-mail eubanksd@ix.netcom.com
Christopher Grote
Co-Chair, Practice Advisory Committee
Department of Psychology and Social Sciences Rush-Presbyterian-St.
Luke's Medical Center
1653 West Congress Parkway
Chicago, IL 60612-3833
E-mail cgrote @ rush.edu
News From The APA Council
1. School Psychology was confirmed as continuing to receive recognition
as a specialty in professional psychology. Psychoanalytic Psychology was
also recognized as a specialty, and Geropsychology was recognized as a
proficiency.
2. The Ad Hoc Task Force on Specialty and Proficiency Titles received
additional funds for meetings.
3. APA is working with other groups to make the next decade The Decade
of Behavior”.
4. Limited support was provided for the continuation of addressing
the following issues: women in academics, ethnicity minority recruitment,
retention, and training, racism, genetic issues, physical disabilities,
and ethics. 5. Guidelines for the evaluation of dementia and age-related
cognitive decline were adopted.
6. Pat DeLeon was emerged as the individual receiving the largest number
of nominations for the Presidency. Antonio Puente, Ph.D
Division 40, Clinical Neuropsychology, announces
the fifth annual Robert A. and Phyllis Levitt Early Career Award in Neuropsychology
for an APA member psychologist who isnot more than 10 years post doctoral
degree and who has made a distinguished contribution to neuropsychology
in research, scholarship, and/or clinical work.
A letter of nomination and three supporting letters
(at least two from nationally-known neuropsychologists familiar with the
candidate's work and its impact on the field) should be included along
with 5 copies of 1) a CV, 2) three supporting documents (e.g. major publications;
research grants; assessment, clinical, or teaching techniques; treatment
protocols) providing evidence of national-international recognition, and
3) the candidate's 400 word statement describing professional accomplishments,
personal long-term goals, and future challenges and directions in the field
of neuropsychology that they wish to address.
The awardee receives a certificate and $1000 and
will be invited to present a paper at APA's 1999 convention in August.
The deadline is January 2, 1999. Send nominations to Ida Sue Baron, Ph.D.,
ABPP, Chair, Division 40 Awards Committee, 10116 Weatherwood Court, Potomac,
Maryland, 20854.
[Page 11]
Newsletter 40
1998 APA Convention Division 40 Program:
Friday, August 14
8-8:50 Division 40 Education Advisory Committee Meeting
Chair: Kerry des. Hamsher
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Sierra Conference Suite G
8-9:50 Poster Session: Lifespan Clinical Neuropsychology Chairs: Christopher
Randolph, Helene Yurk
Moscone Center - South Building, Exhibit Hall B
9-l0:50 Symposium: Living on the Edge”: Education, Cognitive Reserve
and Dementia Risk
Chairs: Bemice A. Marcopulos and Elisabeth Koss
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 306
l0-11:50 Symposium: Asperger, Williams, and Velocardiofacial Syndromes:
The NLD Connection
Chair: Byron P. Rourke
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 304
12-12:50 In Memorium: Charles G. Matthews, Ph.D.
Chair: Linas Bieliauskas
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 220
l-1:50 Paper Session: Neuropsychology of Aging and Dementia
Chair: Glenn E. Smith
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 304
l-1:50 Paper Session: Child / Developmental Neuropsychology
Chair: Cheryl Silver
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Yerba Buena Salon 3/4
2-2:50 Invited Address: Stuart M. Zola Title: Memory and Emotion:
Neuropsychological Findings from Human and Non-Human Primates
Chair. Kathleen Y. Haaland
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 304
3-5:50 Division 40 Executive Committee Meeting
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Pacific Conference Suite A
Saturday, August 15
8-8:50 Division 40 Pediatric Neuropsychology Interest Group Meeting
Chair. Keith 0. Yeates
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Golden Gate Salon Bl
8-9:50 Poster Session: Neuropsychological Assessment
Chairs: Michael Franzen, Janet Grace
Moscone Center - South Building, Exhibit Hall B
9-9:50 Conversation Hour: Houston Conference on Education and Training
in Clinical Neuropsychology
Chair: H. Julia Hannay
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 308
l0-10:50 Paper Session: Division 40 Blue Ribbon Award Winners: Functional
Neuroimaging Studies in Neuropsychology
Chair: Mark W. Bondi
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 308
ll-11:50 Invited Address: Eileen M. Martin Title: The Cognitive Neuropsychology
of HIV-l Infection
Chair: Wilfred G. van Gorp
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 308
l-2:50 Symposium: Neurobehavioral Assessment in Neuropsychology
Chair: Jane S. Paulsen
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 308
3-4:50 Symposium: Neuropsychological Assessment of Cognitive and Functional
Abilities in Severe Dementia
Chair: Guerry M. Peavy
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 308
6-7:50 Neuropsychology All Student Social Hour, Sponsored by the Division
40 Education Advisory Committee
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Yerba Buena Salon 1
Sunday, August 16
8-8:50 Division 40 Practice Advisory Committee Meeting
Chair: Joseph D. Eubanks
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Pacific Conference Suite A
8-8:50 Division 40 Science Advisory Committee meeting
Chair: Russell M. Bauer
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Pacific Conference Suite C
9-9:50 Symposium: The National Hockey League (NHL) Neuropsychological
Evaluation Program
Chair: Mark R. Love11
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 305
[Page 12]
Newsletter 40
l0-1150 Symposium: Functional Brain Imaging in Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation
Chair: Linda K. Laatscb
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 305
12-12:50 Paper Session: Robert A. & Phyllis Levitt Award and Student
Award
Levitt Awardee: Marlene Behrmann
Student Awardee: Brian C. Schweinsburg
Chair: Ida Sue Baron
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 274/276
2-2:50 Invited Address: Harold Goodglass
American Psychological Foundation Arthur Benton Lectureship
Title: The Changing Frontiers of Neuropsychology from 1950 to the Present
Chair. Joseph D. Matarazzo
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Yerba Buena Salon 7
3-3:50 Division 40 Presidential Address: Linas Bieliauskas
Title: Mediocrity Is No Standard: Searching for Self-Respect in Clinical
Neuropsychology
Chair: Eileen B. Fennell
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Yerba Buena Salon 7
4-4:50 Division 40 Business Meeting
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Yerba Buena Salon 7
5-6:50 Interdivisional Collaborative Social Hour
Cosponsors: Divisions 22, 38
San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Yerba Buena Salon 7
Monday, August 17
8-9:50 Poster Session: Neuropsychology of Head Injury, Medical Disorders
and Psychiatric Disorders
Chairs: Robin Hanks, Rodney Vanderploeg
Moscone Center - South Building, Exhibit Hall B
9-l0:50 Symposium: Detection of Feigned Cognitive Impairments: Current
Issues and Future Approaches
Chair: Donald J. Connor
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 302
l0-11:50 Symposium: Using the WAIS-III and WMS-III Together: Implications
for Clinical Practice
Chair: David S. Tulsky
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 306
12-12:50 Paper Session: Neuroimaging and Cognition in Traumatic Brain
Injury
Chair: Joseph H. Ricker
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 309
l-2:50 Symposium: Forensic Neuropsychology: Assessment of Adversarial
Cases
Chair: Jerry J. Sweet
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 301
3-4:50 Symposium: The MMPI-2 in the Neuropsychological Assessment of
Head Injury
chair: Carlton S. Gass
Moscone Center - South Building, Room 305
Division 22 Program
1998 APA
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14
8-8:50 Symposium: A Current Perspective on Psychosocial Intervention
for Adults with Multiple Sclerosis
Chair: Robert T. Fraser
Moscone Center-South Building Room 212
9-l0:50 Symposium: Treatment & Prevention of Disability in Children
Through Interprofessional Alliances
Chair: Janet Farmer
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 274/276
ll-12:50 Symposium: Spirituality & Disability: Psychology Awakens
to Additional Dimensions of Human Diversity
Chair: Allen Heinemann (Discussant: Susan Folkman)
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 309
l-2:50 Integrated Healthcare Mini-Convention: Psychology in Primary
Care and Rehabilitation
Chair: Martin Seligman, Ph.D.
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 305
3-3:50 Integrated Healthcare Mini-Convention: Psychology and the Healing
Arts
Chair: Marie DiCowden
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 305
3-4:50 Symposium: Psychosocial Factors in Spinal Cord Injury Outcome
Chair: Bryan Kemp
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 212
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15
8-10:50 Division 22 Board Meeting
Chair: Dennis Harper
San Francisco Marriott, Pacific Conference Suite C
[Page 13]
1 l-l 1:50 Invited Address: Dennis Turk: Demonstrating the Effectiveness
of Psychotherapy Services: Pain as a Prototype
Chair: David Patterson
San Francisco Marriott, Golden Gate Salon C2
12-12:50 Paper Session: Readiness to Change and Motivational Interviewing:
Applications for Substance Use and Traumatic Injury
Chair: Nancy Piotrowski (Discussant is Carlo DiClementi)
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 232/234
2-2:50 Integrated Healthcare Mini-Convention: Integrated Healthcare-A
New Paradigm
Chair: Ilene Serlin
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 307
3-4:50 Presidential and Fellows Addresses
Chair: Mitchell Rosenthal
San Francisco Marriott, Nob Hill Room A/B
5-7 Social Hour and Awards Presentation: Division 22
Chair: Dawn Ehde
San Francisco Marriott, Nob Hill Room C/D
SUNDAY, August 16
8-8:50 Symposium: Feast or Famine? Psychology Training and Medicare
Law
Chair: Alan Goldberg
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 270
9-10:50 Symposium: Psychospirituality and Chronic Illness-Philosophical
and Data-Based Issues
Chair: Barry Nierenberg
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 252/254/256
ll-11:50 Leonard Diller Honorary Lecture, given by George Prigatano,
PhD: Impaired Self-Awareness, Finger Tapping, and Rehabilitation Outcome
After Brain Injury
Chair: Bruce Caplan
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 309
12-1:50 Symposium: Telehealth for Persons with Chronic Medical Conditions:
Program Evaluation Developments
Chair: Robert Glueckauf
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 305
2-2:50 Symposium: When Pain is Neglected in Disability: Bum Injuries,
Cerebml Palsy, and Amputations
Chair: David Patterson
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 226
3-4:50 Integrated Healthcare Mini-Convention: Town Hall
Chairs: Marie DiCowden, Ilene Serlin
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 304
5-7 Interdivisional Social Hour-Divisions 38. 40. 22
MONDAY, AUGUST 17
8-9:50 Symposium: Providing Mental Health Services to Individuals with
Hearing Loss
Chair: Raymond Trybus
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 202/204/206
9-5 PM CE Workshop: Hypnosis in the Treatment of Pain Le.aders:David
Patterson & Joseph Barber
Locations to be on your workshop ticket post registration
Note: You must sign up through the CE workshops to attend the workshop.
l0-l0:50 Symposium: Rehabilitation in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: What
Works and What Doesn't
Chair: Rochelle Balter
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 202/204/206
ll-12:50 Symposium: Employment Issues Affecting People with HIV
Chair: David Martin
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 302
2-2:50 Symposium: Rehabilitation Psychology: An Ethnic Minority Perspective
Chair: Paul Leung
Moscone Center-South Building, Room 252/254/256
3-3:50 Poster session: Rehabilitation Psychology: Science and Practice
Chair: Dawn Ehde
Moscone Center-South Building, Exhibit Hall B
CE CREDITS! Please remember that, at no extra cost outside of your registration fees, you can obtain Continuing Education credits for attending Division 22 events at APA. (Exception:hypnosis workshop which is through the APA CE Workshops)
[Page 14]
Newsletter 40
Science Scene
On the Use of ROC Curves in Clinical Neuropsychology
William B. Barr, Ph.D., ABPP, Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, The Long Island Campus for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
How do we know if our tests are working? This is
a question that clinical neuropsychologists might be asking themselves
more frequently, given recent pressures to streamline clinical services
and to reduce the length of test batteries. Many in practice today were
trained in a model emphasizing the use of long test batteries with the
goal of detecting clinically meaningful patterns from scores on multiple
redundant measures. Now, in a rapidly changing marketplace, neuropsychologists
are being asked to make the same clinical decisions in a more cost-effective”
manner. This often means reducing time and the number of tests that are
administered to a given patient. One is now faced with reducing the redundancy
in the battery and choosing tests that are best suited for making a particular
clinical decision. The question remains, how do we do this?
Assessing the accuracy of neuropsychological tests
is typically limited to the analysis of group means. For example, if patients
with left hemisphere strokes are found to have a significantly lower mean
scores on a given test than patients with right hemisphere strokes, that
test is usually considered to be sensitive to detecting cognitive impairments
associated with left hemisphere dysfunction. What is not assessed by this
type of analysis, however, is what proportion of patients can be correctly
classified into left and right hemisphere groups respectively by a given
score on the test. Analyses of classification rates and the diagnostic
accuracy of clinical test data are often overlooked in neuropsychological
research.
A growing number of investigators in neuropsychology
are assessing diagnostic accuracy through the use of receiver (relative)
operating characteristic (ROC) curves. ROC curves provide graphic representations
of the tradeoff between true-positive and false-positive rates of classification.
ROC curves were initially developed in psychological research on communication
and information theory and contributed significantly to the development
of modern-day cognitive psychology (Swets, 1996). These methods continue
to play a prominent role in contemporary experimental research on memory
and cognition. They are also used widely in research on diagnostic accuracy
in radiology and in other fields of medicine. Until recently, their use
in clinical psychology has been rather limited.
ROC curves are easiest to use when making distinctions
between two well-defined groups. Suppose that Test A and Test B are verbal
learning measures that have been administered to patients with left or
right hemisphere lesions. To compute an ROC curve, every score on each
of these tests is treated as a separate cutoff score. The frequency of
patients who attain scores at or below each cutoff is computed. Sensitivity
and specificity values, based on these frequencies, are then calculated
according to standard formulae. In this example, the sensitivity of Tests
A and B would refer to the number of left hemisphere lesioned patients
whose test scores are lower than the specified cutoff score. The specificity
of these tests refers to the number of right hemisphere lesioned patients
who obtain scores lower than the cutoff. Sensitivity and specificity values,
ranging from 0 to 1, are then plotted graphically to obtain the ROC curve.
A sample curve is presented in the accompanying figure.
Sample ROC curve: Verbal learning tests A and B administered to patients with left and right . . hemisphere lesioned groups.
[Page 15]
Newsletter 40
One of the major benefits of the use of ROC curves
is to obtain cutting scores for diagnostic classifications. When determining
a cutting score, the clinician is faced with the decision of whether to
emphasize the sensitivity or specificity of the measure or whether to treat
these two features equally. For example, when working with high school
athletes, the clinician might want to use a cutoff sensitive to the effects
of concussion, so that the player can be withdrawn safely from further
play. In this situation, it would obviously pay to err on the side of caution
with an overly-sensitive” criterion. In contrast, a clinician working with
epilepsy surgery candidates might want to emphasize the specificity of
a test measure at the expense of sensitivity to reduce the number of patients
that may be misclassified” by a relatively non-specific cutting score.
In the first situation, determining the most appropriate cutoff score will
involve choosing an arbitrary level of sensitivity (e.g., 90%) and finding
the largest specificity value that exceeds this criterion. In the second
situation, the cutoff value will be based on an arbitrary level of specificity.
When sensitivity and specificity are given equal
emphasis, there are at least two other ways to determine cutting scores.
The first is rather basic, and depends on the score with the highest combined
sensitivity and specificity values. For example, if a score of 15 correct
on Test A classifies left and right hemisphere lesioned patients into their
respective groups with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 82%, the
combined value would be 175. If this combined value was higher than any
other single combined value, 15 would be considered to be the most accurate
cutting score.
The second method for determining a cutoff score
requires a computation of the area under the curve. The area under an ROC
curve is considered to be the single most useful index of diagnostic accuracy
(Swets, 1996). The area represents the overall rate of correct classifications
across the test's entire range of scores. The value, represented as proportion
of the area in the unit square, ranges from SO (chance classification)
to 1.0 (perfect classification). Computation of area values can be computed
with extensive calculations. Use of a computer program developed for this
purpose is recommended. Once the area under the ROC curve has been calculated,
the most sensitive cutting score will be the score associated with the
largest amount of area under the curve.
Determining whether one test possesses more diagnostic
accuracy than another can be accomplished by performing statistical comparisons
of areas under ROC curves (Metz & Kronman, 1980). In our pictorial
example, the area under the ROC curve for Test A is .896 (SE = .013) and
the area under the curve for Test B is .792 (SE = .019). Statistical comparison
indicates that the area associated with Test A is significantly larger
(P c .00l). One can thus safely say that Test A is more accurate in classifying
patients with left and right hemisphere lesions than Test B.
ROC curve analysis was recently introduced to clinical
neuropsychology through the work of Andreas Monsch and colleagues at the
University of California at San Diego (Monsch et al., 1991). These investigators
conducted a study of various verbal fluency measures and their ability
to distinguish between normal controls and patients with early Alzheimer's
Disease. Their analyses revealed that category fluency tasks (e.g., animals,
supermarket items, etc.) provided greater discrimination between these
groups than letter fluency tasks (letters F, A, & S). Results indicated
that the animal naming task, in particular, provided the highest degree
of diagnostic accuracy. With an animal naming cutting score of 14 or less,
Alzheimer's Disease patients and normal controls were classified with 92.1%
sensitivity and 94.3% specificity. ROC curve analysis has been used to
assess diagnostic accuracy in a number of other neuropsychological studies
of early dementia (Drebing et al., 1994; Engelhart, Eisenstein, & Meininger,
1994; Sliwinski et al., 1997).
Hermann and colleagues (1995) employed ROC curves
to assess classification of patients with left or right temporal lobe seizure
onset using the Warrington Recognition Memory Test (Warrington, 1984).
The results indicated limited diagnostic accuracy preoperatively with improved
classification post-operatively. In a study in our laboratory, modest levels
of classification of left and right temporal lobe onset cases was obtained
with Logical Memory Subtest II and a difference between Verbal and Visual
Index scores from the Wechsler Memory Scale -Revised (Barr, 1997; Wechsler,
1987). All other scores from this test provided relatively limited classification
of patients from a preoperative sample. More recently, Loring and colleagues
have used ROC curve analysis in a study
[Page 16]
of accuracy of object versus drawing stimuli in memory testing
during the Wad a procedure (Loring et al., 1997).
ROC curves are used most effectively in situations
when diagnostic classifications can be made reliably through the use of
an independent measur e (Mossma n & Somoza, 1992). In ROC curve studies
of dementia ,the gold standard ” classification curves have been based
on the results of clinical diagnoses established by independent raters.
In the case of temporal lobe epilepsy, EEG results typically provide the
standard for group classification. It becomes more problematic to use ROC
analyses with samples such as mild traumatic brain injury patients where
it can be difficult to ascertain a diagnosis independent of the measure
to be studied. In these situations, brain imaging findings or scores from
other neuropsychological tests can be used to provide independent classification
of subjects.
One of the major criticisms of ROC curves analysis
is that it places neuropsychological testing in a relatively artificial
context. In most clinical situations, one must make a diagnosis of one
of a wide range of clinical disorders. Rarely is a clinician faced with
a situation where he or she is asked to make a distinction between two
well-defined groups. Also, these analyses typically treat a single test
in isolation, and not in the natural context of a comprehensive test battery.
One of the goals of future research will be to examine how ROC curves can
be used to study the performance of selected test batteries or subsets
of tests grouped together in making diagnostic classifications among two
or more clinical groups.
With their limitations in mind, ROC curves can provide
a valuable tool for the clinician who is attempting to learn how well a
given test works with a particular population. ROC curves can provide objective
information on how two tests compare to each other and how these tests
compare to other forms of diagnostic classification. In a health-care environment
now emphasizing efficiency and outcome, neuropsychologists should become
increasingly aware of techniques such as ROC curves and other measures
of diagnostic accuracy for making empirically informed decisions regarding
the quality and efficacy of our tests.
References
Barr W.B. (1997). Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve Analysis of Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised Scores in Epilepsy Surger y Candidates . Psvchological Assessment, 9, 171- 176.
Drebing, C.E. ,Van Gorp, W.G., Stuck, A.E., Mitrushina, M . & Beck, J. (1994). Early detection of cognitive decline in higher cognitivel y functioning older adults: Sensitivity and specificity of a neuropsychological screening battery . Neuropsychology, 8, 31-37.
Engelhart . C., Eisenstein , N. & Meininger, J. (1994). Psychometric properties of the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Exam. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 8,405415.
Hermann , BP., Connell , B., Barr, W.B., Wyler, A.R. (1995). The utility of the Warrington Recognition Memory Test for temporal lobe epilepsy: Pre- and postoperative results. Journal of Epilepsy, 8, 139- 145.
Loring , D.W., Hermann , BP., Perrine, K., Plenger, PM., Lee, G.P., & Meador , K.J. (1997). Effect of Wad a memory stimulus type in discriminating lateralized temporal lobe impairment. Epilepsia, 38, 2 19-224.
Metz, C.F. & Kronman, H.B. (1980). Statistical significance tests for binomial ROC curves. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 22, 218-243.
Monsch, A.U., Bondi, M.W., Butters, N., Salmon, D.P., Katzman , R. & Thal, L.J. (1992). Comparisons of verbal fluency tasks in the detection of dementia of the Alzheimer 's type. Archives of Neurology, 49, 1253-1258.
Mossman , D. & Somoza, E. (1992). ROC curves, test accuracy, and the description of diagnostic tests. Journal of Neuropsychiatry , 4, 95-98.
Sliwinski, M., Buschke, H., Stewart, W.F., Masur, D., & Lipton, R.B. (1997). The effect of dementia risk factors on comparative and diagnostic selective reminding norms. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 3, 3 17-326.
Swets, J.A. (1996). Signal Detection Theory and ROC Analysis in Psvchology and Diagnostics; Collected Papers . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Warrington, E.K. (1984) . Recognition Memory Test. Berkshire, U.K.: NFER-Nelson.
Wechsler, D. (1987). Wechsler Memory Scale Revised -Psychological Corporation . Revised. New York:
[Page 17]
Newsletter 40
CONFERENCE REVIEW
David E. Tupper and Antonio E, Puente
First International Luria Memorial Conference
The First International Luria Memorial making a pilgrimage
to discuss the life, legacy; and Conference (I Mezhdunarodnaya Konferentsiya
Pamyati A.R. Lurii) was held in Moscow, Russia, from September 24-26, 1997.
Although a number of other conferences dedicated to Alexander Romanovich
Luria's memory have been held locally in various countries since his death
in 1977 (e.g., the Bremen conference, June 27A28, 1992; Jantzen, Lomscher,
M,traux, & Stadler, 1994), this was the first major international conference
organized by Luria's own students, colleagues and friends, and dedicated
to his memory.
The conference, which took place at Moscow State
University, was sponsored by the Psychology Department of Moscow State
University and a number of Russian scientific organizations (Russian Foundation
for Basic Research, Russian Humanities Foundation, Soros Foundation, Beaufour-Ipsen
International, and Lek Pharmaceutical and Clinical Company). It was the
first conference to commemorate the 95th anniversary of Luria's birth (born
in 1902) and the 20th anniversary of his death, and represented the first
major international meeting backed by and held at Luria's supporting institution.
Financial support was also provided by Division 40 of the American Psychological
Association and the National Academy of Neuropsychology.
The recent glasnost or openness in the former Soviet
Union, among many other changes, has allowed a much greater communication
between Russian psychologists and other psychologists around the world.
Because of this, the conference was a very unique occurrence.
The Luria conference was a world-class event which
included well-known psychologists and neuroscience professionals from around
the world, much like other international psychological meetings. In fact,
several hundred people attended conference, representing 19 countries and
60 cities, including 23 Russian cities. Participants arrived from a number
of continents including North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia,
all ongoing research and practice stemming from the work of Alexander Luria.
As noted by the conference Program Committee chairperson Eugenia D.Homskaya,
one of Luria's longest and closest collaborators, Luria is a psychologist
of international merit. He was well known during his life and now, in the
20 years following his death, his works continue to be very popular. The
publications of A.R. Luria influenced to a great extent different branches
of psychology (especially neuropsychology) all over the world”. This conference
was truly a great tribute to this man and, in some ways, even 20 years
later, it served as a formal international funeral and requiem which could
not be held previously.
Conference co-presidents included VP Zinchenko and
Karl H. Pribram. Eugenia D. Homskaya acted as chairperson of the International
Program Committee, and Janna M. Glozman was chair of the Local Organizing
Committee. The program itself was very full, including one day of preconference
scientific excursions to several major Moscow research, clinical, and rehabilitation
centers, one day which included an opening ceremony and a comprehensive
plenary session with greetings from worldwide psychological organizations,
invited presentations about Luria's influence on scientific psychology,
and a rather unique mid-day visit to Luria's grave. The final two days
consisted of chaired thematic concurrent sessions running morning, afternoon,
and evening, with a fascinating closing ceremony at the end which included
not only comments by Luria's disciples” (as they identify themselves) and
a former patient about his life, but an audiotape recording of Luria himself
discussing his role and activities as a psychologist. An additional specially
arranged highlight of the conference was a video-the bridge” satellite
videoconference between a number of conference participants in Moscow (in
a distinctive and contemporary international electronics center”) and presenters
in New York,
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who included Jason Brown, Jerome Bruner, Anne-Lise Christensen,
Elkhonon Goldberg, and Oliver Sacks. The video-bridge was a truly exceptional
experience, as the technology clearly functioned to integrate European
and North American psychological science in discussions of Luria's broad-ranging
influence. Much has changed and some has remained the same in Russian psychology
in the past few years. It was apparent in conference discussions that many
of Luria's ideas are applied in much the same fashion as they were in Luria's
day. However, a large number of presentations dramatically demonstrated
ongoing advancement in psychological research since Luria's time, such
as use of quantitative methodology, statistical analyses, and relationships
to MRI and other imaging techniques. Alternative Russian neuropsychological
conceptualizations to Luria's were also discussed, such as the work of
a number of professionals at the V.M. Bekhterev Psychoneurological Research
Institute in St. Petersburg, who have utilized a Russian WAIS and other
methods in a more psychometric and modular” approach.Many of the themes
covered in the conference were, of course, concerned with neuropsychology,
the area in which Luria worked for most of his life, and for which he is
best known. Such topics included the neuropsychological study of cognition,
methods of neuropsychological assessment, neurorehabilitation, developmental
neuropsychology, interhemispheric activity, aphasia and neurolinguistics,
the elderly, individual differences, and neuropsychology in psychiatry
and psychosomatics. A number of additional, more broad, psychological topics,
sometimes concerned with Luria's romantic science” side, were also reviewed.
Michael Cole presented on Luria'sresolution” to the crisis in psychological
thinking, Vladimir Zinchenko discussed Luria as psychology's Beethoven,
Andrey V. Brushlinsky was concerned with the problem of activity in psychology,
E.D. Homskaya and Lubov S. Tsvetkova spoke about development of Luria's
ideas in modern Russian psychology and neuropsychology, and Karl Pribram
offered a talk about conscious experience, as examples.
An almost "who's who” of psychology around the world
attended the conference. North America Newsletter 40 18 was represented
not only by Pribram, Cole and the video-bridge” presenters, but also with
attendance by Harold Goodglass, James Wertsch, Joseph Tonkonogy (formerly
of St. Petersburg), J.P. Das (Canada), the authors, and others. Well-known
international psychologists and colleagues of Luria included Luciano Mecacci
from Italy, Bo ydar Kaczmarek from Poland, Paul Sch"nle from Germany, Kolbein
Lyng from Norway, and numerous others, as well as eminent psychologists
and neuropsychologists from Russia including J.M. Glozman, T.V. Akhutina,
E.N. Sokolov, Ya.A. Meerson, L.I. Vasserman, N.K. Korsakova, and others.
As conference participants, we will take away a very large number of fond
and wonderful memories from our visit to Moscow. These include professional
happenings such as being introduced to Gita Vygodskaya, Lev Vygotsky's
psychologist daughter; seeing and participating in a memorial service”
at Luria's grave-including being served vodka on the bus ride back to the
meeting (apparently a Russian tradition; or possibly just an excuse to
drink) by Vasili Davydov, Director of the Institute of General and Educational
Psychology of the Russian Academy of Education; listening to personal reminiscences
and stories about Luria (with multiple toasts”) by Jim Wertsch, Michael
Cole, Karl Pribram, Vladimir Zinchenko, and others; hearing the Luria audiotape;
being awed by the displayed collection of Luria's writings (in many languages)
in the Moscow State University Psychology Department library; and of course
meeting a large number of new international colleagues.
Contemporary visitors to Moscow are also certainly
astonished by some of the cultural and daily life changes visible in the
city. The Luria conference, in fact, was held only several weeks after
Moscow's 850th birthday celebration, and many wonderful European-style
changes were apparent in the city; it was reasonably clean, Muscovites
were friendly and helpful, roads were repaired, a new "mall” was being
completed outside Red Square, and the city in general was much more open
(although with many more bright lights and billboards). Personal remembrances
include visits to the Pushkin and Tretiakov museums, negotiating
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Newsletter 40
with "scalpers” for tickets to the Bolshoi theater and a night on the
town, a Russian pizza restaurant, souvenir shopping, seeing snowflakes
in September, searching for warm clothes due to lower than expected temperatures
(there was no heat flowing in the Moscow State University dorm rooms!),
and many enjoyable times and discussions with our Russian student interpreters.
The First International Luria Memorial Conference,
as intended by its organizers, was a huge success. A Russian-language volume
with the conference proceedings will be published in the near future, further
adding to the importance and recognition of Luria's international accomplishments
in his own country. Unfortunately, this first Luria conference may represent
one of the last major international and personal tributes to Alexander
Romanovich Luria, as many of his closest colleagues and collaborators are
elderly and may not survive until a centennial Luria conference. Nevertheless,
it was a first-class effort to memorialize and pay tribute to one of the
pre-eminent influences on psychology and neuropsychology around the world.
Reference
Jantzen, W., Lompscher, J., M,traux, A., & Stadler,
M. (Eds.), (1994). Die neuronalen Verstrickungen des Bewuatseins A Zur
Aktualit,,t von A.R. Lurijas Neuropsychologie (Fortschritte der Psychologie,
Band 6). Munster: Lit Verlag.
(Left to Right) Antonio Puente, Harold Goodglass, and Bo ydar Kaczmarek at Luria's grave.
(Left to Right) Janna M. Glozman, Gita Vygodskaya, and David Tupper between sessions.
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Newsletter 40
DIVISION 40 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
February 4, 1998, Hawaiian Hilton Village, Honolulu, Hawaii
Present: Adams, Baron, Becker, Berent, Berg, Bieliauskas, Boll, Bondi, Cripe, Cullum, Dede, DeLuca, Edwards for Wilson, Fennell, Goldstein, Hamsher, Mapou, Marcotte, Nemeth, Reynolds, Smith, Van Gorp.
Absent Eubanks, Fischer, Herfkens, Meneese, Perez-Arce Puente, Shear, Wilson.
1. The meeting was called to order by Dr. Bieliauskas at 1:06 pm.
2. Minutes of the Executive Committee (EC) meeting held on August 15, 1997 were reviewed and approved with no revisions.
3. Treasurer's Report: Dr. Van Gorp presented the Treasurer's Report for the fiscal year 1997. As of December 31, 1997, Division 40 had total assets of $180,167.31. Expenses for 1997 totaled $57,255.56, with a surplus of $1,704.44 for the budget year. The Secretary's office ended the year with an override of $5,977.57, which was supervised by Drs. Van Gorp and Bieliauskas. Dr. Marcotte noted that the total expenditure of the override was about $2,000 higher than had been anticipated at the August EC meeting. The extra expense was encountered when APA changed dates for the 1998 elections, prompting the Call for Nominations to be mailed in December, 1997, under the 1997 fiscal year rather than February, 1998, in the 1998 fiscal year.
Dr. Van Gorp raised the concern that two elected Division 40 officers, namely the President-Elect and Past-President, do not have budgets and therefore no monies to help defray the cost of travel to attend required EC meetings.A motion was made to create budgets for both of these elected officers; the motion was approved. Dr. Van Gorp will work with Dr. Nemeth to outline the Division Policy and Procedures Manual policy on travel for elected EC members. Dr. Van Gorp also raised the issue that the four Advisory Committees have not utilized much of the funds allocated for their efforts since the Committees were created. A discussion ensued, and it was the majority opinion that the four Advisory Committee budgets should be reviewed. The Chairs of the Science, Education, Practice, and Public Interest Advisory Committees will submit new budgets to Dr. Van Gorp, which will be discussed at the August, 1998 EC meeting.
4. Council Representatives' Report: Drs. Goldstein and Boll made the following report. Division 40 was successful in its attempt to earn a fourth seat in the Council of Representatives effective January, 1999. It was one of the Divisions that earned a wildcard” seat in the reapportionment which adds 48 seats to Council. In the August, 1997, meeting, Council recognized 20 Clinical Health Psychology” as a new specialty area. This has triggered off concerns by some members of APA about the use of the term Clinical” in newly recognized specialties. A moratorium has been instituted on the use of this term by CRSSP. There is concern that when Clinical Neuropsychology goes up for renewal as a specialty that the term Clinical” may be stripped from the title. EC members expressed significant concern about this, and resolved to fight any such efforts in the future. To this end, the EC has advised our Council Representatives to not support a proposed Task Force which would be empowered with $50,000 to investigate the use of the term "ClinicaI”. Drs. Boll and Goldstein also reported that Division 12 is changing its name from the Division of Clinical Psychology to the Society of Clinical Psychology: A Division of APA. This is being done in part to allow the Division to speak as a entity independent of APA.
Dr. Abels and committee have prepared a brochure, What Practitioners Need to Know About Working with Older Adults”. In addition, guidelines have been drafted by APA for the evaluation of dementia and age-related cognitive decline. Dr. Bieliauskas received a draft of the guidelines for comments, and circulated it among EC members for comment. He has written a letter summarizing concerns on behalf of the Division. Concerns have further been expressed that this document may lead to the development of a proficiency in geriatric assessment by the National College.
5. Newsletter: Dr. DeLuca reported that the Winter/Spring edition of the Newsletter was sent to members in early February. The report of the Houston Conference is included in the Newsletter for members to review. The Newsletter totaled over 20 pages, and included pictures from the Houston Conference. Dr. DeLuca encouraged Committee Chairs to submit columns for the Newsletter, noting to date only the Science Advisory Committee has done such. He also suggested the Division 40 Representatives to the APA Council consider a writing a regular column. Deadline for submissions to the next Newsletter is May 1, 1998.
6. Membership: Dr. Marcotte presented the following report for Dr. Meneese who was unable to attend the meeting. The names of 275 applicants were presented to the EC for membership in Division 40 (66 Members, 3 Associate Members, 209 Student Affiliates).The EC voted to accept all of the applicants. As of January, 1998, Division 40 membership totaled 4,221. The newly elected members bring Division membership to 4,290 (excluding student affiliates). There are now 425 student affiliates. Dr. Meneese also compiled information on minority membership in Division 40. According to APA records, the Race/Ethnicity totals are as follows (excluding White and Not specified totals): American Indian, 25; Asian, 56,; Black, 37; Hispanic, 98; Other, 12. Dr. Meneese had also been asked to inquire how Primary Division” designations are made by APA; Sarah Jordan at APA Division Services reported that APA no longer categorizes division membership in such a manner.
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7. Nominations: Dr. Fennell reported that the Nominations Committee will meet during INS to developed the slate for the upcoming Division 40 elections. Positions to be filled in 1998 include: President-elect, one Member-at-Large, and three Council Representatives (up from the two rotating off due to the gained seat in the wildcard” apportionment balloting in the Fall of 1997). The Call for Nominations resulted in several members obtaining the required 43 nominations to have their names placed on the ballot. According to the Division Bylaws, each position must have two names appearing on the ballot; the Nominations Committee will ensure that sufficient names appear on the final ballot. Ballots will be mailed directly to members from APA around April 15, 1998. Division 40 will again this year request that all nominees prepare statements, which will be mailed to all voting Division 40 members prior to the election.
A discussion then ensued about the Call for Nominations, and the use
of the nomination ballot . Dr. Marcotte, who coordinates the Call, noted
that this year, over 50 members did not use the official ballot in nominating
members for elected office. All of these submissions did, however, include
the name of the person submitting the ballot. This required verification
of membership status before the ballot could be declared valid. It was
motioned and approved that all future nominations for Division officers
must be made using the official Call for Nominations ballot mailed from
the Division 40 Secretary's office. No faxes, e-mail submissions, or submissions
sent by mail on any other form will be accepted. These instructions will
also appear on the Call.
8. Fellows: Dr. Berent announced that the Fellows Committee received 25 inquiries this year from members about applying for Fellow status. Nine members completed applications by the deadline. The Fellows Committee is currently reviewing these application,and will forward the names of members recommended for Fellow status to APA by February 15, 1998.
9. Program: Drs. Bondi and Smith presented the following Program Committee report. This year, 191 submissions were received for the 1998 Division 40 Program at the APA Annual Convention, and the acceptance rate was 75%. Sessions have been scheduled for August 14 - 17, 1998, with the Division's Award session (Levitt and Student), Benton Lectureship, Presidential Address, Annual Business Meeting and Social Hour scheduled for Sunday, August 16. The program also includes three poster sessions, 10 symposia, and 5 paper sessions. Invited addresses will be delivered by Stuart M. Zola and Eileen M. Martin. Dr. Julia Hannay will lead an invited conversation hour on the Houston Conference on Education and Training in Clinical Neuropsychology.This year's student award goes to Brian C. Schweinburg, a graduate student in the UCSD/SDSU joint doctoral program, who's mentor and co-author is Dr. Igor Grant.
10. Ethics: Dr. Becker reported that the committee will be informally meeting during the INS meetings.
11. Science Advisory: Dr. Bauer was unable to attend the meeting but prepared the following report presented by Dr. Marcotte. The Science Advisory Committee has decided to present two new student research awards beginning at the 1999 APA Convention. One will be for excellence in clinical neuropsychological research, for a submission that applies methods and concepts of neuropsychology to the study of clinical phenomenon. The second will be for research in the area of cognitive neuroscience, for a submission in which the primary emphasis is to elucidate a neurocognitive ability or mechanism in a nonclinical setting. The Science Advisory Committee also attempted to organize a symposium at the APA Convention on functional neuroimaging. but had difficulty luring neuroimaging researchers to attend the convention. The Committee will attempt again next year to coordinate sponsoring a symposium with a science emphasis with the Program Committee.
12. Education Advisory: Dr. Hamsher reported that the Education Advisory Committee will be meeting on February 5, 1998, to discuss future plans.
13. Practice Advisory: Dr. Mapou reported for Dr. Eubanks. The issue of the bundling of technicians' services to a neuropsychologist (the incident to” issue) is currently being reviewed by APA attorneys. The Committee has been has not been able to go forward with any position or white” papers due to APA's moratorium on guidelines.
In his written report to the EC, Dr. Eubanks sought input for future activities to be pursued by the Practice Advisory Committee. Numerous EC members expressed significant concerns that this important committee has not been more active in light of the gravity of managed care and incident to” issues that threaten the practices of many Division 40 members. This led to a discussion of the Incident to” Task Force, which was created in August, 1997, and chaired by Dr. Eubanks.
14. Task Force on Incident To” Issues: Dr. Bieliauskas reviewed the incident t o" issue as it relates to the use of technicians in neuropsychological practice. Presently, many neuropsychologists employ technicians and bill for their services as incident to” their own services. The CPT codes developed for neuropsychological procedures, however, did not include the possible use of technicians in practice. This practice is much akin to the use of radiology technicians by radiologists; radiology CPT codes, however, clearly delineate the role of technicians in procedures. In hospital settings, particularly those that receive federal monies, institutions have been accused of double dipping” for these bundled services as the services of these support staff members is assumed under the federal monies. This applies to both inpatient and outpatient hospital-based services. In some instances, institutions have had to pay back large sums of money to the government for such alleged practices. A new threat is that
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Medicare has recently begun auditing institutions for billing compliance; it is possible that not only the institution but individual providers may be held liable for any cases of non-compliance.
Drs. Bieliauskas and Berent shared with the group that the neuropsychology practice at the University of Michigan has been so audited by Medicare, and that the billing for services provided in part by a technician has been found in non-compliance and that monies must be returned. Dr. Bieliauskas noted that this threatens the very existence of neuropsycholgical practice in many hospital settings, and has profound implications for our field. Furthermore, third-party payers frequently follow Medicare/HCFA practice.
Given the severity of the situation, and the need for immediate action, Dr. Bieliauskas has changed this Task Force to a Presidental Task Force; he will appoint a co-chair to work with Dr. Eubanks in these efforts and will himself be integrally involved in overseeing the Task Force's work. The Task Force was further advised to coordinate its efforts with the American Academy of Neuropsychology which is also actively engaged in addressing this issue. The Task Force also needs to work actively with APA's Practice Directorate in vigorously dealing with this problem. EC members also suggested that enlisting the support of State Psychological Associations would be advantageous, and recommended that the Practice Advisory Committee pursue enlisting a neuropsychologist in each state to liaison with State Psychological Associations on these practice issues. It was also recommended that a Division 40 member should attend the upcoming APA State Leadership Conference which focuses on promoting advocacy skills in psychologists.
15. Public Interest Advisory: Dr. Edwards reported for Dr. Wilson. EC voting members received copies of documents the Public Interest Advisory Committee members have prepared pertaining to neuropsychological practice to help enhance the public's understanding of our profession. The drafts that had been circulated underwent editorial review by Dr. Charles Matthews just prior to the EC meeting, who had many concerns about their current state. New drafts have been prepared, and will be sent to EC voting members and Committee Chairs in the next few weeks for review. Precisely how these documents will be used remains unresolved; while the documents must receive approval from the EC to have the Division's name attached to them, any formal” endorsement by the Division will have to undergo APA review.
16. Division 40 Web Page: Dr. Cripe presented information on how frequently the Division's web page has been visited since its inception in August, 1997. To date, there have been 27,536 hits to www.div40.org. Dr. Cripe noted that there is space on the web page for announcements to be posted. A subcommittee comprised of Drs. Cripe, Cullum and Marcotte has been appointed to develop policies about announcements to be posted. A motion was made and approved to provide Dr. Cripe with a budget to maintain the web page. Dr. Cripe will work with Dr. Van Gorp to develop such a budget, to be reviewed at the August EC meeting.
17. Program Listings: Dr. Cripe announced that the Training Program data base has been updated. The listing currently is comprised of 39 doctoral programs, 49 predoctoral internships and 72 postdoctoral programs in clinical neuropsychology. A discussion ensued as to whether the new listing should be published as in the past in The Clinical Neuropsvchology m or just be electronically posted on the Internet. After debate, it was decided that the 1998 listing should be published in TCN and listed on the Division 40 web page.
18. CPT Code Task Force: Dr. Puente could not attend the meeting, but provided a written report. Dr. Puente noted that new CPT codes are in place for psychotherapy services. The issue of documentation will become increasingly important as practices begin to be audited, particularly in hospitals and nursing homes; documentation guidelines are currently being drafted. The limitations of current neuropsychology CPT codes was also reviewed in light of the incident to” issues outlined above. Dr. Puente also reported that the World Health Organization teamed up with 3-M to develop the International Classification of Disease - 10th Edition, and several psychologists were involved.
19. Minority Affairs: Dr. Dede reported that committee members have been appointed to the Minority Affairs Committee, which will hold meetings on February 4 and 7, 1998. Committee members were selected for representation of all geographic areas. The committee's first agenda items are to improving recruitment and retention of minority students interested in clinical neuropsychology and issues pertaining to the assessment of minorities.
20. Awards Committee: Dr. Baron reported that her committee received three applications for the Levitt Award, and are currently reviewing the applications. She expressed concern over the small number of applicants for this award, and encourages all clinical neuropsychologists who have served as mentors to neuropsychologists less than 10 years postdoctoral fellowship to actively encourage their former students to apply for this award. The committee will also be selecting the recipient of the Benton Lectureship in the next few weeks. The committee will forward the names of the Levitt and Benton award recipients to APF. The Committee will also work with APF on selection of the two student scholarships, the H&aen and Meier Scholarships.
21. ASHA/Division 40 Task Force: Dr. Marcotte reported for Dr. Fischer. This committee has not met since February, 1997; they will be meeting on February 5.1998, and Dr. Fischer will update the EC on activities in August, 1998.
22. Interdivisional Health Care Committee: Dr. Marcotte attended the mid-winter meeting of the Interdivisional Healthcare Committee (IHC) held January 26, 1998 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Dr. Fennell, the other Division 40 Newsletter 40
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representative, was unable to attend the meeting. The IHC developed bylaws for the group. Efforts were also devoted to developing a strategic plan to advocate for greater presence of psychologists working in healthcare within APA, particularly on important APA Committees. The group decided to unite efforts in endorsing candidates put forth by IHC member Divisions for appointment to APA Committees. To this end, Dr. Nate Perry (Division 38) will coordinate a campaign to promote IHC candidates; Division IHC representatives sent Dr. Perry the CVs of members being nominated to APA Committees as well as a letter outlining the candidate's qualifications for the post. Should any of the IHC backed candidates make the final slate, lobbying efforts will be coordinated to ensure APA Council Representatives receive information about the candidates prior to Council elections. The IHC also delineated another important task for the group to address is the development of CPT codes for the delivery of psychological/behavioral medicine services in healthcare settings.
23. Bylaws/Policy and Procedures Manual: Dr. Nemeth circulated the second draft of the Policy and Procedures manual for review, noting some information remains to be added. She will be working with various EC members to complete this project, which will be presented for final approval at the August EC meeting.
24. Division 40 Archivist: Dr. Nemeth was appointed by Dr. Bieliauskas as the Division 40 Archivist. Dr. Nemeth reported that Louisiana State University Libraries have agreed to serve as the official archival repository for Division 40. Mr. Glenn McMullen will be our collection's curator/liaison. Details will be announced in the future as to how materials can be stored in the archives.
25. Division 40 Representative to the APA Committee on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns: Dr. Mapou reported to the EC that membership on this committee is not limited to gay, lesbian or bisexual members, but to any APA member interested in and/or possessing expertise in these areas. Division 44 is drafting Professional Practice Guidelines for psychotherapy with these populations. APF has announced the Placek Grant, developed to fund research advancing the public's understanding of gay men and lesbians. Grants could be used to fund research in clinical neuropsychology on sexual orientation and cognition.
26. Division 40 Representative to the APA Committee on Women: Dr. Marcotte reported for Dr. Shear. The Committee has had no activity since Dr. Shear joined as our divisional representative.
27. Report from the Supply and Demand Conference: Division 40 was represented at the Conference held in November, 1997, by Dr. Kenneth Adams. The Conference was to address issues of supply and demand for entry into graduate study in psychology, internships, postdoctoral fellowships and beyond. Most of the conference, however, focussed on the internship issue. Last year, 500+ students were not able to obtain an intern position. Some discussion was also pursued as to whether licenses should be issued at the end of graduate study, as in medicine. The conference attendees were unable to complete the work; a steering committee has been appointed to continue efforts. One issue that was not thoroughly discussed was the influx of Psy.D. programs and their many graduates, and how these factors may be complicating the supply and demand situation. Dr. Adams recommended that Division 40 request information from APA as to how many Psy.D.s have been granted from for-profit programs; the issue was turned over to the Education Advisory Committee for exploration.
28. Houston Conference: The Report from the Houston Conference was distributed to all EC members for review prior to the meeting. A motion was made that the Report be endorsed by the EC; the motion was unanimously passed. The Report of the Houston Conference is available for Division members to review in the Newsletter; it is also posted on the NAN web page. The Report is to be published in The Archives of Clinical Neuropsvchologv in February in Volume 13. No. 2.
29. The EC met subsequent to the closing of the general meeting in executive session. Lydia Artiola was appointed to chair the International Affairs Committee.
30. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:05pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ann C. Marcotte, Ph.D.
Secretary, Division 40
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Newsletter 40
Newsletter 40 is the official publication of Division 40. The Editor
is John DcLuca, and the Associate Editor is Joel Morgan. Dr. DeLuca's address
is Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Laboratory,
Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation,
1199 Pleasant Valley Way,
West Orange, NJ 07052.
Dr. Morgan's address is
Neuropsychology Service,
VA Medical Center,
385 Tremont Ave.,
East Orange, NJ 07019.
Division 40's Website is: www. div40. org.
Webmaster is Dr. Lloyd Cripe.
(End of text)