E-ISSN : 2733-4538
While neuropsychological testing has been proliferating in recent years, many clinicians have some doubts about its identity. The present review addressed the issue of ‘what is a neuropsychological test?’ by way of comparing intelligence and neuropsychological tests. The basic premise underlying this approach is that both intelligence and neuropsychological tests are examples of a cognitive test and thus similar in nature. Intelligence and neuropsychological tests were compared in terms of measurement aim, measurement method, and measurement domain. The main conclusion is that intelligence and neuropsychological tests exhibit no obvious differences in measurement aim or method, but clearly differ in measurement domain. An intelligence test measures attention, language skill, and visuospatial function, whereas a neuropsychological test measures attention, language skill, visuospatial function, memory, and executive function. Thus, the main difference between intelligence and neuropsychological tests lies in the fact that a neuropsychological test is a more comprehensive cognitive test than an intelligence test. Implications for this conclusion for practicing clinicians are discussed.