Neuropsychology

Historically, the field of neuropsychology was derived not only from the discipline of psychology, but also from the various related disciplines within the traditional professions of medicine, education, and law (Meier, 1997). The term neuropsychology is a combination of the word neurology, which is defined as a branch of medicine that deals with the nervous system and its disorders, and psychology, which is defined as the study of behavior or the mind (Finger, 1994). One of the first people to combine the words neurology and psychology into neuropsychology was Kurt Goldstein (Frommer & Smith, 1988) in his book The Organism (1939). Neuropsychology today is used to describe a field of psychology that principally circumscribes the identification, quantification, and description of changes in behavior that relate to the structural and cognitive integrity of the brain (Golden, Zillmer, & Spiers, 1992). Although neuropsychological techniques and questions have long existed, the clinical side of the field did not start to expand until the late 1970s. Most practitioners in the field have been trained within the last two decades, with the majority of those in the last 10 years. Neuropsychologists are most prominently represented professionally by the National Academy of Neuropsychologists, Division 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology) of the American Psychological Association, and the International Neuropsychological Society (INS).