Five-year follow-up survey of practices and beliefs of clinical neuropsychologists

Abstract

Following up on a national survey by Sweet and Moberg (1990), a 21-item questionnaire was mailed to all current ABPP Diplomates in clinical neuropsychology and a comparable number of randomly selected non-ABPP members of Division 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology) of the American Psychological Association. Despite some shifts in training beliefs, the Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology remains prevalent, with a majority now also receiving additional postdoctoral training, whether board-certified or not. Seemingly in response to health-care economic changes, there is now a clear shift of all clinical neuropsychologists toward less involvement in research and teaching activities, and an increased number of clinical hours per week. Across 5 years, the flexible battery approach has gained even more popularity (61%), and the standardized battery approach has declined still further (14%). Use of technicians/psychometricians or some other type of assistant to gather test data, although still common (59%), has declined. Although often viewed as a discipline engaged only in assessment, 64% of clinical neuropsychologists also treat patients with brain dysfunction. Additional findings of the present survey are reported and contrasted with the previous survey.