1

4

Neuropsychological Test

Capella University

Neuropsychological Test

The neuropsychological test seeks to measure the wellness and effectiveness of a human brain. Some of the targeted brain abilities tested comprise of reading, language usage, processing speed, mode of reasoning, as well as remembering among other abilities. A neuropsychological test involves a comprehensive test of vast mental functions that also incorporate behavior. Some of the mental functions assessed under neuropsychological examinations consist of general intellect, reading comprehension, concentration, in addition to learning and memory. The main reasons affiliated with the request to carry out neuropsychological assessment include helping with diagnosis, determining cognitive strengths and weaknesses, establishing a baseline, and helping plan the treatment or alternative intervention. The objective of this study is determining an understanding of purposes for conducting neuropsychological testing, establish normative sampling processes, and the nature of training needed to administer the examination.

Testing Purpose

The main purpose affiliated with the neuropsychological testing involves helping with the determination of presence, nature, in addition to severity associated with the cognitive dysfunction of a human brain. The test offers the baseline of monitoring future alterations within a person’s cognitive abilities, mood, as well as personality. The differential diagnosis is another mode of confirming or clarifying the diagnosis, which involves assisting with the evaluation of neurological along with psychiatric disorders (Khan, Khan, & Alam, 2018). One exceptional contribution from the neuropsychological assessment incorporates the detection and evaluation of cerebral dysfunction in absence of clear anatomical proof of alterations. Treatment planning is another relevant purpose aligned with neuropsychological test that focuses on providing treatment recommendations suitable in cognitive disorders in addition to psychological adjustment (Tesar, Bandion & Baumhackl, 2005). The treatment planning consists of a profile of strengths as well as weaknesses that guide rehabilitation, educational, and vocational services. The test is necessary since it has the ability to serve an assessment of readiness and return to work and alternative imperative life activities that comprise of financial management and driving following brain tragedies and neurologic illness. The neuropsychological evaluation is efficient in addressing issues such as whether the individual is in a position to make successful return towards main life responsibilities from a mental ability point of view. Purposes of neuropsychological tests make it clear that it addresses strengths and weaknesses in relation to performing different responsibilities in addition to adjustments and adaptations that are necessary in the optimization of chances for successful return.

Normative Sample

Individuals above the age of 90 years have become the fastest growing segment that is at an increased threat of developing cognitive impairment when compared to the younger old generation. The process of neuropsychological assessment for the older adults is imperative despite challenges simple because of scarcities among the test norms for the segment of adults within that group. Following investigations conducted to establish neuropsychological testing among the oldest adults above 80, it was discovered that data demonstrates lower scores that have an augmenting age found in most tests (Melikyan et al., 2019). The levels of education, sex, in addition to symptoms associated with depression happen to have been affiliated with performance on various tests following the accounting for age. An application of normative data is the hallmark of a neuropsychological test process. From a sports point of view that may involve having issues such as a concussion, it is necessary to apply the normative data, as essential once individualized baseline information is unavailable for purposes of making comparisons (Victoria et al., 2017). Different forms of normative data exist for overall athlete sample. However, additional sub-norms may then be made available for specified demographic population through concentrating on sex, PHIs, in addition to the background of ADHD/LD. Investigations conducted from normative data demonstrated that there exists mild cognitive dissimilarities amid men and women in addition to athletes with plus those without a past of ADHD/LD. Different findings on various samples of neuropsychological assessments reveal that additional norms exist to differentiate male from female individuals who have a background of having and not having ADHD/LD. From the absence of a baseline testing, a normative data provided can be applicable in the assessment of an athlete in addition to his or her cognitive functioning post-conclusion (Mamiya et al., 2016). Neuropsychological is an ideal test that can be carried out during the assessment of concussions among athletes, which illustrates its effectiveness.

Neuropsychological test involves a comprehensive test of vast mental functions that also incorporate behavior. The purposes of neuropsychological tests make it clear that it addresses strengths and weaknesses in relation to performing different responsibilities in addition to adjustments and adaptations that are necessary in the optimization of chances for successful return. Major reasons affiliated with the request to carry out neuropsychological assessment include helping with diagnosis, determining cognitive strengths and weaknesses, establishing a baseline, and helping plan the treatment or alternative intervention (Srinivasan & Jaleel, 2015). Differential diagnosis is another mode of confirming or clarifying the diagnosis, which involves assisting with the evaluation of neurological along with psychiatric disorders. Various treatment plans are relevant purposes aligned with neuropsychological test that focuses on providing treatment recommendations suitable in cognitive disorders in addition to psychological adjustment. Neuropsychological evaluation is efficient in addressing issues such as whether the individual is in a position to make successful return towards main life responsibilities from a mental ability point of view.

Required Training

To effectively administer, score, and interpret neuropsychological test, training on knowledge concerning the brain along with its functioning is necessary since it will augment the understanding of a patient. Neuropsychological training is fundamental in various kinds of clinical psychological activities. The objective of the training program involves providing a student with the understanding of neuropsychological approaches as well as to offering training in various clinical neuropsychologies (Todorova, Ignatova, & Surchev, 2020). The training equips one with the ability to describe a neuropsychological test, why and when it is conducted besides explaining the kind of information provided. The interpretation of neuropsychological tests is achieved through various ways since most of the tests happen to be standardized, meaning they are given in similar ways to each patient. Furthermore, neuropsychological tests are norm-referenced, which is an indication that the patient’s performance through these various tests is comparable towards the performance of various individuals who are likely to be of similar age and persons with the same education background (Segovia et al., 2014). Most test findings are essential in understanding various kinds of questions associated with neuropsychological tests.

Neuropsychological sampling procedures are designed to determine the psychological function known to have a connection with a specific brain structure and pathway. The tests occasionally incorporate a systematic administration of precisely defined processes within the formal surroundings. Nonetheless, the tests incorporate a systematic administration of evidently defined processes in the form of formal settings (Sherwood et al., 2016). Neuropsychological tests are administered on one person working with the examiner inside quite office environment that has the least kind of distractions. It is probable that the neuropsychological tests often offer an estimate of an individual’s peak level in cognitive performance. The assessments become the core components of a procedure conducting neuropsychological test. Several neuropsychological evaluations within current use are based on traditional psychometric theory. The raw score on an individual’s test is comparable to the large general population normative sample.

Conclusion

Procedures of neuropsychological assessment for the older adults are imperative despite challenges simple because of scarcities among the test norms for the segment of adults within that group. The height of education, sex, in addition to symptoms associated with depression happen to have been affiliated with performance on various tests following the accounting for age. Applying the normative data, as essential once individualized baseline information is unavailable for purposes of making comparisons. Neuropsychological tests are administered on one person working with the examiner inside quite office environment that has the least kind of distractions. Additional sub-norms may be made available for specified demographic population through concentrating on sex, PHIs, in addition to the background of ADHD/LD. A normative data provided can be applicable in the assessment of an athlete in addition to his or her cognitive functioning post-conclusion. The aim of the training program involves providing a student with the understanding of neuropsychological approaches as well as to offering training in various clinical neuropsychologies. Neuropsychological tests are norm-referenced, which is an indication that the patient’s performance through these various tests is comparable towards the performance of various individuals who are likely to be of similar age and persons with the same education background.

References

Khan, R., Khan, M. T., & Alam, B. (2018). The use of neuropsychological tests to study the effects of aging on driving performance in the UK. European Transport Research Review, 10(1), 1-11. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12544-018-0287-7

Mamiya, Y., Nishio, Y., Watanabe, H., Yokoi, K., Uchiyama, M., Baba, T., . . . Mori, E. (2016). The pareidolia test: A simple neuropsychological test measuring visual hallucination-like illusions. PLoS One, 11(5) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154713

Melikyan, Z. A., Corrada, M. M., Dick, M. B., Whittle, C., Paganini-Hill, A., & Kawas, C. H. (2019). Neuropsychological Test Norms in Cognitively Intact Oldest-Old. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS, 25(5), 530–545. (https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617719000122

Segovia, F., Bastin, C., Salmon, E., Górriz, J. M., Ramírez, J., & Phillips, C. (2014). Combining PET images and neuropsychological test data for automatic diagnosis of alzheimer's disease. PLoS One, 9(2) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0088687

Sherwood, B., Andrew Xiao‐Hua Zhou, Weintraub, S., & Wang, L. (2016). Using quantile regression to create baseline norms for neuropsychological tests. Alzheimer's & Dementia : Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, 2(1), 12-18. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dadm.2015.11.005

Srinivasan, S., & Jaleel, Q. (2015). Norms for a neuropsychological test battery to diagnose dementia in the elderly: A study from sri lanka. Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice, 6(2), 177-181. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0976-3147.153223

Tesar N, Bandion K, & Baumhackl U. Efficacy of a neuropsychological training programme for patients with multiple sclerosis -- a randomised controlled trial. Wien Klin Wochenschr. Nov;117(21-22):747-54. doi: 10.1007/s00508-005-0470-4. PMID: 16416356.

Todorova, L., Ignatova, V., & Surchev, J. (2020). Computerized neuropsychological test battery CogniSoft for assessment of cognition in patients with multiple sclerosis. International Journal Bioautomation, 24(4), 371-380. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7546/ijba.2020.24.4.000754

Victoria C. Merritt, Jessica E. Meyer, Margaret H. Cadden, Cristina A.F. Roman, Dede M. Ukueberuwa, Michael D. Shapiro, Peter A. Arnett. (2017). Normative Data for a Comprehensive Neuropsychological Test Battery used in the Assessment of Sports-Related Concussion, Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, Volume 32, Issue 2, , Pages 168–183, https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acw090

Ethical Decision-Making Framework Model

Instructions: Below (on page 2) is a sample of the template data to assist you in your creative thinking for week one! On the weekly ethics portfolio, you are welcome to submit it along with the week one assignment, however it is not required. It is a note taking template. I highly encourage everyone to submit it each week, as this helps to keep you on track, but again, it is not required. You will use the template note-taking document to assist you in the final ethics portfolio assignment.

Additional Guidance:

For the week one assessment results, please add them to the template that you will use for the final course project. This template is a type of “note taking” document. For the formal final assignment, you will need to have your final project in paragraph format, proper APA format, etc. For the purpose of the week one assignment, etc. you are welcome to just include bullet point comments, as a note taking type record of your thoughts. Or you may elect to begin to formalize the document in paragraph format. You will not be deducted credit if you submit bullet point format for week one.

The instructions on this assignment are intentionally somewhat “loose” to not box you in on your thinking. You can begin to relate some of your assessment results to the template information. As you build this template document over the next several weeks, it will begin to “come together” and make sense and you continue to record your thoughts on all the items required each week. It may not seem to full start to make sense until week three or four, but it will!

The week one assessment results serve as somewhat of a foundational start and you will continue to build on those elements for the future weeks. You are welcome to discuss the results “overall” and conceptually. You do not need to box your thinking into what only the results say in black and white. Please feel free to expand on your thinking of what you believe the results mean to you.

The great thing about an ethics class, is that there is really not a “wrong” answer! You just need to show that you are outlining your thinking and that you continue to correlate your thinking to the assignments each week. Sometimes you may say, “I didn’t really agree with everyone” And that is ok! Or you may say, “My response this week didn’t directly tie into my assessment results, but for this topic, I do feel differently because…” And that is ok!

Example:

Assessment Make sure you have al lthe facts about the ethical dillemia

Alternatives Consider your choices

Analysis Identify your decision and tests its validity

Application Apply ethical principles to your decision

Action Make a decision

Tonya Baier 

Week 4 Discussion Board Two Businesses

COLLAPSE

Top of Form

Question 1 Case Study Review of Theo Chocolate Company

The video of Joe Whinney’s philosophy on business with the farmers of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a great philanthropic example of Utilitarianism. Joe’s company is willing to pay three times more for the cacao product to ensure everyone in the supply chain gains from the sale of the final product. Consumers are willing to pay a higher price for the chocolate bar knowing the farmers in a poor region will benefit as well. This type of entrepreneurship is an example of distributive justice where the farmers benefit from producing the product as well as the business owner. I loved this reading on Whinney’s philosophy on business and the fact that he placed himself at risk at times to do what is best for the greater good.

Another example of this would be the example shared in the weekly reading around workplace violence. Businesses can no longer overlook workplace violence and share zero responsibility. Workplace violence is a rapidly growing ethical issue is business such as dental offices, healthcare clinics, emergency departments, post offices, and euducation systems. Lack of preparedness falls on the responsbility of the company to implement and put actions in place to keep coworker safe(Kaweckyj, 2021). 

For example, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that supervisors are responsible for the sexual misconduct of employees, even if the employers knew nothing about the behavior, the decision is one that established a strict standard for harassment on the job. One of the justices wrote that the burden on the employer to prevent harassment is “one of the costs of doing business.” The Court decided the greatest utility to society would result from forcing businesses to prevent harassment. (Ferrell, 2019).  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), requires employers to provide safe working environments for all employees covered by the OSHA Act of 1970.

Prevention of workplace violence is an example of utilitarianism because it serves the greater good. The action is right if it results in the providing a safer and happier place to work for the greatest number of people in the group. Companies must invest in its employees and ensure safety in the work place through education, monitoring, and systems to report without retaliation.

Question 2: CVS: Fired up about Social Responsibility

Social responsibility is an ethical framework in which individuals or corporations are accountable for fulfilling their civic duty and taking actions that will benefit society as a whole. If a company or person is considering taking actions that could harm the environment or society, then those actions are considered socially irresponsible (Indeed, 2022).  In the Case Study on the business action of CVS: Fired up about Social Responsibility, CVS failed to ensure that its company to be a corporate social responsible to its stakeholders. 

CVS’s rapid growth as a company started in 1960’s to the early 2000’s with health and beauty sales and expanded into retail pharmaceutical sales. What started as 17 stores, quickly moved to 750 stores across forty-nine of the United States.  Early in the twenty-first century, CVS jumped onto the internet sales band wagon through its launch of online pharmacies.  The two most important acquisitions in the history of CVS include MinuteClinic walk-in health clinics (in 2005) and Caremark Rx, Inc. (in 2007), a pharmacy benefits management company. Today, CVS is the largest pharmacy health care provider and pharmacy in the United States and is composed of four business functions: CVS Pharmacy, CVS Caremark, CVS MinuteClinic, and CVS Specialty (Ferrell, 2019).

Although CVS seemed to be a successful Fortune 500 company, their ethical framework failed. After CVS was found negligent of violating HIPPA rights of patients, due to CVS coworkers improper disposal of patient prescription labels and private patient records, which led to a corrective action plan.

Unfortunately, CVS seemed to be in the spotlight and investigated for further deceptive business practices such as switching pharmacy prescriptions from generic to name brand to gain a larger profit,  over distribution of controlled narcotic substance, Oxycodone, and last, failing to train employees how to hand shoplifting incidents in store which ultimately led to the death of a CVS customer.  In effort to become a more socially responsible company, CVS branched into Health Care Clinics for consumers, stopped the sales of tobacco products to be a tobacco free company, and started healthy programs around smoking cessation and weight loss.  Even with all the work to turn the company around and remove CVS from the spotlight, the business continued to struggle against competition.

CVS has committed to ongoing stakeholder orientation which starts with its core values of innovation, collaboration, caring, integrity, and accountability. This orientation starts with CVS employees. CEO Larry J. Merlo emphasizes the long-term perspective the company is committed to with each decision and how it will affect each stakeholder group. He states that CVS’s priorities remain in customer health, the sustainability of health care systems, good stewardship, and positive contributions to communities, and a meaningful workplace for employees (Ferrell, 2019).

Although I was initially disgusted at the unehtical actions and lack of responsibility of a million dollar company like CVS, I’m glad to see the ongoing commitment of CVS to improving the company’s social responsibility and hopefully gaining a better reputation as an ethical company in the corporate world. Their rapid growth as a pharmaceutical company moved quickly and I feel as though their priorities were not aligned with those of its stakeholders. Although I opt not to utilize any of the CVS businesses, I do appreciate that their core values do align with some of my own such as integrity, truthfulness, and honesty. Companies must have training programs to ensure employees and stakeholders understand core values, ethical stances, and process to hold people accountable to policies developed around their values if they want to be a recognized socially responsible company.

Question 1 References:

“Court Says Businesses Liable for Harassing on the Job,” Commercial Appeal, June 27, 1998, A1; Richard Brandt,                  Ethical Theory (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1959), 253–254.

Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2019). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. CENGAGE Learning.

Kaweckyj, N. (2021, September-October). Workplace Violence: Is Your Office Prepared and Compliant? The Dental                Assistant, 90(5), 8+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A680921150/GPS?u=kan38982&sid=bookmark                                  GPS&xid=19086205

https://www.osha.gov/workplace-violence

Question 2 References:

Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2019). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. CENGAGE Learning.

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/social-responsibility

Bottom of Form

Leticia Terriquez 

Week 4

COLLAPSE

Top of Form

Q1

The Theo Chocolate Company video case was very interesting. I did not know that about either some cacao coming from poor farmers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I also did not know that Ben Affleck founded the Eastern Congo Initiative community partnership providing aid to the needy nation. I feel that this is great for big companies and celebrities joining in the helping of the third world countries. The farmers in the Congo are being helped in distributive justice by Joe Whinney founder of Seattle’s Theo Chocolate Company and the community partnership of Ben Affleck showing his deontology shows his virtue ethics. Ben Affleck is using Kohlberg’s model six stage of moral development which is universal ethical principles. This case study shows an act utilitarianism.

Starbucks in 2016 invested more than $70 million in its comprehensive approach to ethical sourcing supporting coffee farming communities helping to mitigate the impact of climate change and supporting long term crop stability and farm sustainability (Bridgeman, 2016). Starbucks also planted a tree for every bag of coffee purchased in a participating U.S. store contributing .70 cents to Conservation International, Arlington, Va. This since the farmers were impacted by coffee rust a plant fungus that damaged millions of coffee trees around the world. Starbucks deontology continues to flourish to help the farmers with their coffee production.

Q2

I am so shocked to hear about CVS. I sometimes shop they’re for over-the-counter cold medicine. There are many CVS’s in my area. I do not usually watch the news. I am glad that all the unethical issues were resolved. The fines were paid and now CVS is implementing strategies to achieve an ethical culture. The not selling of tobacco product shows how CVS wants to continue to get their reputation in good standing that attracts more consumers. Overall, CVS has proven to surpass their issues and making it not only a pharmacy to trust but also a good place to work. The stakeholders continue to see CVS prosper. The minute clinic helps those who do not have health insurance. The social responsibility continues to be progressing, so they are heading in the right direction. I can see that CVS had bad employees, the issues were addressed and was dealt with including the changes of ethical goal line lines that were implemented and CVS continues to stay in business.

Many years ago, I was the department supervisor. I came across a store credit of $1,000 for miscellaneous merchandise. I questioned it to another department supervisor and was told that it was used to pay for the Christmas party catering. I could not believe it. I told her that it was against SOP. She said that the store manager didn’t want me to know because I was too strict. I told her that I was about following policy and keeping my job. We had a budget for that purpose. I made a note on the bookkeeping books. A couple years later the store manager got fired for other unethical doings he was doing. I am against any unethical behavior.

Bridgeman, Z. (2016). Starbucks Will Plant a Coffee Tree for Every Bag of Coffee Purchased Through 2016. Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, 188(3), 20–21.

Bottom of Form

EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL QUALITY

Instructions

In Week 2, you selected three standardized tests from one category that have relevance to your academic and professional goals or a related profession. Your Week 2 assignment focused on the purpose, contents and constructs assessed, norms, and required training of psychological tests. For this assignment, you will complete a deeper analysis of the technical quality of your three selected tests by focusing on reliability and validity evidence. To complete this assignment, you will draw upon the knowledge you gained in Weeks 3 and 4 about psychometrics in general and reliability and validity in particular.

For this assignment, use the three tests you selected for your assignment in Week 2. Locate and summarize a minimum of two articles related to the technical qualities for each selected test. You are encouraged to use the PSY7610 Library Research Guide to assist your search.

For each article:

List the APA reference for each journal article (a minimum of six).

Identify if the article addresses reliability or validity.

Discuss if the article addresses sources of error variance, reliability estimates, evidence of validity, or bias and fairness.

Identify the specific type of reliability or validity (for example, test-retest reliability, predictive validity, etc.).

Identify the overall results of the research, including any psychometric or statistical outcome.

Guidelines for Selecting the Literature

Use the most current sources you can find. You may cite older sources if they are classics, if you want to show the chronology of something, or if you have another good reason (i.e., the test was published more than 8 years ago). If you choose to use older sources, you will need to explain why. Use current, peer-reviewed journal articles for more current tests. Do not use sources without an author or a publication date. Do not use quotes; use only your own words. Please see Academic Honesty & APA Style and Formatting for concerns with high content matching in papers. Evaluate whether the results support the use of your test as appropriate for your field and populations to be served.

Note: The articles you need to complete this assignment should be available inside the library collection. In future courses, you may use the Capella library's Interlibrary Loan service to obtain articles outside of the collection, but you should not have to use the service for this course. In the event that you cannot find articles covering a newer test edition, please refer to the List of Tests by Type [DOCX] document. Note which tests have been designated as acceptable for searching prior test editions.

Instructions for the content of the paper are in the u05a1 Assignment Template [DOC].

Additional Requirements

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

References: A minimum of six journal articles (textbooks, websites, literature reviews, and the MMY book reviews do not count for these references but can be used to supplement).

Length of paper: Evaluation must be at least six double-spaced pages, not including the title page or references (an abstract is not required).

APA format: Current APA format and style is required throughout. Be sure to use the correct format and style for each respective type of reference, for example, website site versus journal). Refer to the Academic Writer for guidance.

U05a1 Evaluation of the Technical Quality of Three Tests

Learner’s Name

Psy7610, Section __

(Quarter, Year)

Capella University

Dr. ______________

Introduction

· Identify the category and three standardized tests you selected in U02a1.

· Identify the anticipated population you chose in U02a1 for which your tests will be used.

· Identify briefly a population or psychological condition that is within the standardization of the tests (cite your sources). Your course project will be related to using one of the tests with the chosen population.

Technical Review Article Summaries

· Two articles for each test (total of six) are to be directly related to each test and one aspect of their technical quality (validity or reliability). List the APA reference for each journal article (a minimum of six).

· For each article, write no more than one paragraph.

· Put the APA reference for each of the six journal articles at the top of the paragraph (a minimum of seven).

· Describe the study

· Identify if the article addresses reliability or validity.

· Explain how the article addresses reliability estimates and/or evidence of validity.

· Identify the specific type of reliability or validity (for example, test-retest reliability, predictive validity, et cetera).

· Identify the overall results of the research including any psychometric or statistical outcome (i.e., interpret the reliability or validity coefficients).

· This means if your articles don’t address any of the above, find ones that do.

Conclusion

· Synthesize the information about each test’s reliability from all the articles you reviewed.

· Synthesize the information about each test’s validity from all the articles you reviewed.

· Evaluate if each test is currently deemed appropriate for the use in your specialization or a related profession based on the reliability and validity evidence.

References

Using proper APA format, provide the reference for each source you cited.