Roosevelt University                                       Neuropsychological Assessment, PSYC 720

School of Psychology                                                                                     Summer, 2006

                                                                                                            James P. Choca, PhD

Instructor information:

Office Location:           Tower, Room 1857

Office hours:               Wednesdays   3-6 PM

                                    Fridays 1-3 PM

                                    Other times by appointment

Office telephone number: (312) 341-6380

Home telephone number: (773) 472-7791

Cell phone number: (312) 914-3477

Required books:

Lezak, M, Howieson, D., Loring, D. (2004). Neuropsychological Assessment (4^th ed.). NY: Oxford University Press.

Heilbronner, R. (2005). Forensic Neuropsychology Casebook. NY: Guilford.

Course Overview:

This course provides training on the development, scoring, and interpretation of neuropsychological tests. The course will involve both lectures and the learning of a skill. The course will cover a great variety of tests and will use many case presentations as examples. Discussions will address the impact individual differences of the examinees (i.e., ethnic, racial, gender, age, and cultural variations). Ethical and professional issues will also be covered. Students will be called upon to practice their presentation skills. Finally, students will develop further their skills in writing test reports.

Course Grade:

The evaluation of the student’s progress will be a continuous process. Typically every class will include a quiz of the material previously presented in class, and the readings the student was responsible for. Case write-ups will also be evaluated and counted as part of the weekly assessment. There will be weekly feedback of test performance. Finally, students will be responsible for presenting cases in front of the class. The final grade will be approximately compiled as follows: 80% from weekly quizzes, 20% from the case reports. There will be a 25% penalty for work that is handed in late.

Attendance:

This is a professional course for students who want an opportunity to train as psychologists.  With some exceptions, if there are other aspects of the student’s life that have priority at the time this course is taught, that student should probably not be in this class. 

Religious holidays:

Following University policy, students who wish to observe religious holidays must inform the instructor in writing within the first 2 weeks of the course of their intent to observe the holiday, so that alternative arrangements can be made. Students who do not arrange for excused absences by the deadline are not entitled to such accommodations.

Academic Dishonesty:

All students will be held to the University’s standards regarding academic dishonesty. These standards are described in the Student Handbook and on the University’s website. Ignorance of standards will not be accepted as an excuse. In particular for this course, all test reports must have been done by the student.  Although the student may use books and other resources to do the work, the final product must be the student’s individualized effort. Students found guilty of academic dishonesty will receive an F for the course, and their names will be forwarded to the Student Services Office. Receiving an F for the course does not preclude imposition of other penalties by the University, including dismissal.