Luria-Nebraska battery
From Psy3241
The Luria Nebraska Battery (LNNB) is a standardized test battery that is used to screen and evaluate individuals with neuropsychological impairments. Written by Charles Golden in 1981, the LNNB is based on the work of A. R. Luria, a Russian neuropsychologist who believed in taking a qualitative approach to assessment, even though, at the time, most of the neuropsychological testing focused on quantitative analysis.
Generally speaking, neuropsychological assessment relies on the use of tests (batteries) that are designed to indicate localized or widespread brain damage in an individual, depending on the quality of their performance. These batteries are used by clinicians not only to learn whether or not a brain injury is present, but to learn more about the specific effects of the damage and determine what neuropsychological tasks the individual can and cannot perform. These assessments can have important implications regarding the life of the individual outside of the structured research setting.
The LNNB measures 14 areas: motor, rhythm, tactile, visual, receptive speech, expressive speech, writing, reading, arithmetic, memory, intellectual processes, pathognomic, left hemisphere, and right hemisphere functions. Consisting of 269 test items, the LNNB usually takes two to three hours to administer. Because it is such an exhaustive procedure, it may be unsuitable to assess individuals with a short attention span. In this case, it is suggested that a shorter, more customized battery would be more appropriate to administer.
The LNNB is said to be as effective as the Halstead-Reitan Battery (a more widely used battery) in discriminating between people with psychiatric problems and those with brain-damage. For this reason, it is often implemented in court cases that require an assessment of psychiatric illness or brain damage in the individuals involved.
Despite its relatively good reputation, the LNNB has received some criticism by those in the field. Some researchers claim that the battery may exaggerate the level of brain damage; others claim it does not accurately detect neuropsychological problems. Additionally, it has been said that the intellectual processes portion of the LNNB does not correlate with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), which is a popular measure of intelligence in neuropsychology.
References:
Stirling, J. (2004). Introducing Neuropsychology. East Sussex: Psychology Press.
