title: [Ethics and neuropsychological assessment].
abstract: Ethics and its relation to testing are historically an important question and still are. In this article, we briefly report on how neuropsychology emerged as a specific field, how tests are developed and we particularly focus on the ethical conditions under which a test can be administered. The point of view of the neuropsychologist who develops a new test, of the neuropsychologist who uses this test, of the person requiring a neuropsychological assessment, and finally of the subject, are respectively taken. In each case, different ethical questions are raised. Illustrations and examples are provided. A misunderstanding of what a test really is (a given and precise experimental situation) leads to many difficulties. Furthermore, many fail to know that neuropsychological assessment requires specific skills and clinical practice. A test is not related to truth or to a verdict; it only allows classifying a performance with regard to a given norm.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire étude mécanismes cognitifs, EA3082, Université Lumière Lyon 2, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thomas-Antérion
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barbeau
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D032882:Comprehension; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000941:ethics; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results