Assigning qualitative descriptions to test scores in neuropsychology: forensic implications

Board-certified neuropsychologists were surveyed and asked to assign a descriptive label (e.g., superior, average, normal, impaired) to 12 different standard scores (SS), from 50 to 130, of a memory test based on a brief case scenario. Surveys were returned by 49% (n = 110) of the target sample. The mean number of different classification labels assigned by participants to each of the 12 SS was 14 and ranged from 6 (for SS = 95) to 23 (for SS = 50). The mean percentages of participants who assigned the one or two most frequently used labels within each SS were 52.5% and 70.7%, respectively. Results revealed variable uniformity in assigning descriptive labels to specific standard scores, with significantly greater variability for SS in the lower half of the distribution and with applying impairment rather than normative labels. Professional and forensic implications are discussed.