Impact of rapport on neuropsychological test performance

Guides to neuropsychological assessment emphasize the importance of establishing rapport; however, there has been a minimal amount of empirical investigation of the impact of rapport on neuropsychological test performance. In this experiment, participants (N = 98) were randomly assigned to take neuropsychological tests in either a high or low rapport condition. Results showed that we were able to manipulate the level of rapport and that the level of rapport had a significant effect on the Grooved Pegboard Test and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, with other tests nearing statistical significance. These results suggest that the level of rapport may affect neuropsychological test performance.