language proficiency

Paediatric Cognitive Neuropsychology

Introduction to neurodevelopment

Black, J.E. (1998). How a child builds its brain: Some lessons from animal studies of neural plasticity. Preventive Medicine, 27, 168-171.

Assessment using the NEPSY-II

Stinnett, T.A., Oehler-Stinnett, J., Fuqua, D.R. & Palmer, L.S. (2002). Examination of the Underlying Structure of the Nepsy: A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment.  Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 20, 66-82.

Attention/deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Mahone, E.M., Crocetti, D., Ranta, M.E., Gaddis, A., Cataldo, M., Slifer, K.J., Denckla, M.B. & Mostofsky, S.H. (2011). A Preliminary Neuroimaging Study of Preschool Children with ADHD. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 25 (6), 1009–1028.

Autism & Pervasive Developmental Disorders

The trouble with autism: Delays in early identification and diagnosis
Associate Professor Cheryl Dissanayake    

Saitoh, O., Karns, C.M. & Courchesne, E. (2001). Development of the hippocampal formation from 2 to 42 years old: MRI evidence of smaller area dentate in autism. Brain, 124, 1317-1324.

Learning Disorders

Widmann, A., Schröger, E., Tervaniemi, M., Pakarinen, S. & Kujala, T. (2012). Mapping symbols to sounds: electrophysiological correlates of the impaired reading process in dyslexia. Frontiers in Language Sciences, 3.

Oppositional Defiant & Conduct disorders

Dick,D.M., Viken, R.J., Kaprio, J., Pulkkinen, L. & Rose, R.J. (2005).Understanding the Covariation Among Childhood Externalizing Symptoms: Genetic and Environmental

Influences on Conduct Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33,219-229.

Childhood Epilepsy

Ackermann, S.  & Van Toorn, R. (2011). Managing first-time seizures and epilepsy in

Children. CME, 29, 142-148.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Understanding and managing traumatic brain injury
Professor Jennie Ponsford

Resilience of people with traumatic brain injury and their carers Emeritus Professor Roger Rees   

Can psychological interventions be adapted for people with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury?
Dr Dana Wong. Dr Adam McKay and Dr Ming-Yun Hsieh

Ethical behaviour intervention for clients with a TBI: When is it OK to intervene?
Dr Brooke Froud-Cummins and Associate Professor Malcolm Hopwood

Savage, R.C. (2012). The Developing Brain after TBI: Predicting Long Term Deficits and Services for Children, Adolescents and Young Adults. North American Brain Injury Society. Retrieved 20 June 2012 from http://www.internationalbrain.org/?q=node/112

General texts

Anderson, V., Northam, E., Hendy, J. & Wrennall, J. (2001). Developmental neuropsychology: A Clinical Approach. Hove: Psychology Press.

Appleton, R. & Baldwin, T. (Eds.) (1998). Management of Brain-Injured Children. New York: Oxford University Press.

Baron, S. (2004). Neuropsychological Evaluation of the Child. New York: Oxford University Press.

Gillberg, C. (2003). Clinical Child Neuropsychiatry. Cambridge: Cambridge University press.

Johnson, M. H. (2005). Developmental cognitive neuroscience: An introduction, 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell.

Panteliadis, C.P. & Korinthenberg, R. (2005). Paediatric Neurology: Theory and Practice. New York: Thieme Verlag.

Helping troubled children: Seven things you should know about the origins of mental health disorders
Professor Mark Dadds  

The care team approach to helping troubled children
Christine Miller

Using play to help troubled children in the school setting
Dr Deborah Truneckova and Professor Linda L. Viney

Body image: Is it just for girls?
Assistant Professor Vivienne Lewis

Chapter 32: Qualitative approaches to career counselling

AUTHORS: M. Watson, M. McMahon

ABSTRACT: Sometimes viewed as a newcomer in the field of career psychology, qualitative career assessment has a long history that has been overshadowed by the dominant story of quantitative career assessment. This proposed book chapter explores the potential of qualitative career assessment to accommodate less tangible and therefore less measurable variables that may influence individual career development. Specifically, a qualitative approach to career assessment may be sensitive to variables such as culture, socio-economic background, barriers to career development and other contextual influences that have been less focused on in quantitative career assessment. The book chapter also considers the issue of complementarity between qualitative and quantitative career assessment from various international perspectives. This proposed chapter describes the development of a qualitative career assessment measure, My System of Career Influences (MSCI; McMahon, Patton & Watson, 2005a, b), which has been developed for use with adolescents in South Africa and Australia. The MSCI was developed according to guidelines suggested for qualitative career assessment by McMahon, Patton and Watson (2003). Subsequently, the MSCI has been translated for use with adolescents in The Netherlands, Iceland and Hong Kong. The chapter also describes the development of an adult version of the MSCI (McMahon, Watson & Patton, submitted a, b) which was trialled in Australia, England and South Africa. The chapter concludes with an overview of recent research using the MSCI on diverse South African population groups of adolescents and adults.

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Chapter 30: The ImPACT Neurocognitive Screening Test

AUTHORS: A. Edwards, V. Whitefield, S. Radloff

ABSTRACT: The recent development of computerized neurocognitive screening programmes has revolutionized medical management in the sports concussion arena where there is a need for mass testing of athletes, and repeat follow up testing of the concussed athlete to monitor recovery and facilitate safe return-to-play decisions.  Automated programmes of this type have the facility for more accurate evaluation on timed tasks than paper-and-pencil testing, are time and cost effective in that group testing can be undertaken, and multiple randomized versions of the tasks reduce the problem of practice effects on repeated test occasions.  In South Africa, the ImPACT test (Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) that was developed within a research context at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, has been employed for clinical and research purposes since 2003, and is the only test of its type registered with the Health Professional Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for clinical use in this country.  This chapter reviews research data derived using the ImPACT test in respect of players of contact sport from school through to the professional level that attests to the clinical sensitivity of this test in the identification of subtle neurocognitive deficit in association with participation in the contact sport of rugby.  In addition, available South African normative indications in respect of the test are presented and discussed.  Finally, the potential to use the ImPACT test to facilitate medical management and increase safety within other contexts is discussed, such as screening of aviation personnel (pilots and ground control employees) on a regular basis to identify the onset of intellectual dysfunction that might have sinister consequences.

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Chapter 29: Using computerised and Internet-based testing in South Africa

AUTHOR: N. Tredoux

ABSTRACT: South Africa was an early adopter of computerised tests, with the earliest testing systems being developed in the late 1970’s. Initially computerised testing systems were developed by state-funded organisations, with some funding from the private sector. As a result of political changes in South Africa, financial support for research and development in Psychometrics in statutory organisations decreased. Psychometrics, and specifically computerised testing, was then advanced by various private commercial interests, with increasing involvement from foreign test publishers. With the development of the World Wide Web and the availability of broadband connectivity, delivery of tests and reports across the Internet became a reality.  Publishers were concerned about piracy of content and cheating by respondents who were doing the tests unsupervised.  The International Test Commission drew up guidelines for computer-based and internet-delivered testing, and these were adapted to the existing South African legislative framework and ethical guidelines for psychologist. A legal battle ensued, resulting in the repeated withdrawal and re-adopting of the South African guidelines. The main point of contention was whether or not unsupervised Internet-based testing should be allowed.  This legal battle eventually led to changes in legislation.  This chapter will discuss the regulatory framework as it currently stands.  The risks attached to different types of computerised implentations of tests will be considered, taking into account the rights of the respondent, the psychometric impact of computerisation, and the exposure for the practitioner to charges of possible misconduct. A proposal for best practice in South Africa will be formulated.

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Chapter 19: The OPPro in South Africa

AUTHOR:  N. Tredoux

ABSTRACT: With the current population norm group for the Occupational Personality Questionnaire at almost 55000 people, this is one of the most widely-used personality questionnaires in South Africa. This chapter will give an overview of the development of the Occupational Personality Profile and the rationale for the various scales. A brief historical review of reliability and validity studies in South Africa will be discussed, and the different norm groups available for the test will be compared.  In the context of fairness and best use, the relationship between the reliabilities of the OPP scales and the home language, race and educational level of the respondents will be discussed. Age groups and sexes will also be compared. The groups will also be compared in terms of their mean scores on the OPP scales. This leads us to the question of whether one should use a group-specific norm or a general population norm, and how to decide between the options.  A discussion of differential item functioning for race and language groups will follow.   Some attention will also be given to the decision of whether the Occupational Personality Profile is suitable for an intended respondent, or whether a different means of assessing personality (which need not be a questionnaire) should be employed.  The different delivery methods of the OPP, and the available computer-generated reports will be discussed, with the emphasis on using technology to facilitate the fair and appropriate use of the questionnaire. The use of the Occupational Personality Profile for assessing competencies will be discussed, as well as the implications of automating this process. Special emphasis will be placed on the importance of doing an integrated assessment and not relying on one source of information only.

 

Chapter 15: The 15FQ+ in South Africa

AUTHOR: N. Tredoux

ABSTRACT: This chapter will discuss the development of the 15FQ+ and how it differs from the 16PF, which measures the same model of personality. An overview of the questionnaire’s reliability and validity will be done, comparing early studies with newer results.  The effect of language proficiency, reasoning ability and education on the reliability of the questionnaire will be discussed.  Differences between race and language groups of the various scales will be considered, with a discussion of the importance of these differences for the fair use of the questionnaire in South Africa. An overview of South African norms will be presented. Guidelines for the choice of norm groups will be discussed, with particular emphasis on the decision whether to use a general population norm or a smaller norm which would be specific to a given language or race group.  For some assessment situations, the best choice may be to use a simpler questionnaire, or not to assess personality using a questionnaire at all.  Attention will also be given to differences between age groups on the personality dimensions measures by the 15FQ+. The various computer-generated reports available for the 15FQ+ will be considered, to facilitate their appropriate use.  Attention will be given to the practice of matching personality dimensions to competencies, the obtaining of matched scores, and the implications for fair use of the questionnaire. The importance of doing an integrated assessment will be emphasised, and some consideration will be given to additional sources of information that can be used to arrive at a fair and accurate assessment.

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Chapter 23: Assessment and Monitoring of Symptoms in the Treatment of Psychological Problems

AUTHORS: D. Edwards, C. Young

ABSTRACT: This chapter considers the clinical application of brief symptom measures in South African contexts. Although typically developed in the USA and UK, these measures can assist South African clinicians to assess the severity of their clients’ presentations, to track the progress of psychological therapy from one session to the next and to evaluate therapy outcomes. There is evidence for their value not only for research but also for practice, as such systematic tracking of symptoms improves clinical outcome. While many competing measures have been developed over the years, a few dominate in the literature and even fewer have been used and at least partially validated in South Africa. This chapter summarizes recent local validation studies on the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation – Outcome Measure (CORE-OM), and of the Xhosa translations of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS).  Other disorder-specific measures that have been used in local contexts include the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and a number of trauma scales such as the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS), the Impact of Events Scale (IES), the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory, and the Traumatic Grief Inventory (TGI). The utility of these scales in everyday settings, and their interpretation in conjunction with other assessment data are examined by reference to clinical examples, including published case studies.  Problems encountered in the translation of scales as well as their use in local multicultural and multilingual contexts are discussed.

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