The Nebraska Neuropsychological Children’s Battery

Abstract

This chapter discusses the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Children's Battery and its use for neuropsychological assessment of children. Beginning in the mid-1970s, there was increasing interest in the application of the theories and assessment procedures developed by the Russian neurologist A. R. Luria. Luria's theories integrated sophisticated analysis of the way in which the brain is organized with a series of assessment procedures and rehabilitation techniques that were attractive to the newly developing area of clinical neuropsychology. The focus of these evaluations was the ability to specify precise attributes of cognitive disorders that could then be employed to identify a specific neurological or neuropsychological focus. This, in turn, could theoretically lead to appropriate and specific rehabilitation planning. Luria created a set of tasks, called a battery, that work together to define the client's particular symptom. The first version of the Luria Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) was developed for adults. However, many of the items that were appropriate for adults could also be used with children because they focused oh specific, more localizable neuropsychological functions rather than more complex tests dependent on learning, experience, and cognitive skills as typically seen in most American standardized tests. The LNNB-C was developed in several stages. Initially, items from the adult LNNB battery that appeared to be too difficult for normative youngsters in tbe 8-12 age range were deleted. When possible, similar but easier items were substituted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)