Cognitive neuropsychology

Abstract

In this chapter, we provide an introduction to neuropsychological investigations of cognitive processes. Because there have already been several excellent re- views on the interplay between cognitive psychology and neuropsychological studies with normal subjects (i.e., laterality experiments, cf. Hardyck, 1983; Moscovitch, 1979), we focus on neuropsychological investigations of brain- damaged patients. Following a brief history of the development of cognitive neuropsychology, this chapter examines how an integration of the findings from both normal functioning subjects and brain-injured patients enhances our under- standing of cognitive processes and, where applicable, their relationship to brain structures. Selective examples of this integrative approach are given in the areas of visuospatial processing, memory, and language. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the caveats in generalizing from brain-damaged to normal cogni- tion as well as the benefits that could be derived from a greater interchange between cognitive psychologists and neuropsychologists.