Book review: The Little Black Book of Neuropsychology: A Syndrome-Based Approach
(2011)
I like the focus on facts and practical examples. As a visual person, I liked the inclusion of diagrams, though I believe coloured diagrams would have really added to the overall understanding of the concepts.
Excellent
This is a very useful resource or a decent use of time.
This is another great quick reference guide to have on my bookshelf at work- yes it's getting quite large now, but I will definitely be referring back to this text every now and then. Especially, if I'm getting the Tip of the Tongue syndrome. I would highly recommend this text for any graduate student studying neuropsychology or any medical student studying neuro.
(2011)
I have taken a little of a break from my reviewing, who can blame me having submitted my PhD and about to pick up a new locum position. And review season is now in full swing. So over the next few weeks, I will be catching up on reviewing all the peer reviewed journal articles and texts.
This is a really good text to get me back into the game. Having done a fair few neuropsychology assessments in the last month, I can appreciate a good resource when I see one. Instead of digging into the numerous powerpoint presentations, different textbooks and different notebooks, this text has allowed me to get a really good comprehensive source reference when preparing for assessments and during the write up. It was also a very good refresher for main neuropsychological concepts.
The structure of the text itself lends itself to be useful. While the text itself is somewhat wordy and dry, the quick call out boxes gives all the information I need at a quick glance. If I was still in graduate school, it would be a text that I would be madely highlighting, and these highlights would come to great use just about now. It will definitely be a text I would recommend to my students.
This is a really good text to get me back into the game. Having done a fair few neuropsychology assessments in the last month, I can appreciate a good resource when I see one. Instead of digging into the numerous powerpoint presentations, different textbooks and different notebooks, this text has allowed me to get a really good comprehensive source reference when preparing for assessments and during the write up. It was also a very good refresher for main neuropsychological concepts.
The structure of the text itself lends itself to be useful. While the text itself is somewhat wordy and dry, the quick call out boxes gives all the information I need at a quick glance. If I was still in graduate school, it would be a text that I would be madely highlighting, and these highlights would come to great use just about now. It will definitely be a text I would recommend to my students.
My psychological perspective
The text is well organised and I can imagine myself seeing a particular client, then having a flick through the text to identify key things I would need to test for, just in case I've forgotten. There are bits and pieces that I will keep well "tabbed" including the list of common abbreviations, specific tests that I can use in bedside assessments, and brief recommendations. I like the focus on facts and practical examples. As a visual person, I liked the inclusion of diagrams, though I believe coloured diagrams would have really added to the overall understanding of the concepts.
My Christian perspective
Observing and describing strengths and weaknesses in cognitive functioning is great. At this clinical level, I find it really hard to have any grey areas in terms of impact on my Christian worldview. Of course ethical issues will arise from the use of the information in reports and so on, but it's not really worth discussing here.
My overall rating:
ExcellentThis is a very useful resource or a decent use of time.
This book is available from Springer, Amazon
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and other online retailers.
I was provided with a review copy of this book but was not otherwise influenced in my review.
