Effect of intellectual level on neuropsychological test performance: A response to Dodrill (1997)

Recently, Dodrill(1997) presented data suggesting that individuals with abo ve average intelligence do not perform any better on neuropsychological tes ts than those with average intelligence. The current study examines the neu ropsychological performance of 157 patients referred for neuropsychological evaluation who were determined to be neurologically normal based on neurod iagnostic procedures. Patients were divided into below average, average, an d above average WAIS-R FSIQ ranges, and each group's mean performance on ma jor Halstead-Reitan Battery (HRB) measures and the Wechsler Memory Scale wa s calculated. Contrary to Dodrill's findings, our results show a clear patt ern in which patients with above average FSIQs perform better on the majori ty of HRB measures and memory measures than do patients with average FSIQs, who in turn perform better than do individuals with below average FSIQs. T hese results suggest that intellectual status can serve as an effective est imate of expected neuropsychological performance in patients referred for e valuation, and provide support for the common practice of using premorbid i ntellectual estimates as general indicators of expected neuropsychological performance.