COMPARISON OF THE BENDER GEŞTALT RESULTS WITH THE INTELLIGENCE LEVELS IN THREE DIFFERENT GROUPS OF BRAIN - DAMAGED CfflLDREN

I t is not, of course, possible to study the mental functions of a
healthy individual selectively under laboratory conditions, but i t is
possible to study them when they break down as a result of brain
injury or disease. I n such cases, in a way, nature designs the experiment
and the result is open to scientific investigation. Neuropsychology
has practical value for psychologist working in the clinical
field by providing them with several advantages in studying mental
disorders: Firstly, i t provides valuable clues about the working of a
healty mind. Secondly, definite cerebral lesions often cause clearly
definable mental disorders, which may provide valuable information
about the presence and location of cerebral pathology. Thirdly, observation
and analysis of the methods used by some individuals to
compensate for particular functional disturbances could be important
when planning education and rehabilitation programs. For these
reasons, detection of disorders in higher neural integrative system is
the goal of all clinical techniques and testing procedures. Evaluation
of neuropsychological behavior by testing procedures is an attempt
to measure disorders by methods more structured than observation.
(M. Williams, 1970)