Jurors may have no idea how our assessment tools and procedures work. Professionals are so used to speaking and thinking with the basic assumptions of our professions that those assumptions become invisible to us. Standardized testing and normative interpretation are a great example of this concept. After years of graduate school and clinical practice, when a neuropsychologist uses the word testing we have a very precise image in our thought bubbles of a battery of valid and reliably constructed instruments, normed on appropriate populations, administered in a standardized fashion, and interpreted in the context of the larger assessment. But very few jurors will have been exposed to the concept of normative interpretation. To ensure that jurors and triers of fact have access to our broader message regarding assessment results, we need to begin our testimony with a clear, accessible, and engaging description of our assessment tools and process. This chapter addresses strategies for explaining psychological and neuropsychological assessment procedures, as well as specific tests like the MMPI, in a clear, accessible manner.
