Introduction

The last few chapters have shown the cognitive neuropsychology approach to be applicable to a number of different topics. Yet the areas treated have actually covered a fairly narrow range by comparison with those that are conventionally included in, say, either clinical neuropsychology or cognitive psychology. The topics discussed so far have all been aspects of language. In later chapters, the approach will be applied much more widely by considering areas where the method provides fascinating glimpses into relatively unexplored terrain. In general, though, these areas are not too helpful for an overall assessment of the solidity of the cognitive neuropsychology methodology. One area outside language – visual perception –does contain a set of interesting and solid neuropsychological studies, and the inferences drawn from these investigations can be compared with those derived from completely different disciplines.

This area is important to consider for another reason. So far, it has been argued that the only effective methodology in cognitive neuropsychology is the single-case study. Group studies, it has been suggested, particularly in chapter 7, are not an effective source of evidence. This view is too extreme. Indeed, some of the more interesting studies on disorders of visual perception have been group studies, although of a type somewhat different from those discussed in chapter 7.