Neuropsychological tests are specifically designed tasks that are used to measure a psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure or pathway.
Neuropsychological tests are typically administered to a single person working with an examiner in a quiet office environment, free from distractions.
As such, it can be argued that neuropsychological tests at times offer an estimate of a person's peak level of cognitive performance.
Normative studies frequently provide data stratified by age, level of education, and/or ethnicity, where such factors have been shown by research to affect performance on a particular test.
This allows for a person's performance to be compared to a suitable control group, and thus provide a fair assessment of their current cognitive function.
Memory is a very broad function which includes several distinct abilities, all of which can be selectively impaired and require individual testing.
[7] The executive functions include: problem solving, planning, organizational skills, selective attention, inhibitory control and some aspects of short term memory.