Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T12:53:02.208Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An interdisciplinary approach to neuropsychological test construction: Perspectives from translation studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2010

H. ALLISON BENDER ,
ADOLFO MARTÍN GARCÍA  and
WILLIAM B. BARR
H. ALLISON BENDER*
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University Medical Center, New York, New York
ADOLFO MARTÍN GARCÍA
Affiliation:
Modern Languages Department, Mar del Plata’s National University, Mar del Plata, Argentina
WILLIAM B. BARR
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University Medical Center, New York, New York
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: H. Allison Bender, New York University Medical Center, Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Neuropsychology Service, New York, New York. E-mail: heidi.bender@nyumc.org
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Few neuropsychological tests have been developed specifically for non-English speakers. Rather, assessment measures are often derived from English source texts (STs) and translated into foreign language target texts (TTs). An abundant literature describes the potential for translation error occurring in test construction. While the neuropsychology community has striven to correct these inadequacies, interdisciplinary approaches to test translation have been largely ignored. Translation studies, which has roots in linguistics, semiotics, computer science, anthropology, and philosophy, may provide a much-needed framework for test development. We aim to apply specific aspects of Descriptive Translation Studies to present unique and heretofore unapplied frameworks to the socio-cultural conceptualizations of translated tests. In doing so, a more theoretical basis for test construction will be explored. To this end, translation theory can provide valuable insights toward the development of linguistically and culturally relevant neuropsychological test measures suitable for an increasingly diverse patient base. (JINS, 2010, 16, 227–232.)

Keywords

MulticulturalismImmigrantsLinguisticsNeuropsychologySemanticsPragmatics
Type
Critical Review
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 227 - 232
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ardila, A. (1995). Directions of research in cross-cultural neuropsychology. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 17, 143–150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Artiola i Fortuny, L., Garolera, M., Hermosillo Romo, D., Feldman, E., Fernandez Barillas, H., Keefe, R., et al. (2005). Research with Spanish-speaking populations in the United States: Lost in translation. A commentary and plea. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology 27, 555–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Artiola i Fortuny, L., & Mullaney, H.A. (1997). Neuropsychology with Spanish speakers: Language use and proficiency issues for test development. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 19, 615–622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barr, W.B., Bender, H.A., Morrison, C., Cruz-Laureano, D., Vazquez, B., & Kuzniecky, R. (2009). Diagnostic validity of neuropsychological test battery for Hispanic patients with epilepsy. Epilepsy and Behavior, 16, 479–483.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Catford, J.C. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation. London: OUP.Google Scholar
Cohen, R.A. (1969). Conceptual styles, culture conflict, and nonverbal tests. American Anthropologist, 71, 828–856.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeGiorgio, C., Pietsch-Escueta, S., Tsang, V., Corral-Leyva, G., Ng, L., Medina, M.T., et al. (2005). Sero-prevalence of Taenia solium cysticercosis and Taenia solium taeniasis in California, USA. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 111, 84–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Demers, P., Robillard, A., LaFleche, G., Nash, F., Heyman, A., & Fillenbaum, G. (1994). Translation of clinical and neuropsychological instruments into French: The CERAD experience. Age and Ageing, 23, 449–451.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., & McHugh, P.R. (1975). Mini mental state: A practical guide for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, J.R., Lenz, K.A., & Amolat, M.J. (2003). Gunshot fatalities in children and adolescents in New York City. Journal of Forensic Science, 48, 832–835.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giussani, C., Roux, F.-E., Lubrano, V., Gaini, S.M., & Bello, L. (2007). Review of language organization in bilingual patients: What can we learn from direct brain mapping? Acta Neurochirurgica (Wein), 149, 1109–1116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holmes, J.S. (1978). Describing literary translations: Models and methods. In Holmes, J., Lambert, J., & van den Broeck, R. (Eds.), Literature and Translation: New Perspectives in Literary Studies; reprinted in Holmes (1994), 81–91.Google Scholar
International Test Commission. (2000). ITC test adaptation guidelines. Retrieved February 27, 2009 from http://www.intestcom.org.Google Scholar
Judd, T., Capetillo, D., Carrión-Baralt, J., Mármol, L.M., San Miguel-Montes, L., Navarrete, M.G., Puente, A.E., et al. (2009). Professional considerations for improving the neuropsychological evaluation of Hispanics: A National Academy of Neuropsychology education paper. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 24, 127–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Munday, J. (2001). Main issues of translation studies. In Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications. London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Nida, E. (1964). Toward a Science of Translating: With Special Reference to Principles and Procedures Involved in Bible Translating. Leiden, The Netherlands: E.J. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paradis, M. 1995. When the interpretation does not fit the facts, alter the facts, not the interpretation! A comment on Pulvermüller and Schumann (1994). Language Learning, 45, 725–727.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pontón, M.O., Satz, P., Herrera, L., Young, R., Ortiz, F., D’Elia, L., et al. (1992). Modified Spanish version of the Boston Naming Test. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 3, 334.Google Scholar
Randolph, C. (1998a). RBANS Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Randolph, C. (1998b). RBANS Manual (US Spanish Research Edition). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Real Academia Española. (2003). Diccionario de la lengua española, vigésima segunda edición. Madrid: Espasa Calpe.Google Scholar
Teng, E.L., Hasegawa, K., Homma, A., Imai, Y., Larson, E., Graves, A., et al. (1994). The cognitive abilities screening instrument (CASI): A practical test for cross-cultural epidemiological studies of dementia. International Psychogeriatrics, 6, 45–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toury, G. (1980). In Search of a Theory of Translation. Tel Aviv, Israel: The Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics.Google Scholar
Toury, G. (1995). Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2000). Statistical abstract of the United States: 2000 Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census.Google Scholar
U.S. Bureau of the Census (2003). The Hispanic population in the United States: March 2002. Current Population Report. P20-545. Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census.Google Scholar
Valle, R. (1990). Cultural and ethnic issues in Alzheimer’s disease family research. In Light, E., & Lebowitz, B. (Eds.), Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment and Family Stress (pp. 122–154). London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
White, H., Boden-Albala, B., Wang, C., Elkind, M.S., Rundek, T., Wright, C.B., et al. (2005). Ischemic stroke subtype incidence among whites, blacks, and Hispanics: The Northern Manhattan Study. Circulation, 111, 1327–1331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zahuranec, D.B., Brown, D.L., Lisabeth, L.D., Gonzales, N.R., Longwell, P.J., Eden, S.V., et al. (2006). Differences in intracerebral hemorrhage between Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Neurology, 66, 30–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed