When Does Deficit Get Confused With Culture?

This workshop examines the evolution of clinical neuropsychology as fundamentally tied to cultural understanding, beginning with its historical foundations and development through the 20th century. We will explore how the Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests and APA Ethical Standards establish mandates for cultural competence that are often insufficiently implemented in practice. The workshop critically analyzes how traditional neuropsychological assessments rely on inadequately constructed concepts of neurocognitive abilities and deficits that fail to account for cultural diversity, environmental factors, and ecological influences on cognitive development. Participants will learn to identify how variables such as language background, acculturation, socioeconomic status, and cultural worldviews impact test performance and behavioral presentation, increasing the risk of misinterpreting cultural differences as deficits. We will examine sources of cross-cultural bias in neuropsychological testing and offer theoretical frameworks that can transform these challenges into practical strategies for more culturally sensitive evaluations. The workshop concludes by addressing long-term policy implications for the subspecialty of pediatric neuropsychology to ensure equitable assessment practices.