12 - Dealing With the Threats of Third-Party Observation, Violations of Test Security, and Standing for The Scientific Basis of Our Field

The Inter-Organizational Practice Committee (IOPC) is a coalition of representatives of all of the major national Neuropsychology organizations with advocacy expertise and represents approximately 8,000 neuropsychologists in the United States. The IOPC developed a model of 360º advocacy to coordinate local, regional, and national resources for high-impact, efficient advocacy on issues of significant import. Maintaining the security and integrity of standardized testing materials and ensuring that standardized administration procedures, without third party observers present, are critically important in maintaining the clinical and scientific rigor upon which psychology and neuropsychology rely. Yet, neuropsychologists in medical-legal examinations are being ordered by legal authorities to allow Third Party Observation (TPO) with alarming frequency and to widely disseminate raw data and test materials to those who are not qualified to interpret them and have no legal obligation to protect them from disclosure to current and future examinees. Regrettably, this has become a successful legal strategy designed to exclude neuropsychologists from the courtroom by forcing them to recuse themselves based on their ethical responsibilities. Until now, these issues have lacked unified oversight and advocacy. For this reason, the IOPC mobilized the TPO 360º Task Force to improve the practice climate for Neuropsychologists nationally and to take a stand for the scientific basis of our field. Content experts will provide updates on advocacy strategy, interfacing with APA and the ethics code revision, and lessons learned from the diversity of perspectives in the field about TPO. This powerful panel discussion will equip neuropsychologists with the most comprehensive information to date as they seek to navigate the complexities of providing neuropsychological expertise in a medical-legal context.