Cognitive deficits of all levels and varieties, and from most any etiology, are commonly associated with difficulties in everyday activities. These difficulties pose serious consequences for patients, caregivers, and the public. For example, among individuals with dementia, everyday functional difficulties have been linked to patient quality of life, frustration, depression (Adam, van der Linden, Jullerat, & Salmon, Reference Adam, van der Linden, Jullerat and Salmon2000; Espiritu, Rashid, Mast, Fitzgerald, Steinberg, & Lichtenberg, Reference Espiritu, Rashid, Mast, Fitzgerald, Steinberg and Lichtenberg2001; Hargrave, Reed, & Mungus, Reference Hargrave, Reed and Mungus2000), and institutionalization (Smith, Kokmen, & O’Brien, Reference Smith, Kokmen and O’Brien2000), as well as caregiver burden (DeBettignies, Mahurin, & Pirozzolo, Reference DeBettignies, Mahurin and Pirozzolo1990) and costs of care (Albert et al., Reference Albert, Michaels, Padilla, Pelton, Bell and Marder1999; Wolinsky, Callahan, Fitzgerald, & Johnson, Reference Wolinsky, Callahan, Fitzgerald and Johnson1993). Not surprisingly, neuropsychologists often are asked to address specific questions regarding their patients’ ability to function independently in their home, manage their finances, drive, work, and other activities of daily living (Rabin, Barr, & Burton, Reference Rabin, Barr and Burton2005). However, most neuropsychologists evaluate everyday functioning only briefly through a portion of their clinical interview or by using brief self/caregiver-report measures. In contrast to impairments in episodic memory and executive functioning, everyday functional difficulties are characterized in only very gross terms (e.g., no, mild, moderate, or severe overall impairment).

Because everyday functioning is not the primary focus of clinical neuropsychological evaluations or of most neuropsychology-related research, functional difficulties remain poorly understood, the ecological validity of traditional neuropsychological tests remains untested, and many neuropsychological recommendations lack empirical support. Even the most skilled and knowledgeable neuropsychologist must often guess the real-world impact of their clinical or experimental data. Marcotte and Grant’s new book is the first edited volume to come to the rescue! Neuropsychology of Everyday Functioning, written by leaders in functional research, attempts to fill this deep gap in our field.

Marcotte and Grant clearly state the aims of their book in the Preface. The volume sets out to review theoretical and methodological issues associated with the evaluation of everyday functioning (Part I), and to present the current literature related to everyday functioning for a wide range of neuropsychological disorders, such as dementia, traumatic brain injury, depression, schizophrenia (Part II). The first aim of the book is covered in eight chapters. The first three of these chapters focus on everyday functioning from three diverse perspectives: neuropsychology, human factors, and occupational therapy. Neuropsychologists will find the review of the neuropsychological literature to be comprehensive and sophisticated, with in-depth discussion of methodological issues such as ecological validity, measurement strategies, selection of appropriate normative data, and standardization techniques.

The chapters on human factors and occupational therapy introduce neuropsychologists to the jargon of these disciplines. More importantly, however, these chapters provide insight into the differential methods and theoretical perspectives across disciplines along with their overlap with neuropsychology in terms of the motivation to understand behavior in naturalistic settings. Personally, I found it quite helpful to have read Chapter 3 on occupational therapy (OT) just before giving a lecture at an OT research colloquium; the information in the chapter prepared me to present my data in the context of current themes and findings in the OT literature. I strongly encourage neuropsychologists interested in everyday functioning to read these chapters, as greater knowledge of OT and human factors/ergonomics will facilitate interdisciplinary communication and collaboration, which is so desperately needed to advance our understanding of everyday functioning and promote the development of effective interventions.

Part I includes five additional chapters that each focus on a specific functional ability or methodological consideration, including medication management, driving, instrumental activities of daily living, vocational functioning, and cultural factors. The chapters provide a clear introduction to these topics. I found Chapter 7 on driving, written by Rizzo and Kellison, to be especially exceptional. The chapter begins with a model for understanding driving difficulties and then provides a succinct yet comprehensive review of the sensory and cognitive constructs that are most relevant to driving. The chapter includes information from a range of literatures, including ophthalmology, decision-making, cognitive neuroscience, emotion, and personality. There is also discussion of technological advances that have improved driving research methodology as well as important public policy issues. I was impressed by the authors’ ability to communicate complex information from a broad range of fields in relatively few pages. I have little doubt that this chapter will aid clinical neuropsychologists in their discussion of driving-related issues with clients, families, and other clinicians. I also recommend this chapter to investigators who are beginning a research program on driving or are interested in including driving outcomes in their research studies. Additional highlights of Part I include the presentation of theoretical models for vocational functioning in Chapter 5 and the many helpful examples in Chapter 8 that clearly illustrate important cultural considerations pertaining to the evaluation of everyday functioning.

With respect to limitations, I thought that several important theoretical papers relevant to instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) were not cited in Part I. These include detailed case reports of patients with everyday action deficits written from a cognitive neuropsychology perspective (Buxbaum, Schwartz, & Carew, Reference Buxbaum, Schwartz and Carew1997; Humphreys & Forde, Reference Humphreys and Forde1998) as well as papers describing computational models of everyday tasks, such as coffee making and meal preparation (Botvinick & Plaut, Reference Botvinick and Plaut2004; Cooper, Schwartz, Yule, Warrick, & Shallice, Reference Cooper, Schwartz, Yule, Warrick and Shallice2005). This work has strongly influenced my own theoretical conceptualization of IADL deficits; interested individuals are encouraged to read the following accessible review papers on these topics (Cooper & Shallice, Reference Cooper and Shallice2000; Schwartz, Reference Schwartz2006). Not including this literature should in no way be viewed as a major limitation of Part I of this book. As stated earlier, a comprehensive volume on everyday functioning in neuropsychology fills a huge gap in our current literature. In my view, Marcotte and Grant successfully achieved their goal of presenting the current literature on the theoretical and methodological issues associated with the neuropsychological evaluation of everyday functioning. A more important mark of success, however, is that the chapters in Part I have the potential to stimulate much needed rigorous future research on the neuropsychology of everyday functioning.

Part II includes 10 chapters intended to present the current literature on everyday functioning in a range of specific populations. The coverage of this section was incredibly impressive, with numerous diverse disorders included. This section’s chapters are written in a fairly consistent format, with an initial introduction to the syndrome followed by description of the associated neuropsychological and functional deficits and suggestions for future research. Part II also includes a beautifully written chapter that describes health related quality of life and the complexities surrounding the relation among this construct, everyday functioning, and neuropsychological processes. Many additional important current topics are covered within the remaining chapters. For instance, Chapter 10 reviews issues related to cognitive training in healthy aging and mild cognitive impairment, and the potential impact of such training on everyday functioning. Chapter 14 (Lovell and Pardini) about sports related concussion and decisions regarding return to play also includes a detailed case presentation that meaningfully illustrates the major scientific points discussed earlier in the chapter. Chapter 17, on HIV-associated cognitive disorders, reviews the possible role of depression on everyday functioning, and there is a subsequent chapter that is entirely devoted to this topic. A stimulating chapter includes an update on the NIMH initiatives to improve cognitive/functional outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia. In the final section of the book, Marcotte and Grant recommend six specific topics for future research. It is my hope that neuropsychologists as well as scientists from a wide range of disciplines will follow the editors’ recommendations and pursue these exciting and important research questions.

In conclusion, my impression of Neuropsychology of Everyday Functioning is overwhelmingly positive. I am confident that the material in this book will aid clinicians in evaluating the ecological validity of their clinical assessments and in generating empirically supported recommendations for clients. Researchers will benefit from the comprehensive review of the burgeoning literature on everyday functioning. Even investigators whose research programs do not directly address functional abilities will find this volume to be a comprehensive summary that will stimulate thoughts on the functional impact of the neuropsychological constructs that they investigate. This book also could serve as an interesting text for a graduate seminar class. Such a course might spur future neuropsychologists to consider important functional issues early in their careers. In sum, I recommend that all neuropsychologists read this volume, as the information that it contains will certainly aid clinicians and researchers to improve the everyday functioning of our discipline.