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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2021; 79(08): 748-751
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2020-0606
Historical Note

A matter of quality: Kurt Goldstein‘s assessment of the abstract attitude after brain damage

Una cuestión de calidad: El examen de Kurt Goldstein de la actitud abstracta después de un daño cerebral
Stefan Frisch 
1   Pfalzklinikum, Department of Gerontopsychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Psychotherapy, Klingenmünster, Germany.
2   Goethe University, Institute of Psychology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
,
Alexandre Métraux 
3   Université de Lorraine, Archives Henri Poincaré, Nancy, France.
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ABSTRACT

Neurologist and psychiatrist Kurt Goldstein (1878-1965) made substantial contributions to neuropsychology in general and to the development of tests for the assessment of brain damage sequelae in particular. Unlike present-day neuropsychology’s psychometric orientation, Goldstein kept a critical distance to a mere quantitative evaluation. Eighty years ago, he impressively demonstrated his own, qualitatively oriented diagnostic approach both in a remarkable monograph and in a didactic film, in collaboration with psychologist Martin Scheerer (1900-1961). By modifying a classical paradigm for the assessment of deficits in visuospatial construction, the Block Design Test, the two authors developed the Goldstein-Scheerer Cube Test. This version characterizes itself by offering the patient different types of cues in order to reveal the nature of the deficit at stake. The test remains an impressive illustration of Goldstein’s most famous neuropsychological concept, viz. the human ability to abstract from a concrete situation: the abstract (or categorial) attitude.

RESUMEN

El neurólogo y psiquiatra Kurt Goldstein (1878-1965) hizo contribuciones sustanciales a la neuropsicología en general y al desarrollo de tests para el examen de las secuelas de daños cerebrales en particular. Contrariamente a la actual orientación psicométrica de la neuropsicología, Goldstein mantuvo una distancia crítica hacia una mera evaluación cuantitativa. Hace ochenta años, demostró de manera impresionante su propio enfoque diagnóstico cualitativo en una notable monografía y en una película didáctica, en colaboración con el psicólogo Martin Scheerer (1900-1961). Mediante la modificación de un paradigma clásico para la evaluación de déficits en la construcción visual espacial, el test de diseño en bloques, estos autores desarrollaron el test de cubo Goldstein-Scheerer. Esta versión se caracteriza por ofrecer tipos graduados de ayuda al paciente individual para revelar la naturaleza del déficit en juego. Además, la prueba sigue siendo una impresionante ilustración del concepto más famoso de Goldstein, a saber, la capacidad humana para abstraer de una situación determinada: la actitud abstracta.

Keywords:

Kurt Goldstein - Neuropsychological Tests - Neurocognitive disorders - Abstract attitude

Palabras-clave:

Kurt Goldstein - Test neuropsicológicos - Déficits neurocognitivos - Actitud abstracta

Authors’ contributions:

Both authors contributed equally to the writing, revising and final approval of the manuscript.




Publication History

Received: 07 January 2021

Accepted: 14 February 2021

Article published online:
01 June 2023

© 2021. Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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