NEPSY-II Reference — Barber Sped Hub

Score Classification System

Scaled Score	Percentile Rank	Classification
13–19	>75th	Above Expected Level
8–12	26–75th	At Expected Level
6–7	11–25th	Borderline
4–5	3–10th	Below Expected Level
1–3	≤2nd	Well Below Expected Level

Note: The NEPSY-II yields no global composite score. All interpretation is at the domain and subtest level. Primary, Process, Contrast, and Behavioral Observation scores are available; only primary scaled scores are entered in the report starter. When performance is in the lower ranges, language such as "has some difficulties," "has difficulties," or "has great difficulties" on a task may be more parent-friendly than classification labels alone.

Domains & Subtests

Subtest	Abbr	Ages	What It Measures
Animal Sorting	AS	7–16	Concept formation, self-initiated categorization, and cognitive flexibility. Child sorts cards into two groups using self-generated criteria. Measures initiation, cognitive flexibility, and self-monitoring.
Auditory Attention	AA	5–16	Selective auditory attention and vigilance. Child touches a target circle when hearing target words in a series. Part 1 of a two-part subtest.
Response Set	RS	7–16	Shift and maintain a new response set; inhibition and working memory. Part 2 of Auditory Attention — requires responding to matching OR contrasting stimuli.
Clocks	CL	7–16	Planning, organization, visuospatial/visuomotor skills, and concept of time. Child draws clock hands or reads analog clocks. Integrates multiple cognitive demands.
Design Fluency	DF	5–12	Generative fluency, initiation, and cognitive flexibility. Child generates unique designs within a time limit by connecting dots in two arrays (structured and random).
Inhibition — Naming	IN	5–16	Automatic naming speed (naming condition). Child names shapes or arrows as quickly as possible. Baseline for inhibitory control. Low scores = slow processing or naming difficulty.
Inhibition — Inhibition	II	5–16	Inhibit automatic responses in favor of novel responses (inhibition condition). Child provides an alternate response (opposite of what they see). Low scores = poor inhibitory control.
Inhibition — Switching	IS	5–16	Inhibitory control with cognitive flexibility (switching condition). Child alternates between naming and inhibitory responses. Low scores = poor flexibility and inhibitory control.
Word Generation — Semantic	WG	3–16	Verbal productivity; generate words by semantic category within 60 seconds. Measures language production initiation, executive control, and semantic knowledge.
Word Generation — Initial Letter	WG	3–16	Verbal productivity; generate words by initial letter within 60 seconds. More phonologically demanding than semantic condition; measures executive control of language.
Statue (EC)	ST	3–6	Motor persistence and inhibition. Child maintains a body position with eyes closed for 75 seconds while inhibiting response to sound distractors. Preschool inhibitory control measure.

Interpretation note: Low scores in this domain warrant investigation of whether deficits are primarily in simple attention vs. more complex self-monitoring (EF). Children with A&EF difficulties may find the NEPSY-II motivating — classroom demands are greater. Supplement with teacher/parent interviews and classroom observations.

Subtest	Abbr	Ages	What It Measures
Body Part Naming & Identification	BPN/BPI	3–4	Confrontation naming and name recognition. Naming items = expressive language/word finding; Identification items = receptive semantic knowledge. Early childhood language measure.
Comprehension of Instructions	CI	3–16	Receive, process, and execute oral instructions of increasing syntactic complexity. Child points to stimuli in response to oral commands. Measures receptive language and working memory for language.
Oromotor Sequences	OS	3–12	Oromotor coordination and programming for speech production. Child repeats articulatory sequences until the required number of repetitions is reached. Distinct from language comprehension/production.
Phonological Processing	PH	3–16	Two phonological tasks: Word Segment Recognition (identify words from segments) and Phonological Segmentation (elision at syllable and phoneme levels). Directly relevant to reading/spelling difficulty.
Repetition of Nonsense Words	RN	5–12	Phonological encoding/decoding and articulation. Child repeats nonsense words presented aloud. Measures ability to analyze and produce phonological forms; sensitive to language learning difficulties.
Speeded Naming	SN	3–16	Rapid semantic access and production for colors, shapes, sizes, letters, or numbers. Child names an array as quickly as possible. Measures automaticity of lexical access (RAN analog).
Word Generation	WG	3–16	Verbal productivity by semantic category or initial letter (60 seconds each). Shared with A&EF domain — classified here when language output is the primary referral concern.

Interpretation note: Language deficits often co-occur across cognitive domains (working memory, attention, verbal learning). Visual tasks that appear non-language-based (e.g., Animal Sorting) are often mediated through language. Low Language domain scores should prompt investigation of whether behavior or attention concerns are secondary to language difficulty.

Subtest	Abbr	Ages	What It Measures
List Memory	LM	7–12	Verbal learning, rate of learning, and interference effects. Word list read multiple times; child recalls after each presentation. Assesses encoding, supraspan learning, and susceptibility to interference.
List Memory Delayed	LMD	7–12	Long-term verbal memory retention. Administered 25–35 minutes after List Memory. Delayed recall lower than immediate recall suggests consolidation/retrieval concerns.
Memory for Designs	MD	3–16	Spatial memory for novel visual material. Child selects designs from a set of cards and places them on a grid matching a previously shown stimulus. Immediate visuospatial memory.
Memory for Designs Delayed	MDD	5–16	Long-term visuospatial memory. Same procedure as MD administered after a delay. Compare to immediate recall to assess consolidation.
Memory for Faces	MF	5–16	Encoding and recognition of facial features. Child views faces and selects them later from a recognition array. Sensitive to social perception deficits; relevant in autism evaluations.
Memory for Faces Delayed	MFD	5–16	Long-term facial memory. Same recognition procedure after a delay. Compare to MF to assess consolidation of social-perceptual information.
Memory for Names	MN	5–16	Learn names of children over three trials. Cards with drawings of children shown while names are read. Child recalls the name on each card. Assesses name-face associative learning.
Memory for Names Delayed	MND	5–16	Long-term retention of name-face associations learned in MN. Administered after a 25–35 minute delay. Consolidation of associative verbal-visual learning.
Narrative Memory	NM	3–16	Memory for organized verbal material under free recall, cued recall, and recognition conditions. Child listens to a story and retells it. Children with language difficulties perform poorly here.
Sentence Repetition	SR	3–6	Immediate verbal memory for sentences of increasing complexity and length. Preschool measure; assesses phonological working memory within syntactic structure.
Word List Interference	WI	7–16	Verbal working memory, repetition, and word recall following interference. Two word series presented; child repeats each series, then recalls the original series after an interfering series. Sensitive to working memory capacity.

Subtest	Abbr	Ages	What It Measures
Fingertip Tapping — Dominant	FT	5–16	Finger dexterity and motor speed (dominant hand). Part 1 assesses motor speed; Part 2 assesses rapid motor programming via copying finger sequences demonstrated by the examiner.
Fingertip Tapping — Nondominant	FT	5–16	Same procedure using the nondominant hand. Compare to dominant hand to identify lateralized motor difficulties. Relevant in dysgraphia evaluations.
Imitating Hand Positions	IH	3–12	Imitate hand and finger positions demonstrated by the examiner. Measures sensorimotor integration and manual motor coordination, distinct from social perception imitation concerns.
Manual Motor Sequences	MM	3–12	Imitate rhythmic hand movement sequences. Child repeats series of hand movements until the required number is completed. Assesses motor programming and procedural learning.
Visuomotor Precision	VP	3–12	Graphomotor speed and accuracy. Child draws lines inside tracks as quickly as possible using preferred hand. Directly relevant to handwriting concerns; assess completion time and errors separately.

Note: Visuomotor Precision is particularly relevant in dysgraphia evaluations as a measure of graphomotor speed and accuracy. Consider alongside handwriting observations, Design Copying (Visuospatial domain), and fine-motor history.

Subtest	Abbr	Ages	What It Measures
Affect Recognition	AR	3–16	Recognize and identify emotional states from photographs of children's faces (happy, sad, anger, fear, disgust, neutral) across four tasks. Sensitive to autism spectrum and social perception deficits.
Theory of Mind — Verbal	TM	3–16	Verbal ToM: understand belief, intention, deception, emotion, imagination, and pretending. Child answers questions about scenarios or pictures requiring perspective-taking. First of two ToM conditions.
Theory of Mind — Contextual	TM	3–16	Contextual ToM: identify the appropriate affect of a person in a picture depicting a social context, selecting from four photographs. Requires integration of context with emotional understanding.

AU evaluation note: Primary processes in social delays/impairments: Affect Recognition, Inhibition, Theory of Mind, and Cognitive Flexibility. Deficits here should be interpreted in context of the full AU eligibility picture (ADOS-2, parent/teacher rating scales, behavioral observations) — not in isolation.

Subtest	Abbr	Ages	What It Measures
Arrows	AW	5–16	Judge line orientation. Child identifies which arrow in an array points to the center of a target. Measures visuospatial judgment without motor demands.
Block Construction	BC	3–16	Visuospatial and visuomotor ability to reproduce 3D constructions from models or 2D drawings. Timed. Integrates visual analysis with manual construction.
Design Copying	DC	3–16	Copy 2D geometric figures. Motor and visual-perceptual skills. Relevant in dysgraphia evaluations alongside Visuomotor Precision; compare to assess motor vs. perceptual contributions.
Geometric Puzzles	GP	3–16	Mental rotation, visuospatial analysis, attention to detail. Child matches shapes outside a grid to shapes within it. No motor demands — pure visuospatial perception and reasoning.
Picture Puzzles	PP	7–16	Visual discrimination, spatial localization, and visual scanning. Large picture divided by a grid; child identifies where smaller sections come from. Part-whole relationships and visual search.
Route Finding	RF	5–12	Visual-spatial relations and directionality. Child finds a target house in a schematic map using a simpler route map. Measures spatial navigation and transfer of spatial information.

Subtest Interpretation Hypotheses

Domain structure organized consistent with the A&EF and Language domains in the NEPSY-II. Descriptions below are paraphrased summaries for professional reference — always integrate with the full evaluation picture, ecological data, and the official NEPSY-II manual (Korkman, Kirk & Kemp, 2007, Pearson).

Low Score	Interpretation Hypothesis
Animal Sorting	Poor initiation, cognitive flexibility, and self-monitoring; or poor conceptual reasoning or semantic knowledge
Auditory Attention	Poor selective and sustained attention; may indicate slow responding or poor inhibition
Response Set	Poor selective and sustained attention and inhibition; poor working memory; may indicate slow response speed
Clocks	Poor planning and organization, clock drawing or clock reading ability, or visuospatial skills
Design Fluency	Impaired initiation and productivity; poor cognitive flexibility
Inhibition — Naming (slow time + few errors)	Slow psychomotor speed or a specific problem related to accessing semantic information
Inhibition — Naming (slow time + high errors)	Naming problem or poor self-monitoring
Inhibition — Inhibition (slow + few errors)	Inhibitory demands slow down cognitive processing speed
Inhibition — Inhibition (slow + high errors)	Impulsive response style with poorly controlled output
Inhibition — Switching (slow + few errors)	Cognitive processing is slowed by switching demands
Inhibition — Switching (slow + high errors)	Switching demands result in poor inhibition and impulsive approach; problems with cognitive flexibility
Statue	Poor overall inhibitory ability (motor persistence)

Low Score	Interpretation Hypothesis
Body Part Naming	Poor word finding, expressive language, or vocabulary
Body Part Identification	Poorly developed semantic knowledge (general or specific to body parts)
Comprehension of Instructions	Poor linguistic or syntactic knowledge and ability to follow multistep commands
Oromotor Sequences	Poor motor programming for speech production
Phonological Processing	Poor phonological awareness and processing
Repetition of Nonsense Words	Poor ability to analyze or produce words phonologically, or to articulate novel words
Speeded Naming	Poor automaticity of lexical access; slow processing speed; or poor naming ability
Word Generation (Semantic or Initial Letter)	Poor executive control of language production; or poor initiative and ideation

Referral Battery Guide

Select subtests based on age, referral question, and time constraints. These referral batteries represent starting points — not required sets.

General Referral

Clinically sensitive subtests across all domains except Social Perception. Used when problem is vague or involves multiple issues.

~45 min (3–4 yr) · ~75 min (5–16 yr)

Learning Differences — Reading

Phonological processing, speeded naming, working memory, verbal learning, attention, and executive functions. Differentiates reading disorder from math and language disorders.

~40 min (3–4 yr) · ~80 min (5–16 yr)

Learning Differences — Mathematics

Attention, executive functions, visual-perceptual skills, visual memory, and working memory. Differentiates math disorder from reading disorder.

~45 min (3–4 yr) · ~90 min (5–16 yr)

Attention / Concentration

Most sensitive tests for ADHD: attention, executive functioning, and general processing speed. Relevant to OHI eligibility evaluations.

~40 min (3–4 yr) · ~75 min (5–16 yr)

Behavior Management (ED)

Cognitive flexibility, impulse control, language skills, and social perception. Used when considering Emotionally Disturbed eligibility.

~35 min (3–4 yr) · ~75 min (5–16 yr)

Language Delays / Disorders

Language comprehension and production, articulation, working memory, and verbal memory. Used with language referral history.

~50 min (3–4 yr) · ~75 min (5–16 yr)

Perceptual / Motor Delays

Fine-motor control, oromotor skills, visuomotor integration, visual-spatial processing, visual memory, visual construction, attention, EF.

~60 min (3–4 yr) · ~90 min (5–16 yr)

Social / Interpersonal Differences (AU)

Social perception, language, EF, visuospatial skills, fine motor, and memory. Designed to differentiate autism/Asperger's from controls.

~75 min (3–4 yr) · ~125 min (5–16 yr)

School Readiness (Ages 3–6)

Early language skills, fine-motor control, visuomotor construction, and executive functioning. For Pre-K/K cognitive delay screening.

~60 min (3–6 yr only)

Reference: Korkman, M., Kirk, U., & Kemp, S. (2007). NEPSY-II: A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Pearson/PsychCorp. Subtest descriptions on this page are paraphrased summaries for professional reference by educational diagnosticians, grounded in the NEPSY-II domain framework. Consult the official NEPSY-II Clinical and Interpretive Manual (Korkman, Kirk & Kemp, 2007, Pearson/PsychCorp) for complete administration, scoring, and normative interpretation guidance. Barber Sped Hub is an independent diagnostic reference and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pearson.

🧠 NEPSY-II Reference