Trump’s Perfect Cognitive Test Score

In response to New York Times story on 17 January 2018

The test administered to President Trump appears to be one of a number of tests used to gain an indication of cognitive capacity and impairment. On its own it Is not considered a particularly reliable indicator, but it is valuable when administered at intervals to measure rates of cognitive deterioration.

Most importantly it must be stressed that a test of cognitive capacity, is not used to determine whether a person has a mental illness or disorder. Testing Trump’s cognitive capacity basically means that he is capable of drawing reproductions of shapes, drawing a given time on a clock face, and able to recall words and subtract numbers. Being able to correctly answer the questions, if backed up by other evaluations may provide evidence supporting Trump’s capacity to make his own basic decisions. Such a result may also suggest that he does not have dementia, even if other assessments may suggest otherwise. For those reasons I have had occasion to declared people with excellent cognitive test scores legally incapable of making decisions for themselves.

To suggest that this test result tells us anything conclusive about Trump’s mental health is pure and utter spin. He may be able to count, remember a few words, read the time, and draw, but surely more is expected of the POTUS. His behaviour, statements, and decisions have been consistently bizarre and indicative of a number of psychiatric illnesses and behavioral disorders. None of these appear to have been assessed by Trump’s physician, who is not a psychiatrist.

In any event, are we really comfortable believing anything said by a Doctor who increased Trump’s height by an inch to prevent him falling into the obese category?