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[Max™]

I really do want to see what happens if you ask Trump who the president is.

[Maximum Spin]

I really do want to see what happens if you ask Trump who the president is.

Right? I have so many speculations!

[smjjames]

You definitely can based on speaking patterns, though it's generally a fairly off the cuff thing rather than a particularly careful diagnosis, far as I'm aware.

They're actually really easy to pass. It's not designed as an IQ test, it's just designed to detect dementia. If you couldn't get a perfect score, it would probably be something to worry about. My 85-year-old grandfather can.

Yeah... grandfather (who's a bit older than yours) had a quick one done along those lines -- probably not that specific one, but something similar -- fairly recently and got a "no problems we can see" results. Meanwhile he's regularly remembering things that didn't happen, sometimes not really capable of comprehending things like, "We can't help you here," and every once in a while has fairly major emotion control issues that weren't there five or ten years ago. Amongst other things.

... basically the tests don't seem to be very good at much beyond exactly what they were designed to do. Not a terribly reassuring thing, especially if you're dealing with a patient that has irregular symptoms rather than a persistent problem. If they're going neurologically haywire every few days instead of exactly when they're taking the test, or under conditions that aren't being replicated, well...

I know it can be like slurred speech, but I meant Trump's specific style of verbosity. And that's a good point regarding the test in your personal experience.

[SalmonGod]

I don't think you can make a diagnosis on the pattern of verbosity....

You definitely can based on speaking patterns, though it's generally a fairly off the cuff thing rather than a particularly careful diagnosis, far as I'm aware.

That's likely to be changing.

Here's one of my favorite TED talks regarding some breakthroughs on this very subject.

Modern data is scary powerful.

I really do highly recommend the talk.  It's not just about mental illness.  Goes deep on how quantitative study of words has lead to incredible insights on the progression of human thought through history.

[Frumple]

I know it can be like slurred speech, but I meant Trump's specific style of verbosity. And that's a good point regarding the test in your personal experience.

Nah, not so much slurred speech (though it definitely can be an indicator of something or another), but specific ways of presenting ideas, patterns in how you construct sentences, etc. If you're doing stuff like tripping over or contradicting stuff you said yesterday (or a few hours ago, or whatever), that can pretty easily be a sign of something not working right.

And ninja'd a bit, heh. I was trying to talk more about stuff like what that doc did, though. In person (or whatever), short term test vs anything more systematic.

[smjjames]

I know it can be like slurred speech, but I meant Trump's specific style of verbosity. And that's a good point regarding the test in your personal experience.

Nah, not so much slurred speech (though it definitely can be an indicator of something or another), but specific ways of presenting ideas, patterns in how you construct sentences, etc. If you're doing stuff like tripping over or contradicting stuff you said yesterday (or a few hours ago, or whatever), that can pretty easily be a sign of something not working right.

The bolded bit could apply to just about every politician ever. And yes, I know it's meant for everyday stuff outside of the context of politics.

[Loud Whispers]

To note, the cognitive test that Trump took includes questions like identifying what a train and bicycle have in common, picking out a picture of a camel, and drawing a clock.

What does this test actually test for? These do not seem to illustrate much of anything to me

[Frumple]

Dementia, if I haven't already forgot what it's for. Pretty basic cognitive functions degenerating or going haywire, generally.

[smjjames]

To note, the cognitive test that Trump took includes questions like identifying what a train and bicycle have in common, picking out a picture of a camel, and drawing a clock.

What does this test actually test for? These do not seem to illustrate much of anything to me

It's supposed to test for obvious signs of dementia or cognitive impairment, so I've read. However, as frumple attests to in his personal experience, just because you ace it doesn't mean that there isn't something else wrong. It's a test for a extremely specific thing that doesn't capture things like what frumple mentioned.

[Max™]

Worth tossing out that no, you don't have to be present in person to identify warning signs for shit like dementia, that's a bunch of nonsense. What's next, you can't identify cognitive impairment without living together for 6 months and co-signing a lease?

[smjjames]

It's just one of those tests that test for something extremely narrow and specific. I believe it's more of a diagnostic tool I believe than a definitive test.

[Sheb]

On the other hand, I trust the doctor who actually evaluated Trump more than a bunch of variously hostile dude on the internet with no qualifications.

[Frumple]

You've clearly never been directly exposed to the US healthcare system, then

... less tongue in cheek, folks are just expanding on what said doctor said actually means, since it can easily not be obvious to someone that hasn't actually been exposed to the sort of testing being talked about.

I'd trust that sort of doctor/test more, too, everything else being equal. Which should probably be obvious considering I piped up talking about a similar interaction with that sort of doctor... albeit one paid far less and with much less incentive to softball what they're saying.

[Dorsidwarf]

Mostly people were hostile because they assumed trump had scored "perfect" on a physical exam despite being a fat cheeto, when actually he scored perfect on a very simple dementia warning sign test, I believe.

[andrea]

He merely scored healthy on the physical test. Which, you know, it is not unreasonable. he may be overweight and with high cholesterol, but it seems he keeps it in check and it hasn't caused any actual damage yet.