Neuropsycholosy Review. Vol. 9, No. 1. 1999 Introduction: Alexander Luria's Continuing Influence on Worldwide Neuropsychology David E. Tupper1,2 As an introduction to this special issue, this article provides an overview of the worldwide influence of the work of Alexander R. Luria. a noted Russian neuropsychologist. Major themes and issues that he studied are reviewed, and the reasons for his strong worldwide influence are discussed. An overview of subsequent articles in this issue is provided. KEY WORDS: Assessment: bibliography; functional units: Luria; Russian neuropsychology; syndrome analysis. This special two-part series of articles is devoted to the international applications and extensions of the work of Alexander Romanovich Luria3 (1902-1977), a Russian neurologist and psychologist who has been rec- ognized worldwide as one of the preeminent neuropsy- chologists of the 20th century. This introduction has sev- eral purposes: First, it provides an overview of Luria's influence worldwide by reviewing some of the impor- tant psychological and neuropsychological themes that attracted Luria's interest in his lifetime, that appeared in his writings, and that continue to influence contemporary neuropsychology. Second, an attempt is made to identify how—and possibly why—Luria's work continues to have a strong international influence in neuropsychology, and a number of comparisons and contrasts are drawn between Lurian and contemporary North American perspectives. Finally, an overview of the remaining articles in this issue is presented. 1 Neuropsychology Section. Hennepin County Medical Center. Min- neapolis. MN. 2Correspondence should be directed to the author at Director. Neuropsy- chology Section (868B), Hennepin County Medical Center, 701 Park Avenue. Minneapolis. MN 55415. 3Translations of Luria's name have varied (e.g.. Luria, Luriia. Luriya. Lurija). In general, this special issue uses the most common English version of his name (Luria) because it is more frequently used and Luria signed his name in this manner. In a number of places, such as reference lists, the actual published spellings arc provided. The most accurate English transliterations from the Russian are Luriia or Luriya (according to the American Library Association [Beetle. 1949) and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names [Brozek and Slobin, 1972, p. 41]) Worldwide, neuropsychology has shown a dramatic increase in interest and activity within the field of psy- chology since the late 1960s. The study of brain-behavior relationships has attracted many well-qualified young psy- chology students, and training programs have flourished across North America, Europe, and other continents. Professional practice has also blossomed, with neuropsy- chologists working in a multitude of clinical and research centers, including universities, small and large hospitals, rehabilitation settings, various types of clinics, develop- mental centers, private professional practices, and other settings. Despite such professional development, contempo- rary neuropsychology still has not developed a consis- tent metatheory or paradigm (in the Kuhnian sense) to guide daily practice and future scientific development. To many neuropsychologists around the world, this need is why Luria's writings and ideas have been so important; Luria has helped add that metatheoretical perspective to neuropsychologists' understanding. In fact, in recent pa- pers by Solso and colleagues (Solso, 1985; Solso and Hoffman, 1991), Luria has been identified as the most frequently cited Soviet (Russian) psychology scholar in North America, with contemporary citations of Luria's work in American, Canadian, and British journals occur- ring at double the rate of that of other Soviet scholars. This multitude of citations is in marked contrast to the number of citations of Luria's works within his own country, where he is ranked number 12 and has about one-third the number of citations of other famous Soviet psychologists, includ- ing Lomov, Leont'ev, Rubinshtein, Vygotsky, and others. HMO-7308/99/0300(x)-(xx)] S 16.00/0 C Plenum Publishing Corporation 1