APA Dictionary of Psychology

a rating scale, used primarily in rehabilitation facilities to monitor the rehabilitative progress of individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, that measures arousal and awareness, cognitive ability, dependence on others, and psychosocial adaptability. Each of the eight items on the scale (eye opening, communication ability, motor response, feeding, toileting, grooming, level of functioning in self-care, and employability) is assigned a value from 0 to 3, 4, or 5. These values are then added together to obtain a total score, which may range from 0 (no disability) to 29 (extreme vegetative state). [originally developed in 1982 by psychiatrist Maurice Rappaport (1926–2008) and colleagues]