http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
search for an objective diagnostic measure
Five computerized tasks were developed and administered to thirty children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and thirty normal children ages 5 through 12 to determine the ability of each experimental task in discriminating between ADHD and normal children. The five tasks (i.e., stimulus familiarization, sat shifting, visual continuous performance, auditory continuous performance, and simple reaction time) measured, to varying degrees, the facilitory and inhibitory components of attention, components that are believed to be primary features of ADHD. In an attempt to avoid the restriction of range in scores often found for normal subjects taking continuous performance tests, an adaptive-rate method, adjusting the rate of stimulus presentation according to the individual's performance, was also implemented. Data, evaluated through ANOVA, MANOVA, and multiple regression analysis, indicated that visual continuous performance, auditory continuous performance, set shifting, and simple reaction time tasks are valuable in distinguishing between children who have ADHD and those who do not. Children with ADHD demonstrated significantly more omissions, commissions, and false alarms as well as longer reaction times and less correct responses than the control group. An analysis of the signal-detection components of the visual and auditory continuous performance tasks using an adaptive-rate method of stimulus presentation revealed that discriminability indexes and response bias measures do indeed differentiate ADHD from normal groups of children. The future use of an adaptive-rate method similar to the one used in the present study was encouraged over the traditional version of the continuous performance task. The data also brought about insight into the neurobiology of attention suggesting that both facilitory and inhibitory processes contribute greatly to the behavioral manifestation of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The findings gave support to the attention deficit hypothesis of ADHD and were consistent with the notion that ADHD children suffer from an impulsive response style that accompanies, but is independent of the attentional disturbance.