Attentional difficulties in hyperactive and conduct-disordered children: a processing deficit.
A random population sample of 1479 Chinese boys from Hong Kong was screened and diagnosed in a two-stage epidemiological study. Four groups, age 7-8, were distinguished: (1) a pure hyperactive group (HA), (2) a mixed hyperactive/conduct-disordered group (HA+CD), (3) a pure conduct-disordered group (CD), and (4) a normal control group (N). On a visual search task, only the HA children showed a specific processing deficit in performance. This confirms the diagnostic value of such a deficit for hyperactivity, differentiating it from conduct disorder. The failure to find a similar deficit in the HA+CD group raises questions concerning the clinical identity of these children. Each group showed a performance decrement over time in the visual search task but the decrement did not differ between the four groups. This observation is not congruent with the reports of a short attention span in hyperactive children; explanations of this apparent contradiction are considered.
Leung
P W
PW
Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories.
Connolly
K J
KJ
D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time