On-line story representation in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face an increased risk of poor achievement in school. Thus, knowledge of the cognitive processing abilities of children with ADHD is critical to understanding and improving their academic performance. Although many studies have focused on the specific nature of the attention deficit experienced by children with ADHD, few have examined higher order cognitive processing such as comprehension of stories. The present study examined the processes of encoding story information, building a story representation, and modifying a story representation in boys with ADHD and nonreferred boys. Boys were asked to narrate a story from a picture book twice. Boys with ADHD showed deficits in representing goals and goal plans in their narrations, as compared to nonreferred boys. Boys with ADHD also committed more errors than nonreferred boys, but did correct certain types of errors on their second telling. Implications are discussed in terms of future research needed to identify the cognitive deficits that account for these narrative deficits.
Renz
Kelly
K
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0044, USA.
Lorch
Elizabeth Pugzles
EP
Milich
Richard
R
Lemberger
Clarese
C
Bodner
Anna
A
Welsh
Richard
R
D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003210:Concept Formation; D005201:Fantasy; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009042:Motivation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D012660:Semantics; D014705:Verbal Behavior