title: Verbal fluency over time as a measure of automatic and controlled processing in children with ADHD.
abstract: The performance of ADHD children on semantic category fluency (SCF) versus initial letter fluency (ILF) tasks was examined. For each participant, word production was recorded for each 15-s time slice on each task. Performance on both fluency tasks was compared to test the hypothesis that children with ADHD are characterized by a performance deficit on the ILF task because performance on this task is less automated than performance on the SCF. Children classified with ADHD (N = 20) were compared to children with other psychopathology (N = 118) and healthy controls (N = 130). Results indicated that the groups could not be differentiated by the total number of words produced in 60 s in either fluency task. As hypothesized, a significant interaction of group by productivity over time by type of fluency task was found: ADHD children had more problems finding words in the first 15 s of the IFL than did children in the other two groups, and as compared with their performance on the SCF. Results were taken to indicate that children with ADHD symptoms show a delay in the development of automating skills for processing abstract verbal information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychology and Biopsychology, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands. p.hurks@np.unimaas.nl
authors.forename: P P M
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Hurks
authors.forename: J G M
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Hendriksen
authors.forename: J S H
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Vles
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Kalff
authors.forename: F J M
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Feron
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kroes
authors.forename: T M C B
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: van Zeben
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Steyaert
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jolles
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D012016:Reference Values; D012660:Semantics; D013060:Speech; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*