Information processing deficits in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, inattentive type, and children with reading disability.
We examined the information processing capabilities of children diagnosed with the inattentive subtype of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who had been characterized as having a sluggish cognitive tempo. Children referred for school-related problems (n = 81) and nonreferred community controls (n = 149) participated. Of the referred children, 24 met criteria for ADHD, 42 met criteria for reading disability (RD), and 9 of these were comorbid for RD and ADHD. Children with ADHD differed from those without ADHD on a visual search task but not on an auditory processing task; the reverse was true for children with RD. Decomposition of the visual search task into component operations demonstrated that children in the ADHD group had a slow processing rate that was not attributable to inattention. The children with ADHD were not globally poor at information processing or inattentive, but they demonstrated diminished speed of visual processing.
Weiler
Michael David
MD
Department of Psychiatry, Learning Disabilities Research Center, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Weiler_m@tch.harvard.edu
Bernstein
Jane Holmes
JH
Bellinger
David
D
Waber
Deborah P
DP
D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D001307:Auditory Perception; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D014796:Visual Perception