title: Applicability of the Stop-Signal Task for Preschoolers With ADHD.
abstract: Inhibitory deficits of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are well documented. However, the specific inhibition ability (stopping an ongoing response) of preschoolers with ADHD is little reported. This study adopted the tracking stop-signal task to examine preschoolers with ADHD. Twenty-eight children with ADHD (M = 6.1 year, SD = 0.6) were compared to 31 comparison children (M = 6.0 year, SD = 0.6) on a measure of inhibitory control. The results showed that preschool children with ADHD performed worse than their control groups on the stop-signal task, using the omission error index, implying an attention deficit. However, preschool children with ADHD did not exhibit significantly slower stop-signal reaction times relative to the control group. The ability of controlled response inhibition of preschool children may not be mature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiching City, Taiwan; Department of Pediatrics, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taiching City, Taiwan homyilee@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hom-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Feng
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan; Department of Pediatrics, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jeng-Dau
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan.
authors.forename: En-Lin
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Inhibitory deficit; omission error; stop-signal reaction time