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Article
Response Style Differences in the Inattentive and Combined Subtypes of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Psychology Faculty Publications
  • Karen J. Derefinko, University of Kentucky
  • Zachary W. Adams, University of Kentucky
  • Richard Milich, University of Kentucky
  • Mark T. Fillmore, University of Kentucky
  • Elizabeth P. Lorch, University of Kentucky
  • Donald R. Lynam, Purdue University
Abstract

This study examined potential differences between the inattentive and combined ADHD subtypes using laboratory tasks assessing behavioral inhibitory processes. Seventy-five children completed two tasks of behavioral inhibition believed to isolate different processes: the cued reaction time task (CRT), a basic inhibition task, and the go/no-go task (GNG), a complex inhibition task that incorporates motivational contingencies. Three groups of participants were identified, including ADHD/Inattentive (n = 17), ADHD/Combined (n = 37), and comparison (n = 21). Results indicated that rather than showing behavioral inhibition deficits, the ADHD/I children appeared overly inhibited, as evidenced by slower reaction times across the two tasks and significantly higher errors of omission in the GNG task. Additionally, the ADHD/I children did not demonstrate cue dependency effects on the CRT task, suggesting that they were failing to incorporate relevant information before making a response. The sluggish and inhibited performance of the ADHD/I group challenges the idea that it is a subtype of ADHD.

Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2008
Disciplines
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1007/s10802-007-9207-3
Citation Information
Karen J. Derefinko, Zachary W. Adams, Richard Milich, Mark T. Fillmore, et al.. "Response Style Differences in the Inattentive and Combined Subtypes of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder" (2008)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/richard_milich/107/