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Test of two views of impulsivity in hyperactive and conduct‐disordered children
Author(s) -
Leung Patrick W L.,
Connolly Kevin J.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1997.tb07492.x
Subject(s) - impulsivity , psychology , developmental psychology , audiology , perception , attention deficit , clinical psychology , medicine , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , neuroscience
The nature of impulsivity in hyperactive and conduct‐disordered children was examined in two experiments, one involving a priming task, the other a delayed reaction time task. Four groups of children, aged 7 to 8 years and with IQs in the normal range, were recruited for study: (1) a pure hyperactive group (HA), (2) a hyperactive/conduct‐disordered group (HA+CD), (3) a pure conduct‐disordered group (CD), and (4) a normal control group (N). When the stimulus configuration and presentation were simple and well organized, none of the three clinical groups displayed any sign of impulsivity at the input/perceptual stage; there was no tendency to rush responding before adequate consideration of the relevant stimuli, i.e. a trading of accuracy for speed. Instead, the HA children were found to be disinhibited at the output/motor stage, i.e. failing to temporarily withhold activated responses. This deficit was found to be specific to the HA children; it was not observed in the CD and HA+CD children.