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Assessing inattention and impulsivity in children during the Go/NoGo task
Author(s) -
Bezdjian Serena,
Baker Laura A.,
Lozano Dora Isabel,
Raine Adrian
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1348/026151008x314919
Subject(s) - impulsivity , psychology , task (project management) , developmental psychology , uncorrelated , continuous performance task , cognition , psychiatry , statistics , mathematics , management , economics
Behavioural performance in the Go/NoGo task was compared with caregiver and teacher reports of inattention and hyperactivity‐impulsivity in 1,151 children ( N =557 boys; N =594 girls) age 9–10 years old. Errors of commission (NoGo errors) were significantly correlated with symptom counts of hyperactivity‐impulsivity, while errors of omission (Go errors) were significantly correlated with symptom counts for inattention in both caregiver and teacher reports. Cross‐correlations were also evident, however, such that errors of commission were related to inattention symptoms, and errors of omission were related to hyperactivity‐impulsivity. Moreover, hyperactivity‐impulsivity and inattention symptoms were highly intercorrelated in both caregiver ( r =.52) and teacher reports ( r =.70), while errors of commission and omission were virtually uncorrelated in the Go/NoGo task ( r =.06). The results highlight the difficulty in disentangling hyperactivity‐impulsivity and inattention in questionnaires, and suggest that these constructs may be more clearly distinguished in laboratory measures such as the Go/NoGo task.