TY - JOUR
T1 - Searching for the attention deficit in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
T2 - The case of visuospatial orienting
AU - Huang-Pollock, Cynthia L.
AU - Nigg, Joel T.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by NIMH fellowship MH12333 to Cynthia Huang-Pollock and by NIMH grant MH59105 to Joel Nigg. The authors thank Rick DeShon and Fred Oswald for statistical consultation.
PY - 2003/11
Y1 - 2003/11
N2 - We review all 14 extant studies of covert visuospatial attention in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (total N=248). Metaanalysis showed that intriguing but isolated findings of alerting or posterior disengage deficits were too small to reliably detect with the sample sizes typically employed. Posterior move and engage operations and the vigilance sustained attention process were normal in ADHD. For exogenous cues, effect sizes for group differences were homogeneously small across all repeated-measures conditions, as were calculations of cost, benefit, and validity effects. For endogenous cues, effect sizes were heterogeneous; however, calculations of cost, benefit, and validity effects were small and homogenous. The most parsimonious conclusion may be that ADHD is not characterized by significant visual orienting dysfunction, but questions remain about the extent of anterior lateralized effects in the combined subtype and about attentional functioning in the inattentive subtype.
AB - We review all 14 extant studies of covert visuospatial attention in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (total N=248). Metaanalysis showed that intriguing but isolated findings of alerting or posterior disengage deficits were too small to reliably detect with the sample sizes typically employed. Posterior move and engage operations and the vigilance sustained attention process were normal in ADHD. For exogenous cues, effect sizes for group differences were homogeneously small across all repeated-measures conditions, as were calculations of cost, benefit, and validity effects. For endogenous cues, effect sizes were heterogeneous; however, calculations of cost, benefit, and validity effects were small and homogenous. The most parsimonious conclusion may be that ADHD is not characterized by significant visual orienting dysfunction, but questions remain about the extent of anterior lateralized effects in the combined subtype and about attentional functioning in the inattentive subtype.
KW - ADHD
KW - Covert attention
KW - Visuospatial attention
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U2 - 10.1016/S0272-7358(03)00073-4
DO - 10.1016/S0272-7358(03)00073-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 14529699
AN - SCOPUS:0141757387
SN - 0272-7358
VL - 23
SP - 801
EP - 830
JO - Clinical Psychology Review
JF - Clinical Psychology Review
IS - 6
ER -