A Review of the Validity of Laboratory Cognitive Tasks Used to Assess Symptoms of ADHD
Abstract
Reviewed the validity of frequently used laboratory assessment measures of ADHD symptoms using research published since 1991. Emphasized examining the validity of the tasks as they are commonly used by clinicians and researchers. Tasks evaluated included the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and the Gordon Diagnostic System (GDS), the Children's Checking Task (CCT), Delay of Gratification Tasks, the Choice-Delay Task, (C-DT), and the Stop Signal Task (SST). Results showed that the CPT, C-DT, and the SST had the most support, yet further efforts to evaluate the validity of these measures are needed before they can be used for more than experimental purposes.
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Children with ADHD tend to make more errors of false rejection and false alarm than children without ADHD.
“Children with ADHD tend to make more errors of false rejection (i.e., not pressing a key when they are supposed to do so) and false alarm (i.e., pressing a key when they are not supposed to do so) than children without ADHD (Nichols & Waschbusch, 2004).”
From Implementation Intentions Facilitate Response Inhibition in Children with ADHD (2008) · cites this paper as Nichols & Waschbusch, 2004
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“The stop signal test measures capacity to suppress an initiated movement and is frequently used for measuring executive functions in ADHD (Nichols and Waschbusch, 2004; Alderson et al., 2007).”
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- Authors
- Nichols, S. L., & Waschbusch, D. A.
- Affiliations
- Dalhousie University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Waschbusch, Daniel A.
- Venue
- Child Psychiatry and Human Development
- Published
- 2004-06
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 297-315
- ISSN
- 0009-398X (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3327
- OpenAlex
- W2018817659
- Cited by
- 165
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 4.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Child Psychiatry & Human Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, validity, continuous performance test, delay of gratification, stop-signal task, impulsivity, executive function
- MeSH terms
- Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Cognition Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Reproducibility of Results
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