Abstract
Automated continuous performance tests(CPT) are gaining popularity as aids to the diagnosis of ADD. We administered a commercially available visual CPT to 40 children who met the DSM-III criteria for ADD (mean age 9.7 yrs, mean Connors PSQ score 17.2) and found that 35% performed within the normal range and would thus go undetected by this measure. Therefore, 14 additional ADD children (mean age 9.0 yrs, mean Connors PSQ score 17.2) underwent neuropsychological testing to determine the relationship between cognitive variables and two measures of CPT performance: total correct responses (i.e., attentiveness) and total commission errors (i.e., impulsivity). Abstract reasoning (e.g., Category test) was found to be positively related to total correct responses (r=.57;N=12;p<.05) and inversely related to total commission errors (r= -,54;N=12;p<.05). Measures of nonverbal problem-solving (e.g., Object Assembly and Block Design subtests of the WISC-R) were positively related to correct responses (r=.67;N=11,;p<.02 and r=.66;N=11;p<.02, respectively). Those children who performed in the abnormal range on the CPT accounted for the poorest performances on the measures of verbal and non-verbal problem-solving, and IQ scores. These results suggest that performance on a CPT is not independent of higher level cognitive factors and is thus not purely a function of sustained attention and/or the ability to inhibit impulsive responding. Therefore, caution must be used in the interpretation of CPT performance in the diagnosis and treatment of ADD.
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Tromner, B., Larber, R., Armstrong, K. et al. NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF A CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE TASK IN ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER (ADD). Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 185 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00112
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00112