Students diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder--ADHD--suffer from deficits in cognitive function. Researchers already know that some students face inconsistent levels of attention, but they wanted to find out what other factors affect cognitive ability. Because there is no test available that identifies the physical presence of ADHD, psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians and other professionals rely on parents’ and teachers’ anecdotal reports of children and adults being tested.
Visual-Spatial Working Memory Span
Visual-spatial memory in ADHD patients is impaired, as shown by the Visual-Spatial Working Memory test. In a pilot study reported by the Department of Neuropediatrics, Karolinska Institute, the VSWM test does provide a strong measure of cognitive deficits in children with ADHD.
In this pilot study, the sensitivity of the VSWM was measured in conjunction with the Choice Reaction time or CRT and the Go/No Go test in children who had already been diagnosed with ADHD and children who did not have ADHD. Both groups completed testing with different results for each group, according to the Pub Med website.
Conner's Continuous Performance Test
Four different groups of adult college students underwent the Conner’s Continuous Performance Test after they referred themselves for comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations. The college students with ADHD made more omission errors on the CPT, reports the Educational Resources Information Center--ERIC--abstract.
The college students with ADHD also displayed a larger variability in their response times in comparison to the other groups. The response times of the college students with ADHD were longer, as well.
When their scores were measured without using parameters, significant differences became evident. ERIC concluded that the CPT produces reliable results when testing students with ADHD. Differences between students with ADHD and students with other psychiatric diagnoses were also apparent. Differences between students with ADHD and groups with other learning or cognitive disorders were not as evident.
Reading Comprehension Test
In new diagnostic reading tests conducted on children with ADHD and reading disabilities, researchers found a link between ADHD, inconsistent attention span and reading comprehension. The new tests rely on the relationship between test scores and levels of attention, along with the level of inconsistency in attention, according to the Education Resources Information Center--ERIC--abstract.
In children with a reading disability, the differences in test scores will not be seen because their performance on reading tests relies only on the difficulty of the material. Children with ADHD are more reliably diagnosed with this test because of the tests’ sensitivity to attention level. The Conner’s CPT is instrumental in measuring the inconsistent attention level.
