Date of Award

3-2001

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Kathleen Gathercoal, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Leonardo Marmol, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Christopher Koch, Ph.D.

Abstract

This research sought to test predictions from Barkley's (1997) theory of disinhibition in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To this end, the performance differences among younger and older children with and without ADHD were measured. The testing paradigm used in this study was originally developed by Hale, Bronik, and Fry (1997), who sought to measure the verbal and spatial working memory differences in school age children. In this study, ADHD children performed significantly worse on the tasks than did non-ADHD children, indicating that the working memory of the children with ADHD was more subject to interference. Also, younger children performed significantly worse on the tasks than did older children. Finally, older ADHD children performed worse than younger non-ADHD children within testing paradigm. These results provide some support for Barkley's theory of disinhibition.

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