Abstract
The ability to rapidly reorient attention in the auditory modality was studied in hyperactive children. Hyperactive and nonhyperactive subjects matched on age, sex, and IQ listened to dichotically presented lists for prespecified targets. Reorientation was studied by comparing performance on trials requiring subjects to reorient their attention during a list to performance on trials requiring no switching of attention. The results indicate that although nonhyperactive children were temporarily disrupted by the switch, they eventually reoriented to the cued ear. In contrast, once hyperactive children were disrupted by the switch, they did not reorient to the cued ear. As the pattern in performance comparing hyperactive and nonhyperactive subjects resembles the pattern previously found in comparing younger and older subjects, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that the auditory reorientation skills of hyperactive children are developmentally immature.
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We wish to thank the parents and children who participated in this study. We would especially like to thank Ben Williams for his assistance in subject recruitment and for his continuing encouragement. The efforts of Robbie Sharpe, who provided a very thoughtful review of the manuscript, and Bruce J. Avolio, who provided advice on the making of the dichotic tapes, were also very much appreciated. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the staffs of the St. Francis Episcopal School and the River Oaks Baptist School for their patience and long-term support. This article is based on the first author's dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. in psychology at Rice University.
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Pearson, D.A., Lane, D.M. & Swanson, J.M. Auditory attention switching in hyperactive children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 19, 479–492 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00919090
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00919090