Abstract
This paper updates the author's earlier hypothesis that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) reflects underactivity in Gray's Behavioral Inhibition System. Five areas of research are reviewed: (1) studies using the stop-signal task, (2) studies of errors of commission, (3) a study of inhibition indexed by eye movements, (4) a neuroimaging study of the corpus callosum, and (5) a study on the prediction of response to methylphenidate. Data from the many different dependent variables in these studies are interpreted as supporting disinhibition as a core deficit in ADHD.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Barkley, R. A. (1994). Impaired delayed responding: A unified theory of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In D. K. Routh (Ed.), Disruptive behavior disorders in childhood (pp. 11–58). New York: Plenum Press.
Beery, S. H. (1994). Behavioral disinhibition, anxiety and response to methyl-phenidate and behavior intervention in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL.
Bronowski, J. (1977). Human and animal languages. A sense of the future (pp. 104–131). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Daugherty, T. K., & Quay, H. C. (1991). Response preservation and delayed responding in childhood behavior disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 453–461.
Daugherty, T. K., Quay, H. C., & Ramos, L. (1993). Response perseveration, inhibitory control and central dopaminergic activity in childhood behavior disorders. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 154, 177–188.
Douglas, V. I. (1985). The response of ADD children to reinforcement: Theoretical and clinical implications. In L. M. Bloomingdale (Ed.), Attention deficit disorder: Identification, course and rationale (pp. 49–66). New York: Spectrum.
Giedd J. N., Castellanos, F. X., Casey, B. J., Kozuch, P., King, A. C., Hamburger, S. D., & Rapoport, J. L. (1994). Quantitative morphology of the corpus collosum in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 15, 665–669.
Gray, J. A. (1985). Issues in the neuropsychology of anxiety. In A. H. Tuma & J. D. Maser (Eds.), Anxiety and the anxiety disorders. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Gray, J. A. (1987). The psychology of fear and stress. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Gray, J. A. (1991). Neural systems, emotion and personality. In J. Madden (Ed.), Neurobiology of learning, emotion and affect. (pp. 273–306). New York: Raven Press.
Hunt, R. D., Arnsten, A. F. T., & Asbell, M. (1995). An open trial of Guanfacine in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 50–54.
Iaboni, F., Douglas, V. I., & Baker, A. G. (1995). Effects of reward and response cost on inhibition in ADHD children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 232–240.
Lahey, B. B., & Carlson, C. L. (1991). Validity of the diagnostic category of attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity: A review of the literature. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 24, 110–120.
Logan, G. D., Cowan, W. B., & Davis, K. A. (1984). On the ability to inhibit thought and action: A theory of act of control. Psychological Review, 91, 295–327.
Oosterlaan, J., & Sergeant, J. A. (1996). Inhibition in ADHD, anxious and aggressive children: A biologically based model of child psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24, 19–36.
Pliszka, S. R. (1989). Effects of anxiety on cognition, behavior and stimulant response in ADHD. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 882–887.
Pliszka, S. R., & Borcherding, S. H. (1995). The stop-signal task in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety. Unpublished manuscript.
Quay, H. C. (1988a). Attention deficit disorder and the behavioral inhibition system: The relevance of the neuropsychological theory of Jeffrey A. Gray. In L. M. Bloomingdale & J. Sergeant (Eds.), Attention deficit disorder Criteria, cognition, intervention (pp. 117–125). Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
Quay, H. C. (1988b). The behavioral reward and inhibition systems in childhood behavior disorders. In L. M. Bloomingdale (Ed.), Attention deficit disorder. Vol. 3: New research in attention, treatment and psychopharmacology (pp. 176–186). Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
Quay, H. C. (1993). The psychobiology of undersocialized aggressive conduct disorder: A theoretical perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 165–180.
Ross, R. G., Hommer, D., Breiger, D., Varley, C., & Radant, A. (1994). Eye movement task related to frontal lobe functioning in children with attention deficit disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 869–874.
Sanders, A. F. (1983). Towards a model of stress and human performance. Acta Psychologica, 53, 61–97.
Schacbar, R. J., & Logan, G. D. (1990). Impulsivity and inhibitory control in normal development and childhood psychopathology. Developmental Psychology, 26, 710–720.
Schachar, R. J., Tannock, R., Marriott, M., & Logan, G. (1995). Deficient inhibitory control and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23, 411–437.
Sergeant, J. A., & Van der Meere, J. (1990). Convergence of approaches in localizing the hyperactivity deficit. In B. B. Lahey & A. E. Kazdin (Eds.), Advances in clinical child psychology (Vol. 13, pp. 207–240). New York: Plenum Press.
Shapiro, S. K., Quay, H. C., Hogan, A. E., & Schwartz, K. P. (1988). Response perseveration and delayed responding in undersocialized aggressive conduct disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 371–373.
Shue, K. L., & Douglas, V. I. (1992). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and the frontal lobe syndrome. Brain and Cognition, 20, 104–124.
Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (1995). Disambiguating inhibitory dysfunction in childhood hyperactivity. In J. Sergeant (Ed.), Eunethydis: European approaches to hyperkinetic disorder (pp. 209–223). Amsterdam: The editor.
Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S., Taylor, E., Sembi, S., & Smith, J. (1992). Hyperactivity and delay aversion—I. The effect of delay in choice. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33, 387–398.
Tannock, R., Schachar, R. J., Carr, R. P., Chajczyk, D., & Logan, G. D. (1989). Effects of methylphenidate on inhibitory control in hyperactive children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 17, 473–491.
Tannock, R., Schachar, R. J., & Logan, G. (1995). Methylphenidate and cognitive flexibility: Dissociated dose effects in hyperactive children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23, 235–266.
Trommer, B. L., Hoeppner, J. B., Lorber, R., & Armstrong, K. J. (1988). The go-no-go paradigm in attention deficit disorder. Annals of Neurology, 24, 610–614.
Zentall, S. S., & Zentall, T. R. (1983). Optimal stimulation: A model of disordered activity and performance in normal and deviant children. Psychological Bulletin, 94, 446–471.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Quay, H.C. Inhibition and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. J Abnorm Child Psychol 25, 7–13 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025799122529
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025799122529