ON RESOURCE STRATEGY LIMITATIONS IN HYPERACTIVITY: COGNITIVE IMPULSIVITY RECONSIDERED

Abstract

Overactive and distractible (hyperactives), normoactive and distractible, and normoactive and attentive (controls) children were administered a high-speed visual search task. The display load was manipulated and all subjects were administered the task in three instruction conditions: speed, 'normal' and accuracy. Speed-accuracy trade-off curves indicated that the controls and distractibles conformed to the fast guess model, which relates speed and accuracy. Hyperactives partially conformed to this model. It is concluded that a structural process deficit is not indicated by these data in hyperactivity. Rather, the evidence suggests that a resource strategy defect may be characteristic of hyperactivity.