Continuous Processing Task (CPT) performance in children with attention deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity: effects of rate and control of pacing

This study investigated the effects of task pacing on the cognitive performance of ADD/WO (n=8), ADD/H (n=l0), and normal control (n=l2) children on a continuous processing task (CPT). In the CPT, each child was exposed to fast (500ms), medium (l0O0ms), slow (2000mS), and self-paced conditions. Performance was measured as number of omission errors, number of commission errors, number of specific types of commission errors, reaction time, and rate of self-pacing. The ADD/H group had a significantly slower mean RT than the normal control group. However, groups did not differ on omission or commission errors, and there were no group by pacing condition or group by (non-target) sequence interactions. Reasons for the appearance of group differences on mean RT without group differences on accuracy are discussed in terms of subject and task characteristics.