Controlled processing and vigilance in hyperactivity: Time will tell

This paper reviews the concept of sustained attention, placing it within a theoretical framework in which deficits of attention are conceived of as deficits of controlled information processing. Two types of deficit of sustained attention are distinguished: perceptual sensitivity and perceptual criterion. These two deficits are linked to a model of human performance that links controlled processes to the energetic pools: arousal and activation. Perceptual sensitivity (d) deficits are said to reflect arousal deficiencies, especially when observed in the early period of a vigil. Perceptual criterion deficits are associated with the activation pool and the response criterion measure . Despite clear evidence of perceptual deficiency in the hyperactive children to a greater extent than in the control group, and that performance in d declined with time on task, a significant interaction failed to occur between group classification and time on task. Thus, the results failed to support the hypothesis of a sustained attention deficit in hyperactives, since if hyperactives have a sustained attention deficit, both d and should have shown a significantly greater decline in the hyperactive group than in the controls with time on task.The authors wish to thank L. Leertouwer for making the drawings. This research was supported by grants from the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Pure Research (ZWO) and the Professor Duijker Fund.