A divided attention experiment with pervasively hyperactive children

Task performance of 12 pervasive hyperactives and controls was studied in a divided attention reaction time experiment. The two groups differed with respect to task efficiency. The hyperactives were slower than controls, had more variable reaction times, and made more frequent errors. Task inefficiency could not be explained by a deficiency in divided attention or impulsive responding in the hyperactive group. Further, the observed differences in IQ between the groups could not account for the differential performance finding. It is concluded that input and/or output processes, probably in combination with energetical factors, might be disturbed in hyperactive children.The authors wish to thank L. Leertouwer for making the drawings, and the students Ellie Wekking and Sipke Boorsma for their selection procedure work. This research was supported by a grant from the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Pure Research (ZWO) and by the Professor Duijker Fund.