Seidel, William Thomas2025-03-272025-03-271988https://hdl.handle.net/1828/21702Attention has been acknowledged as playing a central role in the processing of information. Various clinical populations such as head injured, learning disabled and "hyperactive" are thought to be particularly susceptible to difficulties in attention. Despite the fact that attention can also affect the validity and interpretation of test results, neuropsychological assessments rarely evaluate attention in an objective manner. This is primarily due to the limited availability of tests that assess attention per se.; particularly without requiring additional cognitive skills such as memory or arithmetic abilities. The present research examined the possibility of using a popular research paradigm (Continuous Performance Test; CPT) as a clinical measure of attention for children. The specific CPT developed (i.e., CCPT) required children to attend to letters which were presented individually on a computer monitor and respond whenever a predetermined target letter occurred. The CCPT consisted of two subtests each with individual targets and each lasting for 15 minutes. The task was administered to 128 "normal" children and 25 children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The results of analyses on the, normative sample indicated that CCPT performance improved with age and was also related to teacher ratings of school performance. CCPT performance was found to be significantly correlated with some Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) subtests that have traditionally been found related to an "attention" factor and not significantly correlated with a WISC-R subtest which is poorly related to this "attention" factor. Analyses of data from the Conners Parent and Teacher Questionnaires indicated that CCPT performance was significantly correlated with those subscales related to attention, but not subscales related to nonattentional dimensions. Comparison of the ADD group and a control group matched by gender, age, IQ and SES indicated that the ADD group performed significantly more poorly on the CCPT. Furthermore, clinical cut-off scores were devised which identified 73.9% of the ADD group and 4.0% of the Normative sample as "impair ed". Medication that enhances attention was found to also improve CCPT performance in ADD children. Finally, analyses of both internal consistency and temporal stability provided preliminary support for adequate reliability of the CCPT.enAvailable to the World Wide WebThesis