Cognitive Engagement and Story Comprehension in Typically Developing Children and Children With ADHD From Preschool Through Elementary School

• Published in: Developmental psychology 2006-11, Vol.42 (6), p.1206-1219
• Main Authors: Lorch, Elizabeth P, Milich, Richard, Astrin, Clarese C, Berthiaume, Kristen S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Factors; Analysis of Variance; Attention; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - physiopathology; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - psychology; Attention Deficit Disorders; Attention deficit disorders. Hyperactivity; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child clinical studies; Child Development; Child psychology; Child, Preschool; Childhood Development; Children; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive Development; Cognitive functioning; Cognitive Processes; Comparative Analysis; Comprehension; Comprehension - physiology; Developmental psychology; Elementary School Students; Engagement; Female; Human; Human Information Storage; Humans; Hyperactivity; Infant; Intelligence; Judgment - physiology; Learning disabilities; Listening Comprehension; Male; Medical sciences; Mental Recall - physiology; Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data; Preschool Children; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reaction Time; Reaction Time - physiology; Regression analysis; Schooling; Task Analysis; Television; Television Viewing; Time on Task
• ISSN: 0012-1649; 1939-0599
• DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.42.6.1206

The present study examined children's cognitive engagement with television as a function of the continuity of central or incidental content and whether this varied with age and clinical status. In Experiment 1, 9- to 11-year-old children's response times on a secondary task were slower the later a probe occurred in a sequence of central events, and response times predicted recall. Experiment 2 extended these results to 6- to 8-year-old children. Experiment 3 revealed that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) failed to show the pattern consistently observed for comparison children. The results support the hypothesis that typically developing children build a representation during viewing that reflects the causal structure of the televised story but that this skill is deficient in 4- to 9-year-old children with ADHD.