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Published on: December 7, 2018
Literature review: visual search by children with and without ADHD
Jennifer C Mullane1, Raymond M Klein
1Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. jcmullan@dal.ca
Objective:
To summarize the literature that has employed visual search tasks to assess automatic and effortful selective visual attention in children with and without ADHD.
Method:
Seven studies with a combined sample of 180 children with ADHD (M age = 10.9) and 193 normally developing children (M age = 10.8) are located.
Results:
Using a qualitative approach, the authors find no group difference in automatic search, but results are variable for effortful serial search. Using a novel, graphical approach, the authors find that the ADHD group demonstrated less efficient serial search. This overall effect is explored as a function of search display complexity. Children with ADHD search less efficiently at the lowest and highest levels of display complexity.
Conclusion:
Children with ADHD show impairments in aspects of their effortful visual selective attention, as measured by visual search.
