Examination of the Role of Expectancies on Task Performance in College Students Concerned about ADHD

Prior research has shown that performance on cognitive tasks can be influenced by expectations (Smith & Sullivan, 2003 ; Suhr & Gunstad, 2002 , 2005 ). The current study examined whether cuing a belief about the diagnostic saliency of a cognitive task among young adults who expressed concern about having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) influenced task performance. Participants were randomly assigned to either receive neutral directions or be cued to a belief that the task had diagnostic saliency prior to completing a working-memory task. Supporting our hypothesis, college students with higher prestudy report of ADHD symptoms who were cued with a belief about the diagnostic saliency of the task performed worse compared with students who received neutral instructions. As many researchers and clinicians currently rely exclusively on self-reported symptoms and neuropsychological tests to diagnose ADHD, our findings highlight the importance of comprehensive assessment for provision of appropriate clinical services to adults presenting with ADHD concerns.