RUNNINGHEAD:ADHD PG 1

Testing ADHD Children

Desiree Mattson Kilgore

Purdue Global University

PS 505-03

July 25, 2021

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Introduction

The test administer brings a group of children in Belgium together to see the reaction

time when shown a simple stimulus. The children are given two images and shown what the

correct image is and a button to press when the correct image appears. The children and parents

are going through multiple tests all day. The test studied the children’s response time with a

group of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and non-ADHD

children. As the children respond, the error rate goes up with the children with ADHD having a

significantly higher error rate. The testing shows that people with ADHD hyperfocus on a single

task and may need to be asked multiple times a question.

Evaluation

Article

When looking into the different ways to evaluate ADHD, the Belgian government has

come up with their way to evaluate ADHD by having a child answer questions on a computer

that are below the child’s intellect from an intelligence test(IQ). The way the Belgian

government classifies if someone has ADHD is the being unable to concentrate during fast or

slow instruction then a burst of disruption (Metin et al., 2016). The researchers set out to change

this belief by recruiting 8-12-year-olds who were ADHD and non ADHD. The children were

tested on a computer in a room alone with no distractions allowing each child to respond to only

the right-side-up triangle and not the upside-down triangle. The program was randomizing the

image to show no more than four right-side-up triangles in a row (Metin et al., 2016). The

number of questions asked was decreased as the time between showing triangles were decreased.
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When ADHD children were compared to non-ADHD symptomatic children, the ADHD children

had higher rates of wrong answers and missed answers. Most of the time, the results show that

ADHD needs to be looked for to find the best way to treat in the future (Metin et al., 2016)

The tool used

The test administrators used recruitment from the previous test in Belgium on non-related

ADHD. Fliers st schools and summer camps. The DSM-IV-TR definition of The different types

of ADHD (Metin et al., 2016). They gave an intelligence test to make sure none of the

participants were below an IQ of 75. There were consents given out and signed by the test

administrators. To do the testing the children used a computer (Metin et al., 2016).

The conceptual and methodological purpose of the article

The group of testers wanted to see if the go/no-go method of testing, along with a broader

range of response times, would show a significant difference in ADHD (Metin et al., 2016). The

way testing was currently tested was 1000, 2000, and 4000 ms that did not give enough time

from the first time to the end testing time. By changing the multiple-choice answers to just

pressing a button for the correct answer it is easier to measure whether the child was anticipating,

just randomly at intervals pressing the button, or not pressing the button at all when their ADHD

became overwhelming (Metin et al., 2016). This was also observed by the test administrator

outside the child’s tested vision.

The author’s definition and views on the disorder/classification

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Many different individuals are working on this study. The test administrators defined

ADHD as a childhood disorder that can become part of adult life (Metin et al., 2016). Along with

an inability to focus or hyperactivity. Along with impulsivity, social and academic impacts,

along with deficits in task (Metin et al., 2016). The more testing that is done on ADHD the more

information that is found out.

The test administrators believe that people who have ADHD might suffer from an

inability to process information the faster it is given to them. The information is the stimulus and

the response is the event. By slowing down the information, the child with ADHD should be able

to get more information correct (Metin et al., 2016). The test administrators believe the previous

tests are flawed due to having to close a stimulus range. The closer stimulus ranges showed little

to no movement in the event and response results (Metin et al., 2016).

The population assessed

The population that was used for this study are children. The children were age 8-12 from

the local area in belgium. There were 25 children male and female with ADHD and 29 non

ADHD who were part of the stuffy. The ADHD breakdown of children were sixteen males and

six females. The non ADHD children were fourteen males and fifteen females(Metin et al.,

2016). “The ADHD group and the control groups did not differ in terms of age or gender” (Metin

et al., 2016, p. 101).

Modes of assessment

The children were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, on all

the children from the DSM-IV. The assessment showed that twenty five of the children had
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ADHD and fourteen were classified as ADHD-combined (Metin et al., 2016). All the children

took the Social Communication Questionnaire to assess for autism spectrum disorder. None of

the children were evaluated to have autism (Metin et al., 2016). The parents of all the children

filled out the parent Disruptive Behavior Disorder Rating Scale, that screens for ADHD, ODD,

and CD symptoms (Metin et al., 2016, p. 101). Finally, the children were given the Wechsler

Intelligence Scale For Children (IQ) to assess the children. The children all scored above 75 on

the IQ test. The children in ADHD children scored lower than the non ADHD children. The p

= .07 is rated as not magnificent (Metin et al., 2016). The values used for the median is p<.001

and the range is p<.05 (Metin et al., 2016, p. 101) with these p numbers the median is correct

and the range due to the p value being so high.

Administration of the test

The test is administered on a computer after an example of what a correct triangle looks

like with a point facing the ceiling and a flat bottom parallel to the floor. When the child sees the

correct triangle, they are to press the correct button. The next example comes up and it is the

incorrect triangle, the flat side is parallel to the ceiling and the point is towards the floor. The

child is left in the room alone and told to press the button each time the correct triangle appears

on the computer screen (Metin et al., 2016). The parent is outside the room in a chair just out of

sight. The test administrator is out of sight behind glass to observe what the child is doing. Each

time the child goes in the room the speed of the triangles appear faster, but less triangles appear

(Metin et al., 2016).

Strengths and weaknesses

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The strength of the study is that they based it off of other tests that have been performed

in the past. This test did spred the timing out of more triangles and appear to prove that event

rates improve reaction time, but error rates did go up (Metin et al., 2016). The study put the

children through lots of testing and does not say if it is over multiple days. Normal children have

a hard time concentrating on just a school day, but children with ADHD that are not given

medicine, would have a hard time spending all day doing tests. The information in the charts is a

bit hard to understand as they have multiple things on some charts and it needs to be looked at

closely.

Reliability and validity

The test is testing reaction rates of ADHD children in a small area of Belgium. This

research is based on other testing that was done with closer event times that do not show no

significance (Metin et al., 2016). By changing the event rates to more spread out from 1300ms -

8000ms, whereas other research tests had 1000ms-5000ms and 1000ms-5000ms (Metin et al.,

2016). By spreading the event time out there was a significance noted that was not in previous

testing.

For the validity of the testing, this test needs to be repeated on a bigger scale. The

children in the study are more than likely only from an area that is about 100 square miles.

Belgium is not that big and children with disruptive behavior tend to be sent to special schools.

The children probably just pressed the button on some testing due to it being a long day of

multiple tests. Most adults could not sit in testing that long. The research didn't say that

everything was explained to parents and children on a level they could understand what is going

on. By not doing this, the whole test could be invalidated on ethical principles.
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The clinical applications

With the testing, it shows that children with ADHD have more errors with faster stimulus

is presented (Metin et al., 2016). This lets psychologists know that children and adults with

ADHD might not be able to answer questions if there are more than one or two asked of them at

the same time. This can help school psychologists when helping children in school when

children have timed tests to see how much the individual knows in a set time limit. The child

who is taking the test might get overwhelmed with so much information at once and might need

just one row of questions to help get better answers. The more information psychologists have to

help children and adults function better in life is always a good thing.

Scoring

The testing was scored on different elements of how the children responded by pressing

the button in four areas. The first area of testing was Reaction time, this is from the time the

triangle appeared on the computer screen and the child pressed the button. The second area, there

was scoring on how many times the children press the button for the incorrect triangle. Third is

how many times the children did not press the button for the correct triangle on the screen.

Finally, the standard deviation of all the testing combined for a result (Metin et al., 2016). This

information gives anyone looking at the study information about response waits and how fast a

person with ADHD might answer a question without thinking.

Data outcomes

People who have ADHD will look for ways to escape an unwanted task or will start a

task immediately(Metin et al., 2016). The person with ADHD, when given multiple choices,will
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choose one choice on implus. When a person with ADHD can not escape a task and can not start

the task immediately, the person will find something in the environment to occupy their time till

the task at hand needs to be done (Metin et al., 2016). If the task was started and not completed,

the person with ADHD will continue on the task and avoid the original task. The testing showed

how children react to stimuli and delays that the test taker applies to all people with ADHD.

Interpretation guidelines

There were no guidelines. The test was straight forward, multiple tests throughout a day.

The children have to answer their test on their own with a parent nearby. Once the testing was

completed, each child was given 15 eros. By not explaining to the children and parents that they

can drop out of the test any time, it seems like the individuals were more forced to stay in the

testing, even if other children had exited.

Social-cultural areas

The testing was done in Belgium. The individuals who participated were in local schools

and summer camps and in hospitals. The children and parents would be in the middle class for

the area. The children would not understand some of the testing that they were being subjected to

or may wonder why they have to repeat testing the children have already done in the past. The

parents and children might benefit from knowing the way individual children respond to the

stimulus. The way each child responds lets the parents know if they need to ask their child after a

few minutes the question again to see if their child thought about it and give a different answer.

Conclusion
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In conclusion, the testing showed a significant difference in children with ADHD

response times when given stimulus against non ADHD children. Children with ADHD tend to

make more errors on tests due to inability to focus or hyperfocusing on the task. The children

were tested on multiple tests all day making most children exhausted and not wanting to do more

testing. The testing is proving that if given longer variation in time, the result will be significant

versus closer results. This test used 1300-8000ms where other test only used 1000-5000ms and

only used three numbers and this test used 4 numbers. The test proved children with ADHD have

a hard time focusing when stimulus comes at them too fast.

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References

Metin, B., Wiersema, J. R., Verguts, T., Gasthuys, R., van Der Meere, J. J., Roeyers, H., & Sonuga-

Barke, E. (2016). Event rate and reaction time performance in ADHD: Testing predictions from

the state regulation deficit hypothesis using an ex-Gaussian model. Child Neuropsychology : A

Journal on Normal and Abnormal Development in Childhood and Adolescence, 22(1), 99–109.