Question 1

What are the four types of attention?

Accepted Answer

Selective Attention: focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant. Divided Attention: concentrating on more than one activity at a time. Sustained Attention: the ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time. Executive attention: involves action planning, allocating attention to goals, error detection and compensation, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances.

Question 2

Attention in the _____ of life is dominated by an orienting/investigative process.

Accepted Answer

First year.

Question 3

Young children make advances in executive attention and sustained attention but are likely to pay attention to what in their environment?

Accepted Answer

Most striking stimuli.

Question 4

Regarding attention, after age 6 or 7 children are what?

Accepted Answer

Less directed to salient stimuli, can pay more attention to features of performing a task or solving a problem.

Question 5

In adolescence, an increase in executive attention supports what?

Accepted Answer

Rapid increase in effortful control required for complex academic tasks.

Question 6

Key symptoms of ADHD fall under two well-documented categories. What are they? How does using these two dimensions to define ADHD oversimplify the disorder?

Accepted Answer

Inattention; hyperactivity-impulsivity. Each dimension includes many distinct processes, attention and impulse control are closely connected developmentally.

Question 7

Inattention is the difficulty to focus on one task or to follow through on requests or instructions. Deficits may be seen in what four areas of attention?

Accepted Answer

Attentional capacity. Selective attention. Distractibility. Sustained attention/vigilance (a core feature).

Question 8

What is the primary impairment in hyperactivity?

Accepted Answer

Inability to voluntarily inhibit dominant or ongoing behavior.

Question 9

Impulsivity is the inability to control immediate reactions or think before acting. What three domains does it affect?

Accepted Answer

Cognitive impulsivity; behavioural impulsivity; emotional impulsivity.

Question 10

The primary attention deficit in ADHD is what?

Accepted Answer

Inability to engage and sustain attention and to follow through on directions or rules while resisting salient distractions.

Question 11

To diagnose ADHD using DSM, what age and time criteria is required?

Accepted Answer

Symptoms must appear before age 12 and continue for more than 6 months.

Question 12

Since most children with ADHD have at least normal intelligence, the difficulty in cognitive deficits may be due to what?

Accepted Answer

Applying intelligence to everyday life situations.

Question 13

Academic skills in children with ADHD are impaired before the _____.

Accepted Answer

1st grade.

Question 14

Learning disorders are common for children with ADHD. What tend to be the three problem areas?

Accepted Answer

Reading, spelling, math.

Question 15

List three health-related concerns for children with ADHD.

Accepted Answer

Higher rates of asthma. Higher rates of bedwetting. Sleep disturbances, possibly related to use of stimulant medications and/or co-occurring conduct or anxiety disorders.

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Attention and ADHD Flashcards

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