Week 9 - FINAL

Question 1

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder under what category in the DSM

Answer 1

Neurodevelopment Disorders

Question 2

Subtypes of ADHD

Answer 2

1. Predominantly Inattentive type
2. Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive type
3. Combined type

Plus an “Other” and an “Unspecified”

Need multiple deficits in different areas (aka not just as home)

might add emotional dysregulation subtype

Question 3

Inattentive Type of ADHD

Answer 3

6 or more inattention symptoms persisting at least 6 months to a maladaptive degree

Question 4

Hyperactive-impulsive type of ADHD

Answer 4

6 or more hyperactivity-impulsivity sx persisting at least 6 months to a maladaptive degree

Question 5

Prevalence of ADHD

Answer 5

One of the most common chronic disorders of childhood

Question 6

Prevalence of ADHD across cultures/SES/etc

Answer 6

Found across social classes, racial and ethnic groups, and countries but with different prevalence rates

Question 7

ADHD onset

Answer 7

Onset often around 3 to 4 years old (but indications earlier)

Question 8

Adult ADHD

Answer 8

Disrupts sustained effort, planning, and organization important for effective functioning

Diagnosis in adults relies on establishing sx at the age of 12 and earlier

Question 9

Comorbidity of ADHD

Answer 9

More than half of children who qualify for ADHD have a comorbid diagnosis

Comorbid/confused with lots of disorders –> vulnerable to misdiagnosis
Anxiety
Depression
Dyslexia
Family dysfunction
Conduct disorder
Tourette’s syndrome
Language impairment
Bipolar disorder
Brain Injury
Even intellectual giftedness (boredom)

Question 10

Developmental course of ADHD

Answer 10

Sx are often present in infancy–high activity, emotional lability, irregular sleep patterns, reduced need for sleep

Preschool years–add short attention span, proneness to tantrums, difficulties with groups

Often remains into adulthood

Question 11

Theoretical models of the development of ADHD

Answer 11

Our theoretical models of the development of ADHD are less adequate than are our theoretical models of some of the other learning disorders…”

Question 12

Diagnosing ADHD – best method

Answer 12

HOT model

relies more on converging evidence arising from observations and developmental/school histories than testing alone

Question 13

Diagnosing ADHD in adults

Answer 13

Relies heavily on childhood symptoms (history central to dx)

– have parents/teacher rate them on child form as if they were 67/12 y.o

look for converging evidence

Question 14

Assessment of ADHD

Answer 14

assessment needs to be thorough. It can include:
- Interview, history, school records
- School visit
- Tests WAIS/WISC, WJA/WIAT
- Continuous performance test (CPT)
- MMPI/PIY (personality test)
- Collateral information

Question 15

Latest research on Assessing for ADHD

Answer 15

latest research suggests cognitive assessment may not be necessary for ADHD diagnosis, rather behavioral assessment through rating scales (self and vicarious observation) along with thorough consideration of history may be sufficient (Peterson, 2021)

AKA history and behavioral assessment, not cognitive

Question 16

Continuous Performance Tests

Answer 16

measures a person’s sustained and selective attention

Can be done while assessing for ADHD, but not enough (can do badly because of other reasons than ADHD, can do well on test with ADHD)

Question 17

Collateral Information when assessing for ADHD

Answer 17

There are a number of behavioral rating scales that can be useful in assessment, can be either

• Multi-dimensional or broad band
• Unidimensional or focal

*Useful BUT use intelligently.

Question 18

Behavior rating scales for Collateral Information

Answer 18

MULTI-BEHAVIOR RATING SCALES
- Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)
- Behavior assessment system for children (BASC)

ADHD RATING SCALES FOR CHILDREN
- Conners 3 - parent
- Conners 3 - teacher
- Conners-wells adolescent self report form

ADHD RATING SCALES FOR ADULTS:
- child forms but rates as if 12 y.o.
- Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS)

Question 19

Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)

Answer 19

Type of multi-behavior rating scales

Includes:
- parent forms
- teacher forms
- self-report forms
- **select for for correct age range

Question 20

Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC)

Answer 20

Type of multi-behavior rating scales

Includes:
- parent forms
- teacher forms

Question 21

Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS)

Answer 21

Type of ADHD rating scale for adults

Includes:
- self report form
- observer form

Question 22

Treatment for ADHD

Answer 22

1. Educate the client (and those close to them)
2. Medicate (see later slide)
3. Accommodations (modify the environment where problems occur)
4. Therapy (Address the effects on self)

Question 23

Medication and ADHD Treatment

Answer 23

enhances the inhibition mechanism which:

• increases resistance to the urge to act
• increases ability to stop in midstream if course is ineffective
• increases resistance to distraction

BUT: Medication is generally not enough by itself
- “pills don’t give skills” (Dobson)
- meds make you able to learn, but there is often a deficit of skills

Question 24

Educational Intervention for ADHD

Answer 24

• Often have missed some aspect of normal educational development
• Modify the environment where problems occur
• Less able to use internal cues, so increase external cues (Clocks, Tokens)
• Minimize distractions

Question 25

Ways to modify environment for people with ADHD

Answer 25

• Shorten delay between response and outcome
• Structure the task, make smaller steps, more immediate reinforcement
• Bridge time by breaking task down into manageable intervals

Question 26

Creativity

Answer 26

Plays a role in problem solving, innovation, artistic expression, and overall advancement across fields

Sternberg considered it a fundamental aspect of intelligence—but this has not panned out

Question 27

Current research on creativity

Answer 27

Emphasis has shifted from seeing it as an inherent ability to how to improve an individual’s creativity:

• evidence that if you pretend to be more creative you can be more creative
• effort to remove constraints of creativity that are self-imposed or socially-imposed

Question 28

Tasks of Divergent Thinking (aka creative thinking)

Answer 28

Fluency
- number of ideas one can generate—BUT this only reflects quantity and not originality

Novelty
- efforts to get at creative quality have led to better measures of creativity involving semantic distance (loosely to mean the knowledge gap) using Latent Semantic Analysis

Question 29

Research on Fluency and Novelty

Answer 29

Studies show both can be improved (meditation, diet, walking, music, mood, travel, new experiences)

So divergent thinking seems to have plasticity rather than being a stable trait

Question 30

Research on learning and creativity

Answer 30

Network neuroscience [Saunders, 2017, Science News) Flex time: The brain’s ability to shift connections might ease learning

Neuroimaging techniques show the ability to switch connections seems integral to learning, reconfiguring of networks

Focusing on individual synapse action might be looking too closely

AKA ability to shift connections between neurons important for learning:

• Brains that are most flexible (in terms of switching connections) learn the best (although too much flexibility might be bad aka schizophrenia)