Parallel and serial attentional processes in ADHD: ERP evidence

Abstract

We studied selective attention in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and control children performing parallel and serial visual search tasks. Event‐related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 21 ADHD and 21 control children, ranging in age from 7 to 10 years old. The children with ADHD were tested during a 4‐week double‐blind medication assessment. Parallel processing was assessed with 2 pop‐out tasks, and serial processing with a conjunction of features task. The children made a button press to target stimuli. There were no differences in reaction times between groups. There were decreases in latency of the ERP component, the P3, with age and task; between groups shorter latencies were seen for the children with ADHD with the serial task. We suggest that their faster P3 latencies in the serial task are due to a preference for automatic rather than controlled processes.