Methylphenidate increases selectivity of visual scanning in children referred for hyperactivity

• Published in: Journal of abnormal child psychology Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 145 - 161
• Main Authors: Flintoff, M M, Barron, R W, Swanson, J M, Ledlow, A, Kinsbourne, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Plenum Press 01.06.1982
• Subjects: Association Learning - drug effects; Attention - drug effects; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - drug therapy; Child; Double-Blind Method; Eye Movements - drug effects; Female; Fixation, Ocular - drug effects; Humans; Male; Methylphenidate - pharmacology; Methylphenidate - therapeutic use; Reaction Time - drug effects; Visual Perception - drug effects
• ISSN: 0091-0627; 1573-2835
• DOI: 10.1007/BF00915937

Visual scanning patterns were investigated in 32 children referred for symptoms of hyperactivity in a double-blind crossover comparison of methylphenidate and placebo treatments. Total errors, response latency, and visual fixations were recorded as the child scanned computer-generated visual matching-to-sample problems. Results indicated that the number of fixations on the standard stimulus in the matching task was significantly larger in the methylphenidate state. Drug treatment also resulted in a significant increase in the number of systematic comparisons between the standard and the variants in the task. However, the increased selectivity of attention to the standard stimulus was not accompanied by a reduction of total errors. It was suggested that the stimulant drug may increase attentional selectivity even when such a shift fails to produce improvement in task performance.