The automatic and intentional inhibitory control mechanisms in children with ADHD.

Introduction.– The inhibitory control of attention has been categorized in two processes: automatic inhibitory control mechanisms and intentional inhibitory control mechanisms. A deficit of inhibitory control has been recognized as a clinical feature of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Objectives.– The main aim was to examine. Methods.– A sample of 20 children with ADHD and 20 typically developing children, matched for age and gender, participated in this study. These participants were recruited from an initial sample of 435 participants. A saccadic interference (SI) task and a delayed ocular response (DOR) task were employed. The DOR and SI tasks were operated using eye-tracking technology. Results.– TheADHDgroup showed a general deficit in the inhibitory control. More precisely, theADHDgroup performed poorly theDOR task than the typically developing group. In SI task, theADHDgroup did not differ significantly from the typically developing group. Conclusions.– This study suggests a dissociation between automatic and intentional inhibitory deficits in children with ADHD. The results are discussed in light of theories on inhibitory control of attention in childhood.