Seven different laboratory measures of impulsivity were administered to a group of 165 school-aged boys. Parents' and teachers' ratings of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and Oppositional/Defiant Disorder were also obtained. Factor analyses of impulsivity measures revealed the existence of a strong Inhibitory Control Factor including…

Administered to hyperactive second and third graders either black/white form of Matching Familiar Figures Test and one month later a colored version, or the reverse color order in a repeated crossover design. Found addition of nonrelevant color to this task normalized activity of hyperactive children such that group differences were observed only…

Evaluated construct validity of Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF). None of the scoring procedures differentiated between behavior-disordered and normal boys. Failure of the error measures to designate a greater frequency of behavior-disordered boys as impulsive than are their normal peers raised questions about validity of the MFF.…

To ascertain whether impulsive responding in behavior disordered adolescents is amenable to change, 15-year-old normal and "acting-out" behavior disordered adolescents participated in an experiment designed to alter Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF) scores through a modeling psychoeducational procedure. No significant…

A study of third- and fourth-grade students found no significant differences between underachieving and normally achieving children for the measures of cognitive-impulsivity, selective attention, and sustained attention. However, significant differentiation was provided by teacher ratings indicating poorer classroom behavior, lack of attention,…

The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between students' (100 children aged 8 to 12) help-seeking behavior and impulsivity. Help-seeking behavior was evaluated using a naturalistic experimental paradigm in which children were placed in a problem-solving situation and had the opportunity to seek help from the experimenter, if…

This study investigated whether the stimulant methylphenidate (Ritalin) would differentially affect performance on a test of cognitive style by hyperactive children. Subjects were 55 children, (ages 7 to 15) referred to the Learning Clinic at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada for hyperactivity and/or learning problems. A paired…