Abstract
Deficient sustained attention is a symptom of hyperactivity that can be improved by stimulant medication. Recently, amphetamine has been shown to increase detections during a vigilance task in both normal and hyperactive boys. The present study applied signal detection analysis to the vigilance performance of 15 hyperactive and 14 normal boys divided into two age groups (6–9 and 10–12). A computerized continuous performance test was administered under amphetamine and placebo. Overall group comparisons indicated that perceptual sensitivity or d′ was higher for the normal boys and the older groups, and analysis of drug treatments showed that amphetamine significantly increased d′. Interactions between drugs and age groups demonstrated that amphetamine affected the younger boys to a significantly greater degree than the older children for both d′ and response bias or β. It is notable that the results were essentially parallel for both normal and hyperactive children.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baddeley, A. D., & Colquhoun, W. P. Signal probability and vigilance: A reapraisal of the “signal-rate” effect.British Journal of Psychology, 1969,60, 169–178.
Conners, C. K. Symptom patterns in hyperkinetic, neurotic, and normal children.Child Development, 1970,41, 667–682.
Douglas, V. I. Sustained attention and impulse control: Implications for the handicapped child In C. E. Sherrick, R. N. Haber, W. A. Wickelgren, P. Suppes, E. H. Lenneberg, B. S. Long, V. I. Douglas, C. P. Baldwin, A. L. Baldwin, J. A. Swets, & L. L. Elliott (Eds.),Psychology and the handicapped child. Washington, D. C: U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1974. pp. 149–168.
Green, D. M., & Swets, J. A.Signal detection theory and psychophysics. New York: Wiley, 1966.
Grossberg, J. M. & Grant, B. F. Clinical psychophysics: Applications of ratio scaling and signal detection methods to research on pain, fear, drugs, and medical decision making.Psychological Bulletin, 1978,85, 1154.
Halliday, R., Callaway, E., Rosenthal, J., & Naylor, H. The effects of methylphenidate dosage on the visual event related potential of hyperactive children. In D. Lehmann & E. Callaway (Eds.),Human evoked potentials. New York: Plenum Press, 1979. Pp. 153–167.
Hink, R. F., Fenton, W. H., Tinklenberg, J. R., Pfefferbaum, A., & Kopell, B. S. Vigilance and human attention under conditions of methylphenidate and secobarbital intoxication: An assessment using brain potentials.Psychophysiology, 1978,15, 116–125.
Kupietz, S. S., & Balka, E. B. Alterations in the vigilance performance of children receiving amitriptyline and methulphenidate pharmacotherapy.Psychopharmacology, 1976,50, 29–33.
Kupietz, S. S., & Richardson, E. Children's vigilance performance and inattentiveness in the classroom.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1978,19, 145–154.
Levy, F. The development of sustained attention (vigilance) and inhibition in children: Some normative data.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1980,21, 77–84.
Loeb, M., & Binford, J. R. Variation in performance on auditory and visual monitoring tasks as a function of signal and stimulus frequencies.Perception and Psychophysics, 1968,4, 361–367.
Loeb, M., Hawkes, G. R., Evans, W. O., & Alluisi, E. A. The influence of d-amphetamine, benactyzine and chlorpromazine on performance in an auditory vigilance task.Psychonomic Science, 1965,3, 29–30.
Mackworth, J. F. The effect of amphetamine on the detectability of signals in a vigilance task.Canadian Journal of Psychology, 1965,19, 104–109.
Mackworth, J. F.Vigilance and habituation. New York: Penguin Books 1970.
McNicol, D.A primer of signal detection theory. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1972.
Rapoport, J. L., Buchsbaum, M. S., Zahn, T. P., Weingartner, H., Ludlow, C., & Mikkelsen, E. J. Dextroamphetamine: Cognitive and behavioral effect in normal prepubertal boys.Science, 1978,199, 560–563.
Rosenthal, R. H., & Allen, T. W. An examination of attention, arousal, and learning dysfunctions of hyperkinetic children.Psychological Bulletin, 1978,85, 689–715.
Rutschmann, J., Comblatt, B., & Erlenmeyer-Kimling, L. Sustained attention in children at risk for schizophrenia: Reports on a continuous performance test.Archives of General Psychiatry, 1977,34, 571–575.
Sostek, A. J. Effects of electrodermal liability and payoff instructions on vigilance performance.Psychophysiology, 1978,15, 561–568.
Swets, J. A., & Kristofferson, A. B. Attention.Annual Review of Psychology, 1970,21, 339–366.
Werry, J. S. Medication for hyperkinetic children.Drugs, 1976,11, 81–89.
Yepes, L. E., Balka, E. B., Winsberg, B. G., & Bialer, I. Amitriptyline and methylphenidate treatment of behaviorally disordered children.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1977,18, 39–52.
Zahn, T. P., Rapoport, J. L., & Thompson, C. L. Autonomic and and behavioral effects of dextroamphetamine and placebo in normal and hyperactive prepubertal boys.Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1980,8, 145–160.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sostek, A.J., Buchsbaum, M.S. & Rapoport, J.L. Effects of amphetamine on vigilance performance in normal and hyperactive children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 8, 491–500 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00916502
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00916502