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Abstract:
Abstract: Adults with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) are putatively less able to switch attention
between tasks when performing the attentional blink (AB) paradigm.
In AB, a list of stimuli is presented very rapidly at about 20 Hz,
one stimulus at a time at the same spatial location; participants
must identify two targets in the list based on distinct criteria.
Usually, when the lag between the two targets is small, only one or
two stimuli for example, report of the second target is reduced
compared to when the targets are separated by more stimuli. Hence,
there appears to be a "blink" of attention at short lags. For ADHD
participants, recovery from the blink takes longer. We show that
the longer recovery time for ADHD participants correlates with an
increased number of unnecessary eye movements made during the rapid
display. Hence, poorer AB performance of ADHD adults may reflect
not only attentional dysfunction but also their inability to
suppress unnecessary eye movements.
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