| Abstract [eng] |
We suggest that its performance could be determined by emotional variables rather than by cognitive ones. The WISC-III profile of hyperkinetic children as a group was characterized by the low Freedom from Distractibility score and ACID profile (low Arithmetic, Coding, Information and Digit span scores). The mean scores of these subtests and factors were significantly lower than the standardization sample mean, which is 10 for subtest scores and 100 for factor scores: M = 8.4, t = –3.215, p < 0.01 for Information; M = 8.5, t = –5.998, p < 0.01 for Coding; M = 8.4, t = –3.194, p < 0.01 for Arithmetic; M = 6.9, t = –5.998, p < 0.01 for Digit Span; M = 86.17, t = –5.393, p < 0.01 for Freedom from Distractibility. These peculiarities of hyperkinetic children’s WISC-III performance are explained by difficulties in attention, short-term memory, sequential auditory processing and factual knowledge. Satisfactory results of Similarities, Picture Completion and Block Design suggest relative strengths of using concepts, ability to analyse and synthesize information, and fluid intelligence. It has been proposed that comorbid specific learning disabilities may affect the cognitive performance of hyperkinetic children. For this reason, the effect of a comorbid learning disability was also assessed. The results showed that, although the intellectual abilities of hyperkinetic children with a comorbid learning disability are lower, the comorbid learning disability does not change the hyperkinetic children’s intelligence profile. |
