Abstract

ARAUJO, Ricardo Rafael de  and  CARREIRO, Luiz Renato Rodrigues. Voluntary and automatic orienting of attention and adult inattention and hyperactivity and indicators. Aval. psicol. [online]. 2009, vol.8, n.3, pp. 325-336. ISSN 1677-0471.

Visual attention is conceived as a neural process used to select relevant information. In automatic orienting, an unexpected stimulus attracts the attention regardless of will. In voluntary orienting the individual directs his attention to the interested stimulus. This work aims to characterize indicators of inattention and hyperactivity and to correlate them to the process of spatial orienting of attention through tasks of voluntary and automatic orienting of attention. Forty-three adults, classified in three groups according to their scores on the Adult self-report scale (ASRS), participated in the study by taking tests of reaction time (RT) with voluntary and automatic orienting of attention. The results show that the group with more inattention/hyperactivity indicators had RT and number of errors increased on voluntary and automatic orienting tasks. Therefore, it was possible to observe differences in attention orienting types, RT, number of errors and inattentive/hyperactivity indicators.

Keywords : Attention; ADHD; Reaction time; Selective attention.

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