Eye Movement Performance on the Stroop Test in Adults With ADHD

Objective: To compare the eye movement patterns of adults with ADHD with those of controls as they perform the Stroop test. Method: Thirty individuals with ADHD (ages 18-31), and 30 controls participated in this study. The hypothesis was that under the incongruent condition, the group with ADHD would focus longer on the distracter than the controls. Results: Participants with ADHD showed a more pronounced Stroop effect than the controls. Eye movements indicated that more time was spent fixating on the target than on the distracter. The most significant differences between the groups were the overall time spent on the target and the number of fixations on the target, rather than on the distracter. Furthermore, the group with ADHD made more transitions between the target and distracter stimuli. Conclusion: These results were interpreted to indicate an inefficient strategy used by the group with ADHD in their attempt to ignore the distracter stimuli.