The origin of the centrality deficit in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Studies have shown that skilled and disabled readers recall central ideas, which are important to the overall comprehension of the text, to a greater extent than peripheral, less important ideas after reading. However, readers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) recall significantly fewer central ideas than skilled readers. The present study was designed to examine whether difficulties in identifying, attending, and/or retrieving central ideas underlie their centrality deficit.Method: 28 adult university students with ADHD and 27 control students read three expository texts (successively) to summarize their central ideas, while their eye-movements were recorded. After reading, the participants recalled, recognized, and estimated the centrality level of all text ideas, which were divided into central and peripheral based on pretest ratings.Results: The participants with ADHD recalled fewer central ideas than controls, although they recognized and estimated their centr...