Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

When we cannot concentrate on reading a book, we have problems with voluntary attention. When we stand up andstumble on a chair leg, we have a problem with involuntary attention. A bimanual Stroop task (ST) and the Ericson’s flankertask (EFT) were used for the analysis of voluntary and involuntary attention, respectively. Electrophysiological markers ofattention were applied in adult ADHD patients and yoked control individuals. Behavioral incongruence effects were strongerin patients than in controls in the EFT. P3 latency in the incongruent condition was identical in patients and controls in ST butstrongly delayed in patients compared with controls in EFT. A significant positive lateralized readiness potential indicating theactivation of the false response channel was obtained in the incongruent condition of EFT, being significantly larger in patientsthan controls. The data indicate a disorder of automatic attentional control in ADHD adults despite nearly normal voluntaryattention.