Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptomology and reading strategies: Contextual versus morphological analysis

Adults with ADHD exhibit a number of neuropsychological deficits that can significantly impact the reading process. However, it remains uncertain the ways in which adults with ADHD define unknown words encountered in text. It is hypothesized that the neuropsychological deficits associated with ADHD may lead to less accurate word knowledge and less successful word acquisition strategies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how adults with and without ADHD symptomology perform on various vocabulary tests. College students from a Midwestern urban university completed a word knowledge test requiring contextual and morphological analysis to define target words and a self-report ADHD questionnaire that measured levels of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity. A series of MANOVAs were run to analyze the performances of adults with and without ADHD symptomology on morphological and contextual analysis tasks. Significant differences on various contextual and morphological tasks were due to the order of task presentation as opposed to ADHD symptomology. Implications of results of this study will yield a greater understanding of how ADHD symptomology can impact and alter the interactive reading process in adults.