Encyclopedia of Mental Health - Vol. 1

Attention A multidimensional construct that can refer to alertness, arousal, selectivity, sustained attention, distractibility, or span of apprehension.

Contingency-Shaped Attention Continued responding in a situation or to a task as a function of the immediate consequences provided by the task or activity.

Developmental Disorder Any condition arising in childhood thought to be intrinsic to the individual that is characterized by functioning that is substantially below that expected, given the person's chronological age.

Goal-Directed Persistence The maintenance of responding that is controlled by the capacity to hold events, goals, and plans in mind and to adhere to those plans and other rules governing behavior.

Hyperactivity Characterized by increased or excessive movement of the body and its extremities. May be manifested as constant restlessness, fidgetiness, motor overactivity, or excessive talkativeness.

Impulsivity Reduced ability to resist an impulse or temptation to perform some action. Impulsive actions are those that are directed at obtaining immediate gratification without regard for the delayed consequences of the behavior.

Reinforcement The consequences of behavior that increase the probability that the behavior will occur again.

Response Inhibition The capacity to: (a) inhibit prepotent responses, or those that gain immediate reinforcement either positive or negative; (b) terminate ongoing responses as a function of feedback concerning errors or response ineffectiveness; or (c) protect ongoing self-directed and often private (cognitive) actions (i.e., thinking) from disruption by competing response patterns.

ATTENTION DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD) is a pattern of behaviors believed to be primarily of a neurodevelopmental origin that affects approximately 3 to 5% of the school-aged population. Children with ADHD experience delays relative to other children of the same age in three areas of their functioning: the ability to regulate behavior and excessive levels of activity (hyperactivity); impulse control or behavioral inhibition; and sustained attention to tasks that are not inherently interesting or rewarding. Although children diagnosed with ADHD will gradually mature and make gains in these areas as they grow older, many may always lag behind other

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