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Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether or not attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-when there was an absence of reading problems-was associated with having a high IQ. The vocabulary and block design short forms of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition were administered to 63 children with ADHD, 69 children with reading difficulties (RD), and 68 children with comorbid ADHD + RD. Results indicated that the distributions of estimated Full Scale IQs (FSIQ) for each of the three groups of children did not differ significantly from a normal distribution, with the majority of children (more than 50%) in each group scoring in the average range. The percentage of children with ADHD who scored in the above-average range for FSIQ was not significantly higher than the percentages of children in the other two groups. No significant group differences emerged for estimated FSIQ, vocabulary or block design. It was concluded that children with ADHD are no more likely to have an above-average IQ than are other children.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most extensively investigated types of childhood school problems. Enormous numbers of studies are reported each year on the causes, characteristics, and treatment of both children and adults. In spite of such an intense search for answers, much about ADHD still remains a mystery.
Over the years, several unsubstantiated ideas about ADHD have arisen, ideas that have been referred to elsewhere as "myths" (Kaplan, 1998). In a recent series of investigations of ADHD, we had the opportunity to carefully evaluate a couple of these myths. For instance, there is a widespread idea that children with ADHD have poor memories; however, we and other researchers (Kaplan, Dewey, Crawford, & Fisher,1998; Mealer, Morgan, & Luscomb, 1996) have found strong evidence that their long-term memories are intact and that their poor performance on some memory tests most likely reflects their weak attention skills.
Another unsubstantiated idea was that children with ADHD might have unusually high IQs. In books for laypersons, one can find this idea propagated in several ways (Goodman & Poillion,1992). For instance, Hallowell and Ratey (1994) published a list of suggested diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit disorder in adults, one of which was the following: "often creative, intuitive, highly intelligent" (p. 74)....