A comparison of the cognitive patterns of ADHD and normal girls on the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability (Revised)

The cognitive patterns of 60 girls, 32 with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and 28 without ADHD, between the ages of 6 and 11 were compared. The cognitive patterns were determined by cluster analyzing the 7 factor scores on the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability in the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery (Revised) (WJ-RC: Woodcock & Johnson, 1989). The results showed that ADHD girls have significantly different cognitive patterns on the WJ-RC than non-ADHD girls in terms of processing preference. These results show different patterns from those of previous studies comparing cognitive patterns of ADHD and non-ADHD boys. This supports previous research that has postulated different manifestations of ADHD across genders.