PURPOSE: to compare the performances of individuals with ADHD and control group, in verbal fluency tests, from 7 to 12 years, without cognitive deficit. METHODS: 22 children with ADHD and 34 control group had been evaluated, students of a public school in the State of Rio de Janeiro. A verbal fluency test was applied, subdivided in evaluation of the phonological fluency, using the letter F and semantics, using Animal category in the semantic test. The verbal fluency tests evaluate the number of verballyproduced words, in just one minute period. Four intervals of 15 seconds had been created looking for setting up the relation of words said in each interval for each group. The participants had been divided by age to make easier the analysis of the results. RESULTS: no difference between genders was found. The average number of words in phonological and semantics tests had been compared. The performance of the phonological test had been lower than semantics in both groups. The ADHD group presented similar results to the control group in both tests, but with different latency periods. CONCLUSION: the performances of ADHD in phonological verbal fluency and semantics had been similar to the control group, and the higher results had occurred in the semantics tests in both groups.
Language; Verbal Learning; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Child
