Comparison of the Cognitive Processing Structuresof Students Diagnosed With Attention DeficitHyperactivity Disorder, and Specific Learning DisorderAccording to Cognitive Assessment System Scores

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare the cognitive processing structures of students di agnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and specific learning disorder (SLD).AD and HD in this study are grouped separately. There are no students diagnosed as having twosubgroups together. Methods: A total of 105 students, 35 AD, 35 SLD, and 35 HD, who were applied to the Cognitive As sessment System (CAS) and diagnosed by an expert, were selected as the sample. The students wereevaluated according to their CAS full scale scores and the results of planning, attention, and simulta neous and successive cognitive processing areas. Results: It was examined whether the cognitive processing areas of the students differed among thediagnosis groups by one-way analysis of variance. Although no significant difference was found in thecognitive processing full scale score among the diagnosis groups, significant differences were foundbetween the cognitive processing areas among the diagnosis groups. The planning scale scores ofthe students in the HD diagnosis group were lower than the other groups, the attention scale scoresof the students in the AD diagnosis group were lower than the HD and SLD diagnostic groups, andsimultaneous and successive cognitive processing scores of the students in the SLD diagnosis groupwere lower than the scores of the students in the HD and AD diagnosis groups. In our study, it wasdetermined that students in different diagnosis groups have different cognitive structures. For thisreason, it is necessary to prepare and apply different cognitive intervention programs suitable foreach diagnostic group. Conclusion: Determining the cognitive processing areas of students in different diagnosis groups willguide the creation of the content of cognitive intervention programs.