Diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a challenging practice with no definitive diagnostic test. This study sought to evaluate the use of a pattern of performance method of inference in ADHD assessment that examines an individual\u27s general intellectual ability in comparison to his or her own attention skills. WISC-IV scores, IVA+Plus quotients, and basic demographic information were collected from patient files of children previously evaluated by the Eastern Virginia Medical School Neuropsychology Clinic. Children with and without ADHD were compared by analyzing the following difference or delta score discrepancies: (a) WISC-IV General Ability Index (GAI) minus WISC-IV Working Memory Index, (b) WISC-IV GAI minus WISC-IV Processing Speed Index, (c) WISC-IV GAI minus IVA+plus Full Scale Response Control Quotient, and (d) WISC-IV GAI minus IVA+plus Full Scale Attention Quotient. Contrary to preliminary hypotheses, analyses demonstrated no significant utility for the use of these delta scores in distinguishing children referred for psychological testing with and without ADHD. Potential reasons for this lack of predicted discriminate ability are posited
