Rule-governed behavior and self-control in children with ADHD: A theoretical interpretation.

Abstract

Three theoretical models of ADHD are reviewed and interpreted in light of educational and behavioral research findings specifically in respect to interventions using self-management to address a deficit in rule-governed behavior. The perspectives considered in this paper are (a) the unified theory of behavioral inhibition, sustained attention, and EF (Barkley, 1997), (b) the cognitive-energetic model (Sergeant, Oosterlaan, & van der Meere, 1999), and (c) the dynamic developmental theory (Sagvolden, Johansen, Aase, & Russell, 2005). The perspectives are discussed in terms of the continued development of increasingly comprehensive models and the need to pursue theoretically driven behavioral and educational interventions in the future.