Communicative Perspective-Taking Performance of Adults With ADHD Symptoms

Objective: The ability to take the perspective of one's conversational partner is essential for successful communication. Given the significant cognitive and attention resources required to use another's perspective, the authors assessed whether adults who report symptoms of ADHD would have difficulty using their conversational partner's visual perspective to guide their interpretations. Method: Adults with high (clinical range) or low (nonclinical range) self-reported ADHD symptoms participated in a communication task that required perspective-taking. Results: Eye movement measures revealed that individuals with high ADHD symptoms fixated on objects obscured from their partners' view more often than did those participants with low ADHD symptoms, and the degree to which this "egocentric" object was considered correlated with the degree of inattention symptoms. However, overt behavior (object choice) was not impacted by ADHD symptomatology. Conclusion: Individuals with high levels of ADHD symptoms, especially inattention, are less efficient in their ability to use another's perspective during conversation.