Response times in Autism, ADHD and schizohprenia?

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According to a quoted text that I found at http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp4252020.html#4252020,

It appears that a significantly reduced response time is suggestive of schizophrenia. How exactly are "response times" measured?

I'm curious because this seems to be a really good way of detecting schizophrenia, in conjunction with other diagnostic tools that rule out other possible conditions that affect response timing (Like possibly ADHD and autism), since a reduction of 3.5 SD should be easily detectable even if one was originally gifted in "response times". Even if one didn't know what their response times were before the possible development of schizophrenia, a response time 1.5 SD below the average would definitely implicate it, especially if they did or do well on other measures that are highly correlated with 'response times'. Like, maybe, some subtest on the WAIS like the 'processing speed' subtests (Like encoding?)?

Does anyone know if response times are affected in ADHD? How about Autism?

I'd imagine so based on stereotypes. But, I kind of get the impression that many people with autism seem to be fairly quick at responding to other people judging from my experiences on the Wrong Planet chatroom, so maybe not so with autism.

ADHD would probably be affected in response times. Or maybe not.

ADHD response time research

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 1800000196 - It appears that one can diagnose ADHD based on the response time, though this paper doesn't seem to tell you the mean response times for the ADHD test subjects.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/45537 ... -caffeine/ - this site claims a slowed response time.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 9810001601 - research article claims a slowed response time but doesn't mention specifics, like what percentile the response times might be at in the general population. You have to pay to get the article... why must I pay to research and potentially help out humanity?

Autism response time research

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9638 ... t=Abstract - claims a significantly slowed reaction time among those with autism with flashing lights.

Last edited by swbluto on 18 Dec 2011, 6:04 am, edited 5 times in total.

I'm pretty fast on the response in chat rooms and I tend to chat with some people who have ADHD (and neither schizophrenia nor autism) who are quicker than I am. It was the first time in my life I was told I was a slow typist.

That's pure anecdote, however, and means nothing in terms of big picture.

Does anyone know of any good "research article" websites/search engines?

So far, I have http://www.springer.com/ . I'm not seeing anything on ADHD and response or reaction times, though.

EDIT: It appears that http://www.scirus.com/ is a pretty snazzy research site. However, almost all of the research is stowed away in the ivory tower, locked behind closed gates that one must pay to unlock.

Last edited by swbluto on 18 Dec 2011, 5:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

So, you didn't feel significantly slower than the other participants? Do you know if it was pretty likely that some of these participants were probably normal/neurotypical?

I was in a chatroom and it felt like I was chatting as if I was walking with a boat-anchor chained to my foot.

I didn't feel significantly slower, no. And no, none of the participants were NT. One was bipolar (he's the slowest), and others either had ADHD or ADHD and NVLD - but not AS. One person has very severe ADHD, and types at like 120 wpm. I only type around 80, and she made a comment about having to wait for me to type.

I am really slow to respond to things. For instance I can type reasonably fast but knowing what to type slows me down, I have to think about it. I can't really participate in chatrooms because the conversation moves too fast for me. Even on forums sometimes I notice I am way behind other people in responding to a thread.

Also I am the kind of person, if something mildly catastrophic happens I am the last one to react. I don't panic I just feel a sense of curiousity about it.

I am quick to respond in my mind, but I would have to read over and over and check for spelling mistakes before submitting.

I was told by the psychs when we discussed briefly my evaluation that I'm slow in general, but really quick, for example, at the block-design test. They administered WAIS-IV to me. My slowness is a part of my impairment along with communication difficulties.

I also don't panic when something mildly catastrophic happens, it's in my nature.

I wouldn't even try the chat rooms, I'm so slow at responding, and I'm so prone to make mistakes. I can type fast, but my thoughts don't take the forms of words so easily. I make lots of errors, typos. I have to correct too many things too many times again and again even when I use my native language. I'm so slow that one longer post may take half an hour or more to complete, no kidding.

The connection with ADHD may be interesting, as I clearly had/have ADHD-like symptoms. I was hyperactive and inattentive as a kid stereotypically, and I can relate to the inattentive subtype the most. I've read somewhere (I don't know where) that kids later diagnosed with PDD-NOS often exhibited ADHD behavior.

I really wish they gave me those types of actual numbers in my report. I'd been told more details when I met with him to get my diagnosis but I don't know the numbers now. I'm sure that my response time was noticeably below NT, and that was part of the test that I scored in the borderline to mid-range ADHD scores on, while the other ones I hadn't.

So at least for me, I'm autistic and score similar levels to what's associated ADHD personally.

I'm Bipolar and have inattentive ADHD. I have very slow reaction times I've been told. I don't respond normally to events that are supposed be surprising but I can be highly reactive. I'm slow at chatting online. I guess my slow reaction times are because of my inattentiveness followed by my no clarity of thought.

I remember reading on ncbi research articles that people with AS have slow reaction times.

Go to Pubmed for neuroscience articles. It's a great and reliable database.

I have very fast response times for most things. I have very high processing speed. This, of course, is for things I'm GOOD at. For my NVLD deficits, my speed is very low.

My reaction times are so fast that I react before anything actually happened . I'm very trigger happy. As for autistic reaction times I have no idea. I type and respond fairly quickly, but I always slow down to correct spelling mistakes.