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What would Karl Popper say? Are current psychological theories of ADHD falsifiable?

Katherine A Johnson1 email, Jan R Wiersema2 email and Jonna Kuntsi3 email

School of Psychology and Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland

Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Gent University, H. Dunantlaan 2, B-9000 Gent, Belgium

MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK

author email corresponding author email

Behavioral and Brain Functions 2009, 5:15doi:10.1186/1744-9081-5-15

Published: 3 March 2009

Abstract

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common and highly heritable neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorder. Here, we critically review four major psychological theories of ADHD – the Executive Dysfunction, the State Regulation, the Delay Aversion and the Dynamic Developmental – on their abilities to explain all the symptoms of ADHD, their testability and their openness to falsification. We conclude that theoreticians should focus, to a greater extent than currently practiced, on developing refutable theories of ADHD.


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