Abstract

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Specific Learning Disorders (ADHD-SLD) (n = 24) and children with pure Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) (n = 24) have been compared with controls (n = 25) of the same chronological age in three tasks of verbal memory (free recall of words, learning of lists of words and memory of story). The word free recall tasks did not differentiate the two clinical groups while the learning verbal task and, partly, the memory-comprehension of story revealed deficits in ADHD-SLD children. These data support the hypothesis that deficit of verbal working memory in ADHD-SLD children is probably linked to central executive processes.