polarbear: the test involved sitting at a computer and pressing a button first when she saw the letter "a" and then in another round when she saw the letter "x" followed by the letter "a". She was obviously anxious about this test when we took her for a break right after - it really bothered her. The first test "without condition" she scored low average, the second "with condition" she scored <1%. When the neuropsych showed us the printout I saw that there were places where she hit the button for the letter following the "a" - so she saw it but her reaction time was too slow to count. Instead it counted as 2 errors - one for missing the "a" and one for hitting it for the wrong letter.
My guess is that once she saw that she made a mistake she froze up - her perfectionism shows itself in a fear of disappointing the adult asking her to do something. So visual perception to see the letter, fine motor to press the button and perfectionism realizing she was doing it "wrong" equals a perfect storm of anxiety shut down.
My kids have had that test to (or something similar). It's always confounded me how you can draw conclusions from it that apply to attention in the real world
But hey, I'm no neuropsychologist either
Anyway, for a little laugh for you for the day - the first time my ds had this test was the year he had the 2nd grade teacher who was convinced he had ADHD. He scored borderline inattentive on the computer test, and that combined with the teacher rating scale earned him a diagnosis of ADHD-inattentive, which later on was ruled out by multiple other private practioners, including the very same neuropsych who gave it to him in the first place. So the part that's funny (in hindsight of course)... on the way out of that first neuropsych eval when he was describing that particular test he said "That test was SO boring that I figured out a way to trick the computer!". AARGH!!!!!
Gotta just laugh at it all sometimes!
polarbear
