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Quiz: What ADHD Is And Is Not

Test your understanding of what ADHD is, where it comes from, and the myths that surround it with these review questions.

1. According to this chapter, what is attention?

  1. The brain's ability to select some information for processing and set the rest aside
  2. The brain's total capacity for thinking
  3. A fixed trait that cannot be trained
  4. The opposite of hyperactivity
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. The chapter defines attention as the brain's mechanism for selecting some information for processing while setting the rest aside, using the spotlight-in-a-theater image. Option B confuses attention with general intelligence. Option C is wrong because the chapter treats attention skills as trainable. Option D wrongly treats attention and hyperactivity as opposites rather than separate traits.

Concept Tested: Attention

See: Chapter 1

2. The formal definition of ADHD is built from which three trait words?

  1. Anxiety, depression, and mood
  2. Memory, focus, and speed
  3. Inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity
  4. Distraction, fatigue, and irritability
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The chapter states the DSM-5 definition of ADHD is assembled from inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, each given a precise clinical meaning. The other options list traits or moods that are not the load-bearing words of the diagnosis, though some (like fatigue) can co-occur with ADHD.

Concept Tested: ADHD

See: Chapter 1

3. Under DSM-5 criteria, several symptoms of ADHD must be present before what age for the "early onset" requirement to be met?

  1. Age 6
  2. Age 12
  3. Age 18
  4. Age 21
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. DSM-5 requires several symptoms to be present before age 12, which is why the chapter notes that a late diagnosis at 27 or 45 means the explanation is new, not the condition itself. Age 6 is too early and not the DSM-5 threshold; ages 18 and 21 are well past the required early-onset window.

Concept Tested: DSM-5 Definition Of ADHD

See: Chapter 1

4. What does classifying ADHD as a "neurodevelopmental disorder" mean?

  1. It is caused by poor parenting during early childhood
  2. It is a personality disorder that develops in adulthood
  3. It only affects children and resolves by adolescence
  4. It arises from differences in brain development, is present from childhood, and affects functioning across the lifespan
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. The chapter defines a neurodevelopmental disorder as one arising from differences in brain development, present from childhood, that shapes functioning over a person's whole life. Option A contradicts the chapter's point that parenting doesn't cause ADHD. Options B and C mischaracterize ADHD as adult-onset or as something children outgrow entirely.

Concept Tested: Neurodevelopmental Disorder

See: Chapter 1

5. Which statement best captures the difference between "attention" and "attention regulation" as this chapter defines them?

  1. Attention is the raw capacity to focus, while attention regulation is directing that capacity where a person intends, on purpose
  2. Attention regulation refers to how much attention a person has in total, while attention refers to its quality
  3. They are two different names for the identical concept
  4. Attention regulation only applies to hyperactivity, not inattention
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. The chapter distinguishes attention (the capacity to focus) from attention regulation (steering that capacity on purpose rather than wherever the environment pulls it) using the spotlight-and-operator image. Option B reverses the relationship. Option C ignores a distinction the chapter builds the whole book on. Option D is wrong because regulation applies to inattention as much as hyperactivity.

Concept Tested: Attention Regulation

See: Chapter 1

6. Based on the chapter, why is the inattentive presentation of ADHD often diagnosed later than the hyperactive presentation, especially in girls?

  1. Inattentive symptoms are less common in the general population
  2. Inattentive ADHD only appears after puberty
  3. Inattention is invisible and doesn't disrupt others the way hyperactivity does, so it draws less attention from teachers and parents
  4. Doctors are not trained to recognize inattentive symptoms at all
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The chapter explains that inattention is invisible — it looks like an empty seat or a lost permission slip rather than disruptive behavior — so it doesn't trigger the same alarm hyperactivity does, using Elena and Marcus as the worked example. Option A is not supported by the text. Option B is false; onset is before age 12. Option D overstates the issue as a training gap rather than a visibility gap.

Concept Tested: Inattention

See: Chapter 1

7. What do twin studies show about the role of genetics in ADHD?

  1. Genetics play almost no role; environment explains nearly all cases
  2. A single "ADHD gene" has been identified that determines the condition
  3. Genetics only matter for the hyperactive presentation, not the inattentive one
  4. ADHD has a heritability of roughly 70-80 percent, similar to height, with hundreds of gene variants each contributing slightly
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. Twin studies put ADHD's heritability at roughly 70-80 percent, comparable to height, with hundreds of common gene variants each nudging the odds slightly rather than one single gene. Option A understates the strong genetic evidence. Option B contradicts the chapter's explicit statement that no single gene exists. Option C is not supported; heritability applies across presentations.

Concept Tested: Genetics Of ADHD

See: Chapter 1

8. What is the core flaw in the "willpower myth" — the idea that the fix for ADHD is simply trying harder?

  1. People with ADHD have already tried harder for years before diagnosis, so more raw effort is a strategy that has already failed
  2. Willpower doesn't exist as a psychological concept
  3. Trying harder works for hyperactivity but not for inattention
  4. The myth is correct, but only for children
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. The chapter argues that by the time someone reaches an evaluation, they have usually spent years trying harder, so recommending more effort is prescribing a strategy already proven not to work — like willing yourself to see without glasses. Option B overstates the point; willpower exists but isn't the fix here. Options C and D invent exceptions the chapter never makes.

Concept Tested: Willpower Myth

See: Chapter 1

9. Raj spends five hours absorbed in restoring an old motorcycle but can't make himself start a ten-minute insurance form due the same day. Using the "regulation lens" from this chapter, which explanation fits best?

  1. Raj is lazy about paperwork but disciplined about hobbies
  2. Raj's attention steers strongly toward interest and novelty and weakly toward flat, low-interest tasks, regardless of how much he wants to do them
  3. Raj has more total attention for hobbies than for chores
  4. Raj secretly doesn't care about the insurance deadline
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. This mirrors the chapter's Maya example: attention steers toward interest and urgency and away from tedium, independent of how much the person genuinely wants to complete the task. Option A applies the laziness myth the chapter explicitly rejects. Option C misreads regulation as total capacity. Option D assumes indifference where the chapter argues the person usually cares and suffers over the undone task.

Concept Tested: ADHD As Regulation Difference

See: Chapter 1

10. A person suspects they have ADHD but delays seeking an evaluation because of jokes and dismissive comments they've heard about the diagnosis at work. According to the stigma cycle described in this chapter, what does this delay typically lead to next?

  1. Faster diagnosis once symptoms become undeniable
  2. No further effects, since stigma only affects public perception, not the individual
  3. Years of unexplained struggle that get explained instead by myths like laziness or carelessness, which the person then internalizes as self-stigma
  4. A reduction in symptom severity over time
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The chapter's stigma cycle traces how hiding and delaying evaluation leads to years of unexplained struggle, which gets explained by myths rather than facts, and those myth explanations are then internalized as self-stigma — illustrated by the teacher who waited three more years. Option A contradicts the chapter's teacher example. Options B and D ignore the compounding harm the chapter describes.

Concept Tested: ADHD Stigma

See: Chapter 1