Agreement of mothers' and teachers' hyperactivity ratings with scores on drug-sensitive psychological tests.

Hyperactivity ratings were obtained from parents and teachers for 45 hyperactive, children. The children were also given several psychological tests. Teachers' ratings, but not parents' ratings were negatively correlated with performance on the psychological tests that require sustained attention and on which performance is improved by stimulant drugs. This pattern of correlations was interpreted as evidence that teachers, but not parents, have an opportunity to observe children performing daily tasks that require sustained attention.