The Effectiveness of Methylphenidate Hydrochloride (Ritalin) on Learning and Behavior in Public School Educable Mentally Retarded Children

Abstract

Three classes of public school children in EMR classes were administered methylphenidate hydrochloride (Ritalin) and a placebo in a double-blind study, with each child acting as his own control, to evaluate the effects of this medication on classroom behavior, academic performance, and home behavior. Pupils were rated on the Burks Behavior Rating Scale by teachers and parents; and the Gray's Oral Reading Paragraphs, the arithmetic section of the Wide Range Achievement Test, and the Porteus Mazes were administered. Only the teachers' ratings of classroom behavior showed a statistical difference in response to methylphenidate hydrochloride. Neither the parents' ratings of behavior nor the children's performance on the academic measures showed a statistically significant difference in response to treatment. Additional studies are needed to clarify the teachers' impression of improved academic performance and to study the effects of medication on the classroom environment as a whole. This additional study might need to be conducted over a longer period of time and different measures of academic improvement might be used. If behavior at home is to be studied, the medication should be given just before the pupil leaves for home.