She was a professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, noted for her contributions to the study of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
[4] In 1971, in a Presidential Address to the Canadian Psychological Association, Douglas presented her theory that deficits in sustained attention and impulse control were more likely to account for the difficulties of children with hyperkinesis than hyperactivity.
Douglas’s research and ideas were published the following year in the seminal article Stop, look and listen: The problem of sustained attention and impulse control in hyperactive and normal children.
[6] Previous to Douglas’ 1972 article Stop, look and listen: The problem of sustained attention and impulse control in hyperactive and normal children, ADHD was referred to as hyperkinesis.
Following her paper, “Stop, look, and listen”,[5] Douglas proposed a three-component model of self-regulation to explain the cognitive and motor deficits associated with ADHD.
[8] Douglas’s later research focused on pharmacotherapy, and, more specifically, on the effects of methylphenidate on task performance, impulsivity, cognitive training, and reinforcement in children with ADHD.