Seedlabs

DotCheck: A Five-Minute Digital Dot-Counting Validity Screen for Brief and Remote ADHD Assessments

A quick digital test for adults to check if their ADHD symptoms are consistent with a diagnosis.

A tablet- or web-delivered Dot Counting Test that auto-scores both rounded and unrounded results against newly validated adult-ADHD cut-offs (≥14 / ≥13.38) and returns an instant validity flag — a memory-free check that works even when no full neuropsychological battery is administered.

MedicineAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity DisorderDigital clinical assessment — adult ADHD evaluations in telehealth and brief outpatient settings where no full neuropsychological battery is given.

Concept

A five-minute, digitally administered Dot Counting Test (DCT) for adult ADHD evaluations. The patient views dot arrays and reports counts; the software records responses, computes both the standard (rounded) and unrounded effort scores, and compares them to the newly validated adult-ADHD cut-offs, flagging likely invalid performance at ≥14 (rounded) or ≥13.38 (unrounded). The output is a one-page report showing the score, the cut-off applied, and the operating characteristics at that cut (92% specificity, 54.3% sensitivity), plus an explicit note that the same cut-off applies regardless of ADHD subtype or comorbid psychiatric conditions and that the validation sample was ethnoracially diverse. The wedge is that this is a standalone, non-memory-based performance validity test: it can be deployed in brief and remote ADHD assessments — telehealth diagnostic services, primary care, university clinics — where no WAIS/Stroop/Trail Making battery is administered and embedded validity scoring is therefore impossible, and it is not contaminated by the genuine working-memory and processing-speed weaknesses common in ADHD.

Why now

  • The new validation [0] classified 210 consecutive adult ADHD referrals as valid (n=175) or invalid (n=35) using seven independent criterion PVTs; the DCT separated the groups with 92% specificity and 54.3% sensitivity at cut-scores of ≥14 (rounded) and ≥13.38 (unrounded), with no significant performance differences by ADHD subtype or presence of comorbid psychopathology — so one cut-score serves heterogeneous, real-world referrals without case-by-case adjustment.
  • Embedded validity indicators — the basis of existing automated flags — are derived from memory, working-memory, and processing-speed measures that carry documented false-positive risk in genuinely impaired ADHD patients [2], and they require a full battery to have been administered in the first place [1]. A brief, memory-free standalone test closes both gaps.
  • Comorbid psychiatric disorders are prevalent in adult ADHD and complicate interpretation [6]; the DCT's demonstrated invariance to comorbidity [0] means the validity check does not have to wait until the differential diagnosis is resolved.

Written by GLM · 12 Oct 2026

AI assessment

Backed by 4 papers92

A highly focused, evidence-backed digital tool that solves the specific problem of performance validity in brief or remote ADHD assessments where full neuropsychological batteries are absent.

Evidence strength
5/5
The idea is directly derived from a cross-validation study [2] providing specific cut-off scores, specificity/sensitivity metrics, and evidence of invariance across subtypes and comorbidities.
Market pull
4/5
Telehealth ADHD providers (e.g., Cerebral, Mentavi) have a high urgency to screen for malingering/invalidity without requiring a 4-hour in-person battery.
Novelty & moat
4/5
Unlike the 'Two-Fail Flag' which relies on embedded indicators from a full battery, this is a standalone, memory-free test that fills the gap for brief/remote evaluations.
Feasibility
5/5
The product is a simple digital implementation of a dot-counting task with a basic scoring algorithm; it requires minimal engineering to build a demoable MVP.
Wedge clarity
5/5
The wedge is extremely sharp: a five-minute validity screen for clinicians who do not administer a full neuropsychological battery.
Simplicity / focus
5/5
The idea avoids 'platform creep' and focuses on a single, discrete utility: a validity flag based on one specific test.

Scored by Gemma 4 · 12 Oct 2026. Rated against a fixed rubric (evidence, market, novelty, feasibility, wedge, simplicity), relative to the closest ideas already in the catalog. A prior estimate to compare ideas before real-world signal arrives.

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Who benefits

  • PAR (Psychological Assessment Resources)company

    Publishes and distributes performance validity tests for clinicians; a digitized, ADHD-validated DCT gives its catalog a brief, non-memory PVT aimed at the fast-growing adult ADHD referral market.

  • Qbtechcompany

    Sells computerized objective ADHD testing (QbTest) to clinics and NHS services; bundling a five-minute validity screen lets it offer credibility checks in the same session, reinforcing its objective-assessment pitch.

  • Pearson Clinical Assessmentcompany

    Runs the Q-interactive digital testing platform; an auto-scored DCT module with ADHD-specific cut-offs is a low-cost add-on that lets neuropsych customers attach a validity check to any evaluation.

  • Mentavi Health (ADHD Online)company

    Conducts online ADHD assessments; an auto-scored validity check would strengthen the credibility of remote diagnoses with payers, regulators, and referring clinicians.

  • Cerebralcompany

    Telehealth provider that treats and prescribes for ADHD; documented validity screening supports clinical governance around stimulant prescribing.

Research it builds on

  1. The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in adult ADHD compared with non-ADHD populations: A systematic literature review
    Won-Seok Choi, Young Sup Woo, Sheng‐Min Wang et al. · 2022 · 211 citations
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  2. Multivariate examination of embedded indicators of performance validity for ADHD evaluations: A targeted approach
    John‐Christopher A. Finley, Julia M. Brooks, Amanda N. Nili et al. · 2023 · 43 citations
    All ideas from this paper →
  3. Cross-validating the Dot Counting Test Among an Adult ADHD Clinical Sample and Analyzing the Effect of ADHD Subtype and Comorbid Psychopathology
    Dayna A. Abramson, Daniel J. White, Tasha Rhoads et al. · 2021 · 43 citations
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  4. Identifying Factors that Increase False-Positive Rates on Embedded Performance Validity Testing in ADHD Evaluations
    John‐Christopher A. Finley, Logan M. Tufty, Steven A. Abalos et al. · 2024 · 4 citations
    All ideas from this paper →
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feasibility