In a study led by Herbert Rie from the Ohio State Department of Pediatrics, Rie found no objective evidence for improvement from Ritalin on any of a series of tests for learning or performance. The children exhibited “typical suppressive behavioral effects”. The children became:
“distinctly more bland or “flat” emotionally, lacking both the age-typical variety and frequency of emotional expression. They responded less, exhibited little or no initiative and spontaneity, offered little indication of either interest or aversion, showed virtually no curiosity, surprise, or pleasure, and seemed devoid of humor. Jocular comments and humorous situations passed unnoticed. In short, while on active drug treatment, the children were relatively but unmistakably affectless, humorless, and apathetic.” (Rie, H.E., Rie, E.D., Stewart, S., and Abuel, J.P. , Effects of mehtylphenidate on underachieving children in Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1976. )
“Educators…have hypothesized that stimulants suppress curiosity in the classroom while parents have commented that the medication makes the child to somber and antipathetic.”(Fiedler, N.L., and Ullman, D.G. (1983) The effects of stimulant drugs on curiosity behavior of hyperactive boys in Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 11, 193-206.)
James Swanson and colleagues report in 1992 on “Cognitive Toxicity” caused by Ritalin:
In some disruptive children, drug-induced compliant behavior may be accompanied by isolated, withdrawn, and over focused behavior. Some medicated children may seem “zombie-like” and high doses which make ADHD children more “somber,” “quiet,” and “still” may produce social isolation by increasing “time spent alone” and decreasing “time sent in positive interaction” on the playground. (Swanson, J.M., Cantwell, D., Lerner M., in Beyond Behavior, 4: No. 1.)