Introduction: This investigation describes and compares characteristics of visual, semantic and auditory memory in a group of children diagnosed with combined-type attention deficit with hyperactivity, attention deficit predominating, and a control group. Method: 107 boys and girls were selected, from 7 to 11 years of age, all residents in the Medellin metropolitan area, belonging to different socioeconomic strata (high, medium, low), and all associated with a public or private school. The sample was distributed into three groups according to the diagnosis: inattentive (n=38), combined (n=37) and control (n=32), controlling for variables of age and intelligence quotient (less than 85). In order to complete a neuropsychological evaluation of participants, the following tests were used: WISC-R, point memory, verbal memory curve, associative memory with semantic increase, Wechsler Scale of memory, Rey Osterrieth's Complex Figure, test of visual and auditory continuous execution. Results: By comparing scores obtained in this transversal cut research, of analytical empirical type, descriptive-comparative level and quasi-experimental design on the different types of semantic, visual and auditory memory in groups diagnosed with combined-type attention deficit with hyperactivity, attention deficit predominating, we were able to demonstrate differences in the memory processes of these groups with respect to the control group. Conclusions: Difficulties in visual memory are related to a deficit in use of planning strategies for evoking stored information. Educational implications drawn from these results are presented.