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Sensitivity to interference and response contingencies in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Eveline A Crone1, J Richard Jennings, Maurits W van der Molen
1Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. crone@psy.uva.nl
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines
|February 18, 2003
Summary
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show deficits in approach tendencies toward rewards. Executive and motivational inhibition appear to be separate factors influencing ADHD behavior.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is theorized to involve executive and motivational deficits.
- It remains unclear if these deficits are distinct or part of a unified impairment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate executive and motivational functioning in children with ADHD.
- To differentiate between unitary and separate deficit theories of ADHD.
Main Methods:
- Children with ADHD and controls completed a reaction time task with response inhibition cues.
- Task performance was assessed under reward, reward/punishment, and punishment conditions.
- Physiological measures included heart rate and skin conductance.
Main Results:
- ADHD children exhibited slower responses to appropriate cues and greater slowing with incorrect cues compared to controls.
- ADHD children showed reduced accuracy under threat of punishment.
- Reward feedback elicited stronger heart rate responses in controls than in ADHD children.
Conclusions:
- ADHD is characterized by deficient approach tendencies toward rewards, not necessarily insensitivity to punishment.
- Executive and motivational inhibition appear to function independently in children with ADHD.