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Implicit memory development in school-aged children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): conceptual
Matthew J Burden1, David B Mitchell
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48207, USA. mburden@wayne.edu
Developmental Neuropsychology
|November 4, 2005
Summary
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show similar explicit memory performance but struggle with conceptual implicit memory tasks, suggesting a specific deficit in frontal system-mediated memory.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Children with ADHD often exhibit memory deficits, particularly on effortful tasks.
- Prior research has concentrated on explicit memory, overlooking implicit memory in ADHD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate implicit and explicit memory performance in children with and without ADHD.
- To assess memory across different retention intervals and stimulus types.
Main Methods:
- Assessed explicit memory (recall, recognition) and implicit memory (perceptual, conceptual) in children aged 7-14 with and without ADHD.
- Memory tasks included word and picture stimuli at 15-min and 24-hr intervals.
Main Results:
- Both ADHD and non-ADHD groups performed similarly on explicit memory and perceptual implicit memory tasks.
- Boys with ADHD showed no evidence of priming on a conceptual implicit memory task (category exemplar generation).
Conclusions:
- Children with ADHD may have a specific deficit in conceptual implicit memory, potentially linked to frontal lobe function.
- This finding highlights a unique memory impairment in ADHD beyond explicit memory deficits.