A diffusion modeling approach to understanding contextual cueing effects in children with ADHD. (3rd May 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Weigard, Alexander; Huang‐Pollock, Cynthia
• Is Part Of: Journal of child psychology and psychiatry and allied disciplines. Volume 55:Number 12(2014:Dec.)
• Page Start: 1336
• Page End: 1344
• Publication Date: 2014-05-03
• Subjects: Child psychology -- Periodicals; Child psychiatry -- Periodicals; 155.4
• DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12250
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-9630

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jcpp12250-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="jcpp12250-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>Strong theoretical models suggest implicit learning deficits may exist among children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).</p> </sec> <sec id="jcpp12250-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Method</title> <p>We examine implicit contextual cueing (CC) effects among children with ADHD (<italic>n </italic>=<italic> </italic>72) and non‐ADHD Controls (<italic>n </italic>=<italic> </italic>36).</p> </sec> <sec id="jcpp12250-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Using Ratcliff's drift diffusion model, we found that among Controls, the CC effect is due to improvements in attentional guidance and to reductions in response threshold. Children with ADHD did not show a CC effect; although they were able to use implicitly acquired information to deploy attentional focus, they had more difficulty adjusting their response thresholds.</p> </sec> <sec id="jcpp12250-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>Improvements in attentional guidance and reductions in response threshold together underlie the CC effect. Results are consistent with neurocognitive models of ADHD that posit subcortical dysfunction but intact spatial attention, and encourage the use of alternative data analytic methods when dealing with reaction time data.</p> </sec> </abstract>