Keywords

ADHD, Working Memory, Hyperactivity, Activity Level, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

Hyperactivity is currently considered a core and ubiquitous feature of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, an alternative model challenges this premise and hypothesizes a functional relationship between working memory (WM) and activity level. The current study investigated whether children s activity level is functionally related to WM demands associated with the domain-general central executive and subsidiary storage/rehearsal components using tasks based on Baddeley s (2007) WM model. Activity level was objectively measured 16 times per second using wrist- and ankle-worn actigraphs while 23 boys between 8 and 12 years of age completed control tasks and visuospatial/phonological WM tasks of increasing memory demands. All children exhibited significantly higher activity rates under all WM relative to control conditions, and children with ADHD (n=12) moved significantly more than typically developing children (n=11) under all conditions. Activity level in all children was associated with central executive but not storage/rehearsal functioning, and higher activity rates exhibited by children with ADHD under control conditions were fully attenuated by removing variance directly related to central executive processes.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2008

Advisor

Rapport, Mark

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Psychology Clinical

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0002455

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002455

Language

English

Release Date

November 2009

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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