ADHD and Working Memory: The Impact of Central Executive Deficits and Exceeding Storage/Rehearsal Capacity on Observed Inattentive Behavior

    Authors

    M. J. Kofler; M. D. Rapport; J. Bolden; D. E. Sarver;J. S. Raiker

    Comments

    Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Abnorm. Child Psychol.

    Keywords

    ADHD; Working memory; Attention; Central executive; ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER; PERVASIVELY; HYPERACTIVE-CHILDREN; SHORT-TERM-MEMORY; SELECTIVE ATTENTION; VALIDITY; RECOGNITION; RECALL; AGE; ADOLESCENTS; SUBTYPES; Psychology, Clinical; Psychology, Developmental

    Abstract

    Inattentive behavior is considered a core and pervasive feature of ADHD; however, an alternative model challenges this premise and hypothesizes a functional relationship between working memory deficits and inattentive behavior. The current study investigated whether inattentive behavior in children with ADHD is functionally related to the domain-general central executive and/or subsidiary storage/rehearsal components of working memory. Objective observations of children's attentive behavior by independent observers were conducted while children with ADHD (n = 15) and typically developing children (n = 14) completed counterbalanced tasks that differentially manipulated central executive, phonological storage/rehearsal, and visuospatial storage/rehearsal demands. Results of latent variable and effect size confidence interval analyses revealed two conditions that completely accounted for the attentive behavior deficits in children with ADHD: (a) placing demands on central executive processing, the effect of which is evident under even low cognitive loads, and (b) exceeding storage/rehearsal capacity, which has similar effects on children with ADHD and typically developing children but occurs at lower cognitive loads for children with ADHD.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

    Volume

    38

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2010

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    149

    Last Page

    161

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000274435200001

    ISSN

    0091-0627

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