ADHD in Children
Visual Abstract
ADHD subtype differences in motivational responsivity but not inhibitory control: evidence from a reward-based variation of the stop signal paradigm
How Motivation Affects Inhibition in ADHD
Cynthia L Huang-Pollock , Amori Yee Mikami, Linda Pfiffner, Keith McBurnett
Summarized by:
June 8, 2023
study source
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol
April 2007
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What they studied
Does motivation affect inhibition symptoms in ADHD?
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What they found
Children with ADHD typically had more difficulty responding to stop signals. Those with Inattentive ADHD tended to improve, depending on rewards.
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What this means
Inattention can affect how well those with ADHD perform on tests. Rewards can improve performance in some cases.
ADHD subtype differences in motivational responsivity but not inhibitory control: evidence from a reward-based variation of the stop signal paradigm
Objectives
This study aimed to examine how ADHD affects the way we react and respond to rewards.
Researchers varied rewards and timing in cognitive tests to test response time and cognitive performance under different conditions.
The study compared children with different subtypes of ADHD to similar children without ADHD.
Study Quote
In this study we examined prepotent motor inhibition and responsiveness to reward using a variation of the stop signal reaction time (SSRT) task in clinic- and community-recruited children ages 7 to 12 with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-inattentive type (ADHD-I), ADHD-combined...
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Results
The results showed that those with more inattentive ADHD symptoms took longer to respond to stop signals on cognitive tests.
Rewards affected how well those with inattentive ADHD symptoms performed. Smaller rewards followed by higher rewards led to greater improvements in performance:
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Children with ADHD–I made more correct inhibits in the second reward condition only if the low-reward condition came first. If the high-reward condition was first, then during the second, low-reward condition, the number of failed inhibits increased.
Study Quote
Contrary to theoretical expectations, we found evidence for inhibitory weaknesses in ADHD-I. We also found evidence that although children with ADHD-I were able to improve their inhibitory control given reward-based motivation, the improvement depended on the order of reward conditions.
Conclusions
These results suggest that inhibitionis a critical deficit in ADHD, consistent with our understanding of ADHD. This difficulty with inhibition was found in children with both types of ADHD studied.
However, there are subtle differences in how children with different subtypes respond to rewards and test conditions.
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Our results suggest that, at least with respect to response inhibition, both children with ADHD–I and ADHD–C possess deficits in inhibitory control.
Study Quote
Results suggest that the 2 primary subtypes of ADHD share similar neuropsychological weaknesses in inhibitory control but that there are subtype differences in response to success and failure that contribute to a child's ultimate level of performance.