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- Title
Basic impairments in regulating the speed-accuracy tradeoff predict symptoms of ADHD.
- Authors
Mulder, Martijn J.; Bos, Dienke; Weusten, Juliette M. H.; van Belle, Janna; van Dijk, Sarai C.; Simen, Patrick; van Engeland, Herman; Durston, Sarah
- Abstract
Introduction and objective: ADHD is characterized by poor optimization of behavior in the face of changing demands. Theoretical accounts of ADHD have often focused on higher-order cognitive processes and typically assume that basic processes are unaffected. It is an open question whether this is indeed the case. Methods: We explored basic cognitive processing in 25 subjects with ADHD and 30 typically developing children and adolescents using a perceptual decision making paradigm. We investigated whether individuals with ADHD were able to balance the speed and accuracy of simple decisions. Results: We found impairments in optimization of the speed-accuracy tradeoff. Furthermore, these impairments were directly related to the hyperactive and impulsive symptoms that characterize the ADHD-phenotype. Discussion and conclusion: These data suggests that impairments in basic cognitive processing are central to the disorder. This calls into question conceptualizations of ADHD as a ‘higher-order’ deficit, as such simple decision processes are at the core of almost every paradigm used in ADHD research.
- Publication
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2010, Vol 19, pS62
- ISSN
1018-8827
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00787-010-0117-5