Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

, Volume 41, Issue 6, pp 901–917 | Cite as

What Part of Working Memory is not Working in ADHD? Short-Term Memory, the Central Executive and Effects of Reinforcement

  • Sebastiaan Dovis
  • Saskia Van der Oord
  • Reinout W. Wiers
  • Pier J. M. Prins
Article
First Online:

Abstract

Deficits in Working Memory (WM) are related to symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In children with ADHD visuospatial WM is most impaired. WM is composed of Short-Term Memory (STM) and a Central Executive (CE). Therefore, deficits in either or both STM and the CE may account for WM impairments in children with ADHD. WM-component studies investigating this find deficits in both STM and the CE. However, recent studies show that not only cognitive deficits, but also motivational deficits give rise to the aberrant WM performance of children with ADHD. To date, the influence of these motivational deficits on the components of WM has not been investigated. This study examined the effects of a standard (feedback-only) and a high level of reinforcement (feedback + 10 euros) on the visuospatial WM-, visuospatial STM-, and the CE performance of 86 children with ADHD and 62 typically-developing controls. With standard reinforcement the STM, CE, and WM performance of children with ADHD was worse than that of controls. High reinforcement improved STM and WM performance more in children with ADHD than in controls, but was unable to normalize their performance. High reinforcement did not appear to improve the CE-related performance of children with ADHD and controls. Motivational deficits have a detrimental effect on both the visuospatial WM performance and the STM performance of children with ADHD. Aside from motivational deficits, both the visuospatial STM and the CE of children with ADHD are impaired, and give rise to their deficits in visuospatial WM.

Keywords

ADHD Working-memory Motivation Short-term-memory Central-executive Reinforcement 

References

  1. Aarts, E., van Holstein, M., & Cools, R. (2011). Striatal dopamine and the interface between motivation and cognition. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 163.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Alderson, R. M., Rapport, M. D., Hudec, K. L., Sarver, D. E., & Kofler, M. J. (2010). Competing core processes in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): do working memory deficiencies underlie behavioral inhibition deficits? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 497–507.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th revised edition (DSM-IV-TR). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Baddeley, A. (2003). Working memory: looking back and looking forward. Nature Neuroscience, 4, 829–839.Google Scholar
  5. Baddeley, A. D. (2007). Working memory, thought and action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Baddeley, A. (2010). Working memory. Current Biology, 20, R136–R140.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G. A. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 8, pp. 47–89). New York: Academic.Google Scholar
  8. Barkley, R. A. (2006). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. A handbook for diagnosis and treatment (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
  9. Beck, S. J., Hanson, C. A., Puffenberger, S. S., Benninger, K. L., & Benninger, W. B. (2010). A controlled trial of working memory training for children and adolescents with ADHD. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39, 825–836.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Burgess, G. C., Depue, B. E., Ruzic, L., Willcutt, E. G., Du, Y. P., & Banich, M. T. (2010). Attentional control activation relates to working memory in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 67, 632–640.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Castellanos, F. X., Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S., Milham, M. P., & Tannock, R. (2006). Characterizing cognition in ADHD: beyond executive dysfunction. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 117–123.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Conway, A. R. A., Jarrold, C., Kane, M. J., Miyake, A., & Towse, J. (2007). Variation in working memory: An introduction. In A. R. A. Conway, C. Jarrold, M. J. Kane, A. Miyake, & J. Towse (Eds.), Variation in working memory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  13. Cools, R., & D’Esposito, M. (2011). Inverted-U-shaped dopamine actions on human working memory and cognitive control. Biological Psychiatry, 69, 113–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Corsi, P. M. (1972). Human memory and the medial temporal region of the brain. Dissertation Abstracts International, 34, 819B.Google Scholar
  15. Cowan, N. (1995). Attention and memory: An integrated framework. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  16. Delaney, H. D., & Maxwell, S. E. (1981). On using analysis of covariance in repeated measures designs. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 16, 105–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Demurie, E., Roeyers, H., Baeyens, D., & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (2011). Common alterations in sensitivity to type but not amount of reward in ADHD and autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52, 1164–1173.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Dennis, M., Francis, D. J., Cirino, P. T., Schachar, R., Barnes, M. A., & Fletcher, J. M. (2009). Why IQ is not a covariate in cognitive studies of neurodevelopmental disorders. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society: JINS, 15, 331–343.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Diamond, A. (2005). Attention-deficit disorder (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder without hyperactivity): a neurobiologically and behaviorally distinct disorder from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (with hyperactivity). Development and Psychopathology, 17, 807–825.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Dovis, S., Van der Oord, S., Wiers, R. W., & Prins, P. J. M. (2012). Can motivation normalize working memory and task persistence in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder? The effects of money and computer-gaming. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 669–681.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Durstewitz, D., & Seamans, J. K. (2002). The computational role of dopamine D1 receptors in working memory. Neural Networks, 15, 561–572.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Durstewitz, D., & Seamans, J. K. (2008). The dual-state theory of prefrontal cortex dopamine function with relevance to catechol-o-methyltransferase genotypes and schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 64, 739–749.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Engle, R. W., Tuholski, S. W., Laughlin, J. E., & Conway, A. R. A. (1999). Working memory, short-term memory, and general fluid intelligence: a latent-variable approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 128, 309–331.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Frank, M. J., Moustafa, A. A., Haughey, H. M., Curran, T., & Hutchison, K. E. (2007). Genetic triple dissociation reveals multiple roles for dopamine in reinforcement learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104, 16311–16316.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Gladwin, T. E., Figner, B., Crone, E. A., & Wiers, R. W. (2011). Addiction, adolescence, and the integration of control and motivation. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 364–376.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Greenhill, L. L. (1998). Childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Pharmacological treatments. In P. E. Nathan & J. Gorman (Eds.), A guide to treatments that work (pp. 42–64). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  27. Hadwin, J. A., Brogan, J., & Stevenson, J. (2005). State anxiety and working memory in children: a test of processing efficiency theory. Educational Psychology, 25, 379–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Haenlein, M., & Caul, W. F. (1987). Attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity: a specific hypothesis of reward dysfunction. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 356–362.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Huang-Pollock, C. L., Mikami, A. Y., Pfiffner, L., & McBurnett, K. (2007). ADHD subtype differences in motivational responsivity but not inhibitory control: evidence from a reward-based variation of the stop signal paradigm. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 36, 127–136.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Kittler, J. E., Menard, W., & Phillips, K. A. (2007). Weight concerns in individuals with body dysmorphic disorder. Eating Behaviors, 8, 115–120.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Klingberg, T., Fernell, E., Olesen, P. J., Johnson, M., Gustafsson, P., Dahlström, et al. (2005). Computerized training of working memory in children with ADHD: a randomized, controlled trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 177–186.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Kofler, M. J., Rapport, M. D., Bolden, J., Sarver, D. E., & Raiker, J. S. (2010). ADHD and working memory: the impact of central executive deficits and exceeding storage/rehearsal capacity on observed inattentive behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 149–161.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Kort, W., Compaan, E. L., Bleichrodt, N., Resing, W. C. M., Schittekatte, M., Bosmans, M., et al. (2002). WISC-III NL Handleiding. (Dutch Manual). Amsterdam: NIP.Google Scholar
  34. Martinussen, R., Hayden, J., Hogg-Johnson, S., & Tannock, R. (2005). A meta-analysis of working memory impairments in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 377–384.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Mayes, S. D., Calhoun, S. L., Chase, G. A., Mink, D. M., & Stagg, R. E. (2009). ADHD subtypes and co-occurring anxiety, depression, and oppositional-defiant disorder: differences in Gordon diagnostic system and Wechsler working memory and processing speed index scores. Journal of Attention Disorders, 12, 540–550.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Nakamura, K., & Hikosaka, O. (2006). Role of dopamine in the primate caudate nucleus in reward modulation of saccades. The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 26, 5360–5369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Nigg, J. T. (2006). What causes ADHD? Understanding what goes wrong and why. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
  38. Oosterlaan, J., Scheres, A., Antrop, I., Roeyers, H., & Sergeant, J. A. (2000). Vragenlijst voor Gedragsproblemen bij Kinderen (VvGK) (Dutch translation of the DBD Rating Scale). Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.Google Scholar
  39. Pelham, W. E., & Fabiano, G. A. (2008). Evidence-based psychosocial treatment for ADHD: an update. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37, 184–214.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Pelham, W. E., Gnagy, E. M., Greenslade, K. E., & Milich, R. (1992). Teacher rating of DSM-III-R symptoms for disruptive behavior disorders. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 8, 259–262.Google Scholar
  41. Raiker, J. S., Rapport, M. D., Kofler, M. J., & Sarver, D. E. (2012). Objectively-measured impulsivity and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): testing competing predictions from the working memory and behavioral inhibition models of ADHD. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 699–713.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. Rapport, M. D., Alderson, R. M., Kofler, M. J., Sarver, D. E., Bolden, J., & Sims, V. (2008). Working memory deficits in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): the contribution of central executive and subsystem processes. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 825–837.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Rapport, M. D., Bolden, J., Kofler, M. J., Sarver, D. E., Raiker, J. S., & Alderson, R. M. (2009). Hyperactivity in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a ubiquitous core symptom or manifestation of working memory deficits? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37, 521–534.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Rose, E. J., & Ebmeier, K. P. (2006). Pattern of impaired working memory during major depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 90, 149–161.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Sarkis, S. M., Sarkis, E. H., Marshall, D., & Archer, J. (2005). Self-regulation and inhibition in comorbid ADHD children: an evaluation of executive functions. Journal of Attention Disorders, 8, 96–108.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Sattler, J. M. (2001). Assessment of children: Cognitive applications (4th ed.). San Diego: Author.Google Scholar
  47. Schatz, D. B., & Rostain, A. L. (2006). ADHD with comorbid anxiety: a review of the current literature. Journal of Attention Disorders, 10, 141–149.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  48. Scheres, A., Milham, M. P., Knutson, B., & Castellanos, F. X. (2007). Ventral striatal hyporesponsiveness during reward anticipation in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 61, 720–724.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Scheres, A., Lee, A., & Sumiya, M. (2008). Temporal reward discounting and ADHD: task and symptom specific effects. Journal of Neural Transmission, 115, 221–226.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  50. Sergeant, J. A., Oosterlaan, J., & Van der Meere, J. (1999). Information processing and energetic factors in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In H. C. Quay & A. E. Hogan (Eds.), Handbook of disruptive behavior disorders (pp. 75–104). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  51. Shaffer, D., Fisher, P., Lucas, C. P., Dulcan, M. K., & Schwab-Stone, M. E. (2000). NIMH diagnostic interview schedule for children version IV (NIMH DISC-IV): description, differences from previous versions, and reliability of some common diagnoses. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 28–38.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  52. Shiels, K., Hawk, L. W., Jr., Lysczek, C. L., Tannock, R., Pelham, W. E., Jr., Spencer, S. V., et al. (2008). The effects of incentives on visual-spatial working memory in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 903–913.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  53. Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (2002). Psychological heterogeneity in AD/HD—a dual pathway model of behaviour and cognition. Behavioral and Brain Research, 130, 29–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  54. Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S., Sergeant, J. A., Nigg, J. T., & Willcutt, E. G. (2008). Executive dysfunction and delay aversion in ADHD: nosological and diagnostic implications. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 17, 367–384.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  55. Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S., Bitsakou, P., & Thompson, M. (2010). Beyond the dual pathway model: Evidence for the dissociation of timing, inhibitory control, and delay-related impairments in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 345–355.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  56. Steinberg, L., Albert, D., Cauffman, E., Banich, M., Graham, S., & Woolard, J. (2008). Age differences in sensation seeking and impulsivity as indexed by behavior and self-report: evidence for a dual systems model. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1764–1778.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  57. Strand, M. T., Hawk, L. W., Bubnik, M., Shiels, K., Pelham, W. E., & Waxmonsky, J. G. (2012). Improving working memory in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: the separate and combined effects of incentives and stimulant medication. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 1193–1207.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  58. Ströhle, A., Stoy, M., Wrase, J., Schwarzer, S., Schlagenhauf, F., Huss, et al. (2008). Reward anticipation and outcomes in adult males with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. NeuroImage, 39, 966–972.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  59. Tillman, C., Eninger, L., Forssman, L., & Bohlin, G. (2011). The relation between working memory components and ADHD symptoms from a developmental perspective. Developmental Neuropsychology, 36, 181–198.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  60. Tripp, G., & Wickens, J. R. (2008). Research review: dopamine transfer deficit: a neurobiological theory of altered reinforcement mechanisms in ADHD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 49, 691–704.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  61. Van der Meere, J., Hughes, K. A., Börger, N., & Sallee, F. R. (1995). The effect of reward on sustained attention in AD/HD children with and without CD. In J. A. Sergeant (Ed.), European approach to hyperkinetic disorder (pp. 241–253). Zurich: Fotorotar.Google Scholar
  62. Van der Oord, S., Ponsioen, A. J. G. B., Geurts, H. M., Ten Brink, E. L., & Prins, P. J. M. (2012). A pilot study of the efficacy of a computerized executive functioning remediation training with game elements for children with ADHD in an outpatient setting: outcome on parent- and teacher-rated executive functioning and ADHD behavior. Journal of Attention Disorders. doi:10.1177/1087054712453167.
  63. Walsh, N. D., Williams, S. C. R., Brammer, M. J., Bullmore, E. T., Kim, J., Suckling, J., et al. (2007). A longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging study of verbal working memory in depression after antidepressant therapy. Biological Psychiatry, 62, 1236–1243.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  64. Wechsler, D. (1958). The measurement and appraisal of adult intelligence (4th ed.). Baltimore: Williams & Witkins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  65. Willcutt, E. G., Doyle, A. E., Nigg, J. T., Faraone, S. V., & Pennington, B. F. (2005). Validity of the executive function theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analytic review. Biological Psychiatry, 57, 1336–1346.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  66. Willcutt, E. G., Nigg, J. T., Pennington, B. F., Solanto, M. V., Rohde, L. A., Tannock, R., et al. (2012). Validity of DSM–IV attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom dimensions and subtypes. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121, 991–1010.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  • Sebastiaan Dovis
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
  • Saskia Van der Oord
    • 4
    • 1
    • 3
  • Reinout W. Wiers
    • 1
    • 2
  • Pier J. M. Prins
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Developmental PsychologyUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
  2. 2.Addiction, Development, and Psychopathology (Adapt Lab), Department of PsychologyUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
  3. 3.Cognitive Science Center AmsterdamUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
  4. 4.Department of Clinical PsychologyLeuven UniversityLeuvenBelgium

Personalised recommendations