Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Working Memory Deficits in Boys with Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): The Contribution of Central Executive and Subsystem Processes

  • Published:
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The current study investigated contradictory findings from recent experimental and meta-analytic studies concerning working memory deficits in ADHD. Working memory refers to the cognitive ability to temporarily store and mentally manipulate limited amounts of information for use in guiding behavior. Phonological (verbal) and visuospatial (nonverbal) working memory were assessed across four memory load conditions in 23 boys (12 ADHD, 11 typically developing) using tasks based on Baddeley’s (Working memory, thought, and action, Oxford University Press, New York, 2007) working memory model. The model posits separate phonological and visuospatial storage and rehearsal components that are controlled by a single attentional controller (CE: central executive). A latent variable approach was used to partial task performance related to three variables of interest: phonological buffer/rehearsal loop, visuospatial buffer/rehearsal loop, and the CE attentional controller. ADHD-related working memory deficits were apparent across all three cognitive systems—with the largest magnitude of deficits apparent in the CE—even after controlling for reading speed, nonverbal visual encoding, age, IQ, and SES.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We acknowledge that some reliable, shared variance may be related to non-central executive shared method factors, as experimental conditions between our two tasks were as identical as possible by design. Based on the converging evidence above, however, we believe that a latent approach to isolating WM components provides a more valid estimate of component processes than the use of any single task.

References

  • Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms & profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., & Adams, A. (2005). Working memory and phonological awareness as predictors of progress towards early learning goals at school entry. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 23, 417–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., & Pickering, S. J. (2006). Verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory in children: Are they separable? Child Development, 77, 1698–1716.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aronen, E. T., Vuontela, V., Steenari, M. R., Salmi, J., & Carlson. (2005). Working memory, psychiatric symptoms, and academic performance at school. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 83, 33–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. (2003). Working memory: Looking back and looking forward. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4, 829–839.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. (2007). Working memory, thought, and action. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barkley, R. A. (2006). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Handbook for diagnosis and treatment (3rd ed.). NY: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barkley, R. A., Fischer, M., Smallish, L., & Fletcher, K. (2006). Young adult outcome of hyperactive children: Adaptive functioning in major life activities. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 45, 192–202.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bowey, J. A., McGuigan, M., & Ruschena, A. (2005). On the association between serial naming speed for letters and digits and word-reading skill: Towards a developmental account. Journal of Research in Reading, 28, 400–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunnekreff, J. A., De Sonneville, L. M., Althaus, M., Minderaa, R. B., Oldehinkel, A. J., Verhulst, F. C., et al. (2007). Information processing profiles of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems: Evidence from a population-based sample of preadolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 185–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cabeza, R., Kapur, S., Craik, F. I. M., McIntosh, A. R., Houle, S., & Tulving, E. (1997). Functional neuroanatomy of recall and recognition: A PET study of episodic memory. The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 9, 254–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castellanos, F. X., & Tannock, R. (2002). Neuroscience of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: The search for endophenotypes. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3, 617–628.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colom, R., Abad, F., Rebollo, I., & Shih, P. C. (2005a). Memory span and general intelligence: A latent variable approach. Intelligence, 32, 623–642.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colom, R., Flores-Mendoza, C., Quiroga, M. Á., & Privado, J. (2005b). Working memory and general intelligence: The role of short-term storage. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 1005–1014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Jong, P. F. (1998). Working memory deficits of reading disabled children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 70, 75–96.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Engle, R. W., Tuholski, S. W., Laughlin, J. E., & Conway, A. R. (1999). Working memory, short-term memory, and general fluid intelligence: A latent variable approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 128, 309–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fassbender, C., & Schweitzer, J. B. (2006). Is there evidence for neural compensation in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? A review of the functional neuroimaging literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 445–465.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 175–191.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gadow, K. D., Sprafkin, J., & Salisbury, H. (2004). Further validity evidence for the teacher version of the Child Symptom Inventory-4. School Psychology Quarterly, 19, 50–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gathercole, S. E., Pickering, S. J., Knight, C., & Stegmann, Z. (2004). Working memory skills and educational attainment: Evidence from national curriculum assessment at 7 and 14 years of age. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gathercole, S. E., Tiffany, C., Briscoe, J., Thorn, A., & ALSPAC Team (2005). Developmental consequences of poor phonological short-term memory function in childhood: A longitudinal study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 598–611.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gjone, H., Stevenson, J., & Sundet, J. M. (1996). Genetic influence on parent reported attention related problems in a Norwegian general population twin sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 588–596.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Henry, L. A., & Millar, S. (1993). Why does memory span improve with age? A review of the evidence for two current hypotheses. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 5, 241–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollingshead, A. (1975). Four factor index of social status. New Haven, CT: Yale University, Department of Sociology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahana, M. J., Rizzuto, D. S., & Schneider, A. R. (2005). Theoretical correlations and measured correlations: Relating recognition and recall in four distributed memory models. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 31, 933–953.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kane, M. J., Hambrick, D. Z., Tuholski, S. W., Wilhelm, O., Payne, T. W., & Engle, R. W. (2004). The generality of working memory capacity: A latent variable approach to verbal and visuospatial memory span and reasoning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 189–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karatekin, C. (2004). A test of the integrity of the components of Baddeley’s model of working memory in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 912–926.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Rao, U., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., et al. (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children—present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 980–988.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klorman, R., Hazel-Fernandez, L. A., Shaywitz, S. E., Fletcher, J. M., Marchione, K. E., Holahan, J. M., et al. (1999). Executive functioning deficits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are independent of oppositional defiant or reading disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 1148–1155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liberman, I. Y., & Shankweiler, D. (1991). Phonology and beginning reading: A tutorial. In L. Rieben, & C. A. Perfetti (Eds.) Learning to read: Basic research and its implications (pp. 3–17). New Jersey: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacLeod, C. M., & Kampe, K. (1996). Word frequency effects on a recall, recognition, and word fragment completion test. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 22, 132–142.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mannuzza, S., Klein, R. G., Bessler, A., Malloy, P., & LaPadula, M. (1993). Adult outcome of hyperactive boys: Educational achievement, occupational rank, and psychiatric status. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 565–576.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • 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 & Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 377–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLean, J. F., & Hitch, G. J. (1999). Working memory impairments in children with specific arithmetic learning difficulties. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 74, 240–260.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Milich, R., Balentine, A. C., & Lynam, D. R. (2001). ADHD combined type and ADHD predominantly inattentive type are distinct and unrelated disorders. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 8, 463–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Rettinger, D. A., Shah, P., & Hegarty, M. (2001). How are visual spatial working memory, executive functioning, and spatial abilities related? A latent-variable analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 621–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, S. (2000). Development of phonological recoding and literacy acquisition: A four-year cross-sectional study. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 18, 533–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, B. F., Bennetto, L., McAleer, O., & Roberts, R. J. (1996). Executive functions and working memory. In G. R. Lyon, & N. A. Krasnegor (Eds.) Attention, memory and executive function (pp. 327–348). Baltimore: Brookes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, B. F., & Ozonoff, S. (1996). Executive functions and developmental psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37, 51–87.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pickering, S. J. (2001). The development of visuo-spatial working memory. Memory, 9, 423–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rapport, M. D., Chung, K. M., Shore, G., & Isaacs, P. (2001). A conceptual model of child psychopathology: Implications for understanding attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and treatment efficacy. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology – Special Edition, 30, 48–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rapport, M. D., Kofler, M. J., Alderson, R. M., & Raiker, J. (2007). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In M. Hersen, & D. Reitman (Eds.) Handbook of psychological assessment, case conceptualization and treatment, volume 2: Children and adolescents (pp. 349–404). NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, V. M., & Engle, R. W. (1997). The role of working memory capacity in retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 126, 211–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, P., Eckstrand, K., Sharp, W., Blumenthal, J., Lerch, J. P., Greenstein, D., et al. (2007). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is characterized by a delay in cortical maturation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U S A, 104, 19649–19654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siklos, S., & Kerns, K. A. (2004). Assessing multitasking in children with ADHD using a modified six elements test. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 19, 347–361.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E. E., Jonides, J., & Koeppe, R. A. (1996). Dissociating verbal and spatial working memory using PET. Cerebral Cortex, 6, 11–20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • SuperLab Pro (Version 2) [Computer program]. (2002). San Pedro, California: Cedrus Corporation. http://www.cedrus.com.

  • Swanson, H. L., & Howell, M. (2001). Working memory, short-term memory, and speech rate as a predictor of children’s performance at different ages. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 720–734.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, L., & Kim, K. (2007). Working memory, short-term memory, and naming speed as predictors of children’s mathematical performance. Intelligence, 35, 151–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, H. L., Mink, J., & Bocian, K. M. (1999). Cognitive processing deficits in poor reader with symptoms of reading disabilities and ADHD: More alike than different? Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 321–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voelker, S. L., Carter, R. A., Sprague, D. J. (1989). Developmental trends in memory and metamemory in children with attention deficit disorder. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 14, 75–88.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler intelligence scale for children (3rd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (2003). Wechsler intelligence scale for children (3rd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilens, T. E., Biederman, J., Brown, S., Tanguay, S., Monuteaux, M. C., Blake, C., et al. (2002). Psychiatric comorbidity and functioning in clinically referred preschool children and school-age youths with ADHD. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, 262–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Mark D. Rapport, R. Matt Alderson, Michael J. Kofler, Dustin E. Sarver, Jennifer Bolden & Valerie Sims

Authors
  1. Mark D. Rapport
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Matt Alderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael J. Kofler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dustin E. Sarver
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jennifer Bolden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Valerie Sims
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark D. Rapport.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rapport, M.D., Alderson, R.M., Kofler, M.J. et al. Working Memory Deficits in Boys with Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): The Contribution of Central Executive and Subsystem Processes. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36, 825–837 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9215-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9215-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation