Interference Effects in a Numerical Stroop Paradigm in 9- to 12-year-old Children with ADHD-C

Authors: Kaufmann, Liane¹; Nuerk, Hans-Christoph²

Source: Child Neuropsychology (Neuropsychology, Development and Cognition: Section C), Volume 12, Number 3, June 2006 , pp. 223-243(21)

Publisher: Psychology Press, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by deficient self-regulation, poor attentional control, and poor response inhibition. To date, however, the extent to which these deficits affect basic interference control remains a matter of controversy. Secondly, ADHD has been reported to be associated with arithmetic deficits. It remains unclear whether such deficits are a secondary consequence of the above-mentioned characteristics of ADHD or whether basic numerical magnitude representations are also affected. In the present study we attempted to investigate these issues using a basic numerical interference paradigm. Nine- to twelve-year-old children with ADHD-C (attention-deficit hyperactivity-disorder combined type) and control children without ADHD (each n = 16) were presented with two digits of possibly different physical sizes (e.g., 3 7). This numerical Stroop task requires subjects to make a magnitude classification concerning either the physical or the numerical stimulus dimension. The irrelevant dimension can be congruent (same response), incongruent (different response), or neutral (no response association). Children with ADHD-C performed worse than control children in most analyses. The most important finding was a significant interaction of congruity effects with group in the numerical comparison task. Children with ADHD-C tended to show larger congruity and interference effects than controls, and these were not attributable to a speed-accuracy trade-off. The results might reflect differential processing speeds, or a different degree of automatic activation of physical and numerical magnitudes in children with and without ADHD-C. Alternative explanations, such as insufficient inhibition of selective (domain-specific) attention are also discussed.

Keywords: numerical Stroop task; number-size congruity effect; ADHD; inhibition; interference control; task-irrelevant information

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09297040500477483

Affiliations: 1: Innsbruck Medical University, Clinical Department of Pediatrics, Austria 2: Paris-Lodron University, Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

Publication date: 2006-06-01

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