TY - JOUR
T1 - A New Spin on Spatial Cognition in ADHD
T2 - A Diffusion Model Decomposition of Mental Rotation
AU - Feldman, Jason S.
AU - Huang-Pollock, Cynthia
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (grant number R01 MH084947). The authors thank the parents, teachers, and children who participated, and research assistants who helped conduct the study.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © INS. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2020.
PY - 2021/5
Y1 - 2021/5
N2 - Objectives: Multiple studies have found evidence of task non-specific slow drift rate in ADHD, and slow drift rate has rapidly become one of the most visible cognitive hallmarks of the disorder. In this study, we use the diffusion model to determine whether atypicalities in visuospatial cognitive processing exist independently of slow drift rate. Methods: Eight-To twelve-year-old children with (n = 207) and without ADHD (n = 99) completed a 144-Trial mental rotation task. Results: Performance of children with ADHD was less accurate and more variable than non-ADHD controls, but there were no group differences in mean response time. Drift rate was slower, but nondecision time was faster for children with ADHD. A Rotation × ADHD interaction for boundary separation was also found in which children with ADHD did not strategically adjust their response thresholds to the same degree as non-ADHD controls. However, the Rotation × ADHD interaction was not significant for nondecision time, which would have been the primary indicator of a specific deficit in mental rotation per se. Conclusions: Poorer performance on the mental rotation task was due to slow rate of evidence accumulation, as well as relative inflexibility in adjusting boundary separation, but not to impaired visuospatial processing specifically. We discuss the implications of these findings for future cognitive research in ADHD.
AB - Objectives: Multiple studies have found evidence of task non-specific slow drift rate in ADHD, and slow drift rate has rapidly become one of the most visible cognitive hallmarks of the disorder. In this study, we use the diffusion model to determine whether atypicalities in visuospatial cognitive processing exist independently of slow drift rate. Methods: Eight-To twelve-year-old children with (n = 207) and without ADHD (n = 99) completed a 144-Trial mental rotation task. Results: Performance of children with ADHD was less accurate and more variable than non-ADHD controls, but there were no group differences in mean response time. Drift rate was slower, but nondecision time was faster for children with ADHD. A Rotation × ADHD interaction for boundary separation was also found in which children with ADHD did not strategically adjust their response thresholds to the same degree as non-ADHD controls. However, the Rotation × ADHD interaction was not significant for nondecision time, which would have been the primary indicator of a specific deficit in mental rotation per se. Conclusions: Poorer performance on the mental rotation task was due to slow rate of evidence accumulation, as well as relative inflexibility in adjusting boundary separation, but not to impaired visuospatial processing specifically. We discuss the implications of these findings for future cognitive research in ADHD.
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U2 - 10.1017/S1355617720001198
DO - 10.1017/S1355617720001198
M3 - Article
C2 - 33292918
AN - SCOPUS:85097366884
SN - 1355-6177
VL - 27
SP - 472
EP - 483
JO - Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
JF - Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
IS - 5
ER -