The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA16802, USA.
J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2021 May;27(5):472-483. doi: 10.1017/S1355617720001198. Epub 2020 Dec 9.
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.
Eight- to twelve-year-old children with (n = 207) and without ADHD (n = 99) completed a 144-trial mental rotation task.
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.
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.
多项研究发现 ADHD 存在任务非特异性缓慢漂移率的证据，而缓慢漂移率迅速成为该障碍最明显的认知特征之一。在这项研究中，我们使用扩散模型来确定视觉空间认知加工的异常是否独立于缓慢漂移率存在。
8 至 12 岁的 ADHD 儿童（n = 207）和无 ADHD 儿童（n = 99）完成了 144 次心理旋转任务。
与非 ADHD 对照组相比，ADHD 儿童的表现准确性较低，变异性较大，但平均反应时间无组间差异。ADHD 儿童的漂移率较慢，但非决策时间较快。还发现了旋转 × ADHD 边界分离的交互作用，ADHD 儿童没有像非 ADHD 对照组那样策略性地调整其反应阈值。然而，对于非决策时间，旋转 × ADHD 交互作用并不显著，这将是心理旋转本身存在特定缺陷的主要指标。
心理旋转任务表现较差是由于证据积累速度较慢，以及调整边界分离的相对不灵活性所致，而不是由于视觉空间处理能力受损所致。我们讨论了这些发现对 ADHD 未来认知研究的意义。
