Application of the dual-component model of working memory to ADHD

Child Neuropsychol. 2010;16(1):60-79. doi: 10.1080/09297040903146958. Epub 2009 Aug 21.

Abstract

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with a deficit in working memory across both verbal and spatial domains, but the precise nature of this deficit is poorly understood. The dual-component model postulates that working memory capacity consists of two dissociable components: maintenance in primary memory (PM) and recall from secondary memory (SM). Participants diagnosed with ADHD (n=32) and age-matched controls (n=31) performed both verbal and spatial free-recall tasks, and subsets of these two samples were selected for further comparison based on their use of a "recency" order-of-report strategy. The primary results showed that maintenance in PM appears to be largely intact whereas recall from SM appears to be deficient in ADHD relative to age-matched controls. Similar outcomes were observed across both task domains. Implications for understanding both the underlying pathology and treatment of ADHD are discussed.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Attention / physiology
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / diagnosis
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / psychology*
  • Child
  • Cognition / physiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory, Short-Term / physiology*
  • Mental Recall / physiology
  • Models, Psychological*
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Serial Learning / physiology
  • Space Perception / physiology
  • Verbal Learning / physiology