Exploring the self-reference effect in ADHD

Objectives: The self-reference effect (SRE) is an extremely reliable memory advantage for information encoded in relation to self, which is linked to increased attention during encoding. The present study examined whether children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) show a typical SRE, or if this is reduced as a result of their attentional difficulties. Design: The study was a mixed design, comparing children with ADHD and a typically developing (TD) control group on their memory for items encoded in a self-referent and other-referent context.Methods: There were 32 participants aged 5 - 10 years, 16 in the ADHD group and 16 TD children matched closely for chronological age, verbal age, non-verbal IQ and sex. Participants were tested using an evaluative self-referencing paradigm, in which a series of object images were presented with an image of either the child’s own or another child’s face. On each trial, the child was asked whether or not the child pictured would like the object. Recognition and source memory for the objects were then assessed.Results: TD children displayed the expected SRE, remembering more items shown with their own face. However, this effect was not found within the ADHD sample.Conclusions: These findings are the first to show that children with ADHD may not benefit from the usually robust SRE. The results support the suggestion that attention is a prerequisite for the enhanced encoding of incoming self-referential information, and have implications for the use of SRE strategies in the classroom for children with attentional difficulties

Relationships between cognition and literacy in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder:A systematic review and meta-analysis

Evidence suggests that cognitive and literacy difficulties are common for children with Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The current systematic review and meta‐analysis investigated the relationship between cognition and literacy in children with ADHD. Ten thousand and thirty‐eight articles were screened against the inclusion criteria and six eligible studies were retained for final review. Where two or more studies used comparable measures of cognition and literacy, a meta‐analysis of the relationship between these measures was undertaken. A narrative synthesis of all included studies was also completed. There were medium effect sizes between working memory and aspects of reading, and small effect sizes between processing speed and reading. Inhibition and attention had differential relationships with aspects of literacy with varying effect sizes. This systematic review demonstrates differential relationships between aspects of literacy and cognition in children with ADHD. Further examination of these relationships is warranted to support intervention development

The self‐reference effect in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

The self‐memory system depends on the prioritization and capture of self‐relevant information, so may be disrupted by difficulties in attending to, encoding and retrieving self‐relevant information. The current study compares memory for self‐referenced and other‐referenced items in children with ADHD and typically developing comparison groups matched for verbal and chronological age. Children aged 5–14 (N = 90) were presented with everyday objects alongside an own‐face image (self‐reference trials) or an unknown child's image (other‐referenced trials). They were asked whether the child shown would like the object, before completing a surprise source memory test. In a second task, children performed, and watched another person perform, a series of actions before their memory for the actions was tested. A significant self‐reference effect (SRE) was found in the typically developing children (i.e. both verbal and chronological age‐matched comparison groups) for the first task, with significantly better memory for self‐referenced than other‐referenced objects. However, children with ADHD showed no SRE, suggesting a compromised ability to bind information with the cognitive self‐concept. In the second task, all groups showed superior memory for actions carried out by the self, suggesting a preserved enactment effect in ADHD. Implications and applications for the self‐memory system in ADHD are discussed