Improving Performance of Children With ADHD Through Self-Generating Motivation During Working Memory: Reciprocal Influences Between Executive and Motivational Aspects

Abstract

The central executive of working memory is assumed to represent functional connectivity between the executive and modulation aspects. The present study examined the hypothesis that the executive aspect of working memory can generate sustained effortful motivation through cognitive load in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), improving their performance as a result of self-generating motivation during working memory tasks. Participants were 7 boys with ADHD who were asked to perform a simple reaction task and another task involving counting target stimuli cumulatively, each of them continuously for 15 min with long interstimulus intervals (ISIs). The results revealed that the cumulative counting affected the boys' performance in time-on-task; the performance of some participants improved, but that of others diminished. This outcome suggests that an optimal load on the executive aspect of working memory can generate sustained effortful motivation (i.e., self-generating motivation) and improve performance. However, adversely, effortful motivation was also reduced and performance diminished in some of the boys with ADHD. The remediational significance of self-generating motivation during working memory in children with ADHD is discussed. Poor working memory performance in children with ADHD can be attributed to not only the executive aspect of working memory but also the motivational aspect. These reciprocal influences between the executive function and motivation in children with ADHD suggest a possible paradigm shift in ADHD research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract).