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AD/HD and the capture of attention by briefly exposed delay‐related cues: evidence from a conditioning paradigm
Author(s) -
SonugaBarke Edmund J.S.,
Houwer Jan De,
Ruiter Karen De,
Ajzenstzen Michal,
Holland Sarah
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00219.x
Subject(s) - psychology , conditioning , attentional bias , sensory cue , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , audiology , neuroscience , cognition , medicine , statistics , mathematics
Background: The selective attention of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) to briefly exposed delay‐related cues was examined in two experiments using a dot‐probe conditioning paradigm. Method: Colour cues were paired with negatively (i.e., imposition of delay) and positively valenced cues (i.e., escape from or avoidance of delay) during a conditioning phase. These cues were presented alongside neutral cues in a subsequent dot‐probe detection phase. Results: In experiment 1 teacher‐identified children with AD/HD ( N = 12), but not controls ( N = 12), displayed an attentional bias towards both positively and negatively valenced cues. In experiment 2 children with a diagnosis of hyperkinetic disorder ( N = 15), but not controls ( N = 15), displayed a bias towards delay‐related cues. However, this effect was largely carried by the response to positively valenced cues. Conclusions: These results confirm the dot‐probe conditioning paradigm as a useful test of motivational influence on attention. They provide the first evidence of qualitative differences in the attentional style of children with AD/HD and give further support to those theories that highlight the motivational significance of delay in AD/HD.