title: The effects of distraction and a brief intervention on auditory and visual-spatial working memory in college students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
abstract: Two studies addressed how young adult college students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (n = 44) compare to their nonaffected peers (n = 42) on tests of auditory and visual-spatial working memory (WM), are vulnerable to auditory and visual distractions, and are affected by a simple intervention. Students with ADHD demonstrated worse auditory WM than did controls. A near significant trend indicated that auditory distractions interfered with the visual WM of both groups and that, whereas controls were also vulnerable to visual distractions, visual distractions improved visual WM in the ADHD group. The intervention was ineffective. Limited correlations emerged between self-reported ADHD symptoms and objective test performances; students with ADHD who perceived themselves as more symptomatic often had better WM and were less vulnerable to distractions than their ADHD peers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Butler University, 4600 Sunset Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA. tlinewea@butler.edu
authors.forename: Tara T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Lineweaver
authors.forename: Suneeta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kercood
authors.forename: Nicole B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: O'Keeffe
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Massey
authors.forename: Samantha J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Jenna N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Pierce
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014495:Universities; D014706:Verbal Learning; D055815:Young Adult