title: Constraints on information processing capacity in adults with ADHD.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Researchers in the cognitive sciences have demonstrated the existence of processing capacity bottlenecks in the human brain. These capacity bottlenecks restrict our ability to process and act on environmental information. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show reduced capacity of working memory and response selection mechanisms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight young adults with ADHD and 33 comparison adults were assessed using two measures of processing capacity. A dual choice-response task (psychological refractory period [PRP] task) measured response selection capacity, and an n-back task measured working memory capacity. These tasks measured capacity by assessing the degree to which increasing processing load disrupted performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results confirmed that performance declined as cognitive load was increased, and this was true for both groups on each task. On the PRP task, the performance decline resulting from increased cognitive load was more pronounced in the ADHD group than in the control group, indicative of reduced response selection capacity in the ADHD group. On the n-back task, however, there was no group difference in the degree to which increasing processing load disrupted performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicate that adults with ADHD show a specific capacity reduction of response selection. This evidence suggests a dissociation between working memory and response selection capacities, and it may have implications for understanding cognitive dysfunction in adults with ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, 115 Kastle Hall, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Milich
authors.forename: Mark T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Fillmore
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult