title: A diffusion modeling approach to understanding contextual cueing effects in children with ADHD.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Strong theoretical models suggest implicit learning deficits may exist among children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
  
  
  METHODS
  We examine implicit contextual cueing (CC) effects among children with ADHD (n = 72) and non-ADHD Controls (n = 36).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using Ratcliff's drift diffusion model, we found that among Controls, the CC effect is due to improvements in attentional guidance and to reductions in response threshold. Children with ADHD did not show a CC effect; although they were able to use implicitly acquired information to deploy attentional focus, they had more difficulty adjusting their response thresholds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Improvements in attentional guidance and reductions in response threshold together underlie the CC effect. Results are consistent with neurocognitive models of ADHD that posit subcortical dysfunction but intact spatial attention, and encourage the use of alternative data analytic methods when dealing with reaction time data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weigard
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang-Pollock
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: ADHD; Contextual cueing; developmental psychopathology; diffusion model; implicit learning; neuropsychology