IMPLICIT MEMORY IN YOUNG ADULTS WITH ADHD: DOES IT INCLUDE A CONCEPTUAL PRIMING DEFICIT?
Abstract
This experiment explored the distinction between two implicit memory test paradigms:
identification versus production processes and conceptual versus perceptual processes.
These dimensions were crossed to produce four different types of implicit tests,
consistent with current literature, in which each test differentially consisted of two of the
four processes. The tests were then administered across two divergent subject
populations of young adults: ADHD and non-ADHD. Participants studied semantic
properties of words, performed a filler section to divert attention from the studied words,
and then performed four memory tests to assess long term, implicit memory. There were
no statistically significant differences in performance between subject populations for
any of the tests. Participants with ADHD performed equally well compared to their non-
ADHD peers. These results are inconsistent with other research suggesting that children
with ADHD have reduced priming with conceptual-based tests.However, participants
with ADHD that had more severe symptoms exhibited reduced priming in conceptual
tasks compared to other less symptomatic participants with ADHD, yet showed more
priming in perceptual driven tasks.
Citation
Murphy, Stephanie R (2009). IMPLICIT MEMORY IN YOUNG ADULTS WITH ADHD:
DOES IT INCLUDE A CONCEPTUAL PRIMING DEFICIT?. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /86494.