Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder

Medicating

Curious about the psychopharmacology of stimulants in particular, e.g. Handelman and Sumiya (2022).

Implications for learning

We tend to think about attention in part as a learning mechanism now. What does ADHD say about the human learnining mechanism?

Pollak (2023):

Indeed, children with ADHD needed more trials to reach the criterion, suggesting poor learning. However, they needed more trials under both the constant and the partial reinforcement conditions. On the extinction phase, children with ADHD made fewer previously-rewarded choices, suggesting faster extinction, as predicted by the DTD.

The combination of slow learning and fast extinction might seem surprising, as participants must learn the new rewards regimen in the extinction phase. Conversely, this combination is understandable; forgetting something one did not learn well is easier. Therefore, the results suggest that children with ADHD have a fundamental learning deficit, which is independent of whether the reinforcement is constant or partial.

See also (Addicott et al. 2021; Hulsbosch et al. n.d.; Nissan et al. 2023; Smith et al. 2022).

incoming

` * An interesting coaching project: Off Piste ADHD Coaching – working with curious humans to discover what happens next

References