CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 103Attention Deficit Hyperactivity DisorderNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesDevelopmental and Educational Neuropsychology

Are Motor Inhibition and Cognitive Flexibility Dead Ends in ADHD?

Open access
Rommelse, Nanda N. J., Altink, Marieke E., de Sonneville, Leo M. J., Buschgens, Cathelijne J. M., Buitelaar, Jan, Oosterlaan, Jaap, Sergeant, Joseph A.·2007·Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
DOI 10.1007/s10802-007-9146-z
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Executive dysfunction has been postulated as the core deficit in ADHD, although many deficits in lower order cognitive processes have also been identified. By obtaining an appropriate baseline of lower order cognitive functioning light may be shed on as to whether executive deficits result from problems in lower order and/or higher order cognitive processes. We examined motor inhibition and cognitive flexibility in relation to a baseline measure in 816 children from ADHD and control families. Multiple children in a family were tested in order to examine the familiality of the measures. No evidence was found for deficits in motor inhibition or cognitive flexibility in children with ADHD or their nonaffected siblings: Compared to their baseline speed and accuracy of responding, children with ADHD and their (non)affected siblings were not disproportionally slower or inaccurate when demands for motor inhibition or cognitive flexibility were added to the task. However, children with ADHD and their (non)affected siblings were overall less accurate than controls, which could not be attributed to differences in response speed. This suggests that inaccuracy of responding is characteristic of children having (a familial risk for) ADHD. Motor inhibition and cognitive flexibility as operationalized with mean reaction time were found to be familial. It is concluded that poorer performance on executive tasks in children with ADHD and their (non)affected siblings may result from deficiencies in lower order cognitive processes and not (only) from higher order cognitive processes/executive functions.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s10802-007-9146-z

Cites

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet

References 92 · Cited by 103

Research works printed but not linked: 40

  1. Almasy, L., & Blangero, J. (2001). Endophenotypes as quantitative risk factors for psychiatric disease: Rationale and study design. American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 105, 42-44.
  2. American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
  3. August, G. J., & Garfinkel, B. D. (1989). Behavioral and cognitive subtypes of ADHD. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 739-748.
  4. Baddeley, A., & Della Sala, S. (1996). Working memory and executive control. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 351, 1397-1404.
  5. Carte, E., Nigg, J., & Hinshaw, S. (1996). Neuropsychological functioning, motor speed, and language processing in boys with and without ADHD. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24, 481-498.
  6. De Sonneville, L. M. J. (1999). Amsterdam Neuropsychological Task: A computer-aided assessment program. In B. P. L. M. Den Brinker, P. J. Beek, A. N. Brand, S. J. Maarse, & L. J. M. Mulder (Eds.), Cognitive ergonomics, clinical assessment and computer- assisted learning: Computers in psychology (vol. 6, pp. 204-217).
  7. Dickman, S. J., & Meyer, D. E. (1988). Impulsivity and speed- accuracy tradeoffs in information processing. Journal of Person- ality and Social Psychology, 54, 274-290.
  8. Domin, D. S. (1999). A content analyses of general chemistry laboratory manuals for evidence of higher order-order cognitive tasks. Journal of Chemical Education, 76, 109-111.
  9. Doyle, A.E. (2006). Executive functions in attention-deficit/hyperac- tivity disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 67(Suppl), 21-26.
  10. Fuster, J. M. (2002). Frontal lobe and cognitive development. Journal of Neurocytology, 31, 373-385.
  11. Garcia-Sanchez, C., Estevez-Gonzalez, A., Suarez-Romero, E., & Junque, C. (1997). Right hemisphere dysfunction in subjects with attention-deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity. Journal of Child Neurology, 12, 107-115.
  12. Giedd, J. N., Blumenthal, J., Molloy, E., & Castellanos, F. X. (2001). Brain imaging of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 931, 33-49.
  13. Goodman, R. (1997). The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 581-586.
  14. Groth-Marnat, G. (1997). Handbook of psychological assessment (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley.
  15. Holyoak, K. J., & Kroger, J. K. (1995). Forms of reasoning: Insight into frontal functions? Paper presented at the workshop on Structure and Functions of the Human Prefrontal Cortex. New York: New York Academy of Sciences, March 2-4, 1995.
  16. Kadesjo, B., & Gillberg, C. (1999). Developmental coordination disorder in Swedish 7-year-old children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 820-828.
  17. Losier, B. J., McGrath, P. J., & Klein, R. M. (1996). Error patterns on the continuous performance test in non-medicated and medicated samples of children with and without ADHD: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37, 971-987.
  18. Lovejoy, D. W., Ball, J. D., Keats, M., Stutts, M. L., Spain, E. H., Janda, L., et al. (1999). Neuropsychological performance of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Diagnostic classification estimates for measures of frontal lobe/ executive functioning. Journal of the International Neuropsy- chological Society, 5, 222-233.
  19. Mehta, M. A., Goodyer, I. M., & Sahakian, B. J. (2004). Methylphe- nidate improves working memory and set-shifting in AD/HD: Relationships to baseline memory capacity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 293-305.
  20. Nigg, J. T., Blaskey, L. G., Stawicki, J. A., & Sachek, J. (2004). Evaluating the endophenotype model of ADHD neuropsycho- logical deficit: Results for parents and siblings of children with ADHD combined and inattentive subtypes. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 614-625.
  21. Oosterlaan, J., Logan, G. D., & Sergeant, J. A. (1998). Response inhibition in AD/HD, CD, comorbid AD/HD+CD, anxious, and control children: A meta-analysis of studies with the stop task. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 39, 411-426.
  22. Oosterlaan, J., & Sergeant, J. A. (1998). Effects of reward and response cost on response inhibition in AD/HD, disruptive, anxious, and normal children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 161-174.
  23. Purvis, K. L., & Tannock, R. (1997). Language abilities in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, reading disabilities, and normal controls. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 25, 133-144.
  24. Rommelse, N. N. J., Oosterlaan, J., Buitelaar, J., Faraone, S. V., & Sergeant, J. A. (2007). Time reproduction in children with ADHD and their nonaffected siblings. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46, 582-590.
  25. Rubia, K., Overmeyer, S., Taylor, E., Brammer, M., Williams, S. C., Simmons, A., et al. (1999). Hypofrontality in attention deficit hyper- activity disorder during higher order-order motor control: A study with functional MRI. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 891-896.
  26. Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 27, 763-797.
  27. Schachar, R., Mota, V. L., Logan, G. D., Tannock, R., & Klim, P. (2000). Confirmation of an motor inhibition deficit in attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28, 227-235.
  28. Seidman, L., Biederman, J., Monuteaux, M., Weber, W., & Faraone, S. V. (2000). Neuropsychological functioning in nonreferred siblings of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 252-265.
  29. Sergeant, J. A., & Scholten, C. (1985). On data limitations in hyperactivity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 26, 111-124.
  30. Sergeant, J. A., & Van der Meere, J.J. (1990). Convergence of approaches in localizing the hyperactivity deficit. In B. B. Lahey & A. E. Kazdin (Eds.), Advancements in clinical child psychology (vol. 13, pp. 207-245). New York: Plenum.
  31. Shallice, T., Burgess, P., & Robertson. (1996). The domain of supervisory processes and temporal organization of behaviour. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 351, 1405-1412.
  32. Slaats-Willemse, D., Swaab-Barneveld, H., De Sonneville, L., van der Meulen, E., & Buitelaar, J. (2003). Deficient response inhibition as a cognitive endophenotype of ADHD. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 1242-1248.
  33. Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (2002). Interval-length and time-use by children with AD/HD: A comparison of four models. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 257-264.
  34. Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S., Williams, E., Hall, M., & Saxton, T. (1996). Hyperactivity and delay aversion. III: The effect on cognitive style of imposing delay after errors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37, 189-194.
  35. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
  36. Tannock, R. (1998). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 39, 65-99.
  37. Taylor, E. A. (1986). Childhood hyperactivity. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 562-573.
  38. Trommer, B. L., Hoeppner, J. B., Lorber, R., & Armstrong, K. J. (1988). The go-no-go paradigm in attention deficit disorder. Annals of Neurology, 24, 610-614.
  39. Trommer, B. L., Hoeppner, J. A., & Zecker, S. G. (1991). The go no- go test in attention deficit disorder is sensitive to methylpheni- date. Journal of Child Neurology, 6, S128-S131.
  40. Van Mourik, R., Oosterlaan, J., & Sergeant, J. A. (2005). The Stroop revisited: A meta-analysis of interference control in AD/HD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 150-165.

Authors
Rommelse, N. N. J., Altink, M. E., de Sonneville, L. M. J., Buschgens, C. J. M., Buitelaar, J., Oosterlaan, J., & Sergeant, J. A.
Affiliations
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
  • Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
Corresponding author
Rommelse, Nanda N. J.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2007-05-15
Volume
35
Issue
6
Pages
957-967
ISSN
  • 0091-0627 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-2835
DOI
10.1007/s10802-007-9146-z
OpenAlex
W2167848317
Cited by
103
References
92
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 6
FWCI
4.83
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (publishedVersion)
  • VU Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Digital Academic REpository of VU University Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
  • Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH062873, R01 MH62873-01A1)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
Keywords
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, executive dysfunction, motor inhibition, cognitive flexibility, familial aggregation, response accuracy, reaction time, children
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Child, Preschool, Cognition Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Netherlands, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Risk Factors, Comorbidity, Motor Skills Disorders, Siblings

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review