Effort Allocation and ADHD in a Sample of Young Adults: An Online Stroop Task

Ewald, Christian (2022) Effort Allocation and ADHD in a Sample of Young Adults: An Online Stroop Task. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

Effort allocation in adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is not well studied which limits our understanding of neurodevelopmental aspects of the disorder. The present study seeks to enhance our knowledge of Adult ADHD by building on established findings derived from reaction-time task experiments on children using different levels of stimulus presentation rates. Fast stimulus presentation rates induce over-activation and typically lead to more errors while slow presentation rates induce under-activation and increase reaction time. These effects are more pronounced in children with ADHD due to poor effort allocation. The study investigates if the effects can also be observed in adults. To achieve this, the Stroop color task is used in three different conditions of stimulus presentation rates: fast, medium, and slow. The study uses a dimensional approach to ADHD symptomology. 71 first-year students from the University of Groningen were recruited and the Connor’s Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS) was used to assess levels of symptoms. Participants performed the computerized Stroop color task online. It was found that fast and slow stimulus presentation rates successfully induced the desired effects. However, levels of ADHD did not influence overall results. Young adults may be able to better compensate for increased effort allocation demands than children. The online setting and complexity of the task may also stimulate levels of arousal and decrease the demand for effort allocation.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Supervisor name:	Mohamed, S.M.H. and Borger, N.A.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	None [Bachelor Psychology]
Date Deposited:	27 Jul 2022 09:15
Last Modified:	27 Jul 2022 09:15
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1119

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