Sultan, Ashna (2025) An Experimental Study on the Role Executive Functions plays in the manifestation of ADHD in Adults. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder as defined by the DSM-5-TR. The diagnosis poses significant challenges, particularly in adults. The diagnosis and management of ADHD remain complex and multifaceted, with an ongoing need for reliable diagnostic tools and tailored interventions. This paper aims to explore the relationship between Executive Functioning (EF) and the levels of ADHD in students, specifically, whether individuals with more ADHD symptoms have more difficulty with the cognitive process of inhibition. Inhibition is an important underlying factor in Executive Functions along with working memory and cognitive flexibility. To measure the level of ADHD and executive functioning, participants were required to fill out the Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS) and the Executive Functions Index (EFI). 325 participants filled out the questionnaires, of those, 42 participants were invited to take part in the reaction time tasks experiment to measure inhibition. Inhibition was assessed by dividing participants into low-ADHD and high-ADHD groups. It was measured using the congruent and incongruent stimuli in the Hearts and Flowers task (mixed condition) and the Arrows task, both requiring a high demand of inhibitory control. Results showed that students with more ADHD symptoms had greater executive functioning difficulties. However, both groups performed similarly on inhibition tasks, suggesting no impairment with their cognitive function of inhibition. One possible explanation is that, as the brain matures, adults with ADHD may compensate for suboptimal inhibitory control by leveraging other cognitive skills, allowing them to perform well on inhibition tasks despite underlying challenges. Alternatively, it may be that students with ADHD do not specifically struggle with cognitive inhibition processes but may experience difficulties in other cognitive domains. Keywords: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Executive functioning, Inhibition, Congruent, Incongruent
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Borger, N.A. and Wessel, J.P. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Apr 2025 12:14 |
| Last Modified: | 03 Apr 2025 12:14 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4810 |
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