Verbal working memory in ADHD children
DOI: 10.2478/v10057-008-0004-z
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Summary
This study investigates verbal working memory deficits in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), specifically comparing the functioning of the phonological loop and the central executive system. Motivated by neuropsychological models that identify working memory impairments as a core cognitive phenotype of ADHD, the research aims to determine whether deficits arise from difficulties in maintaining verbal material (storage) or manipulating it (executive function). The study also examines differences between mixed and inattentive ADHD subtypes. The study included 132 children aged 9–11 years, divided into three groups: mixed ADHD (n=64), inattentive ADHD (n=21), and a control group (n=47). Participants were assessed using clinical interviews, behavioral checklists (CBCL, TRF), and ADHD rating scales. Two experimental tasks evaluated verbal working memory: an auditory serial addition task requiring simultaneous maintenance and mental calculation of numbers, and a serial subtraction task performed with and without an auditory distractor. Performance metrics included missing reactions, calculation errors, and completion times. Results indicated that children with ADHD performed worse than controls, but there were no significant differences between the mixed and inattentive ADHD subtypes. In the auditory serial addition task, ADHD children exhibited significantly more missing reactions, particularly as the task progressed, suggesting a failure to maintain information in the phonological loop rather than a deficit in the central executive’s manipulation capabilities. In the serial subtraction task, ADHD children were slower and made more errors, but only when an external auditory distractor was present. The distractor significantly impaired performance in both ADHD groups, whereas control children maintained accuracy and speed. The findings suggest that the phonological loop’s storage function is particularly vulnerable in ADHD, especially under conditions requiring selective attention. The study concludes that verbal working memory deficits in ADHD are primarily associated with impairments in the phonological loop’s storage capacity rather than the central executive system. The lack of difference between subtypes suggests that inattentive ADHD represents a less severe manifestation of the same neuropsychological deficits seen in mixed ADHD. These findings imply potential dysfunction in the left posterior parietal cortex, responsible for verbal storage, and highlight the critical role of selective attention in mitigating working memory failures in ADHD children.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
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| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
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| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| enrich | success | openalex | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
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| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-20 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
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