Infrequent, but not frequent, reinforcers produce more variable responding and deficient sustained attention in young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Infrequent, but not frequent, reinforcers produce more variable responding and deficient sustained attention in young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01468.x
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发表时间：
2006-05-01
影响因子：
7.6
通讯作者：
Sagvolden, T
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Aase, H;Sagvolden, T
背景：注意缺陷/多动障碍的潜在行为/心理过程尚不清楚。与多巴胺功能障碍相关的动机因素可能在行为症状的发展中起重要作用。特别是，不常见的，但不常见的，强化物被认为与多动症儿童的反应改变和异常行为有关。本研究旨在分析强化频率对多动、冲动、持续注意和反应变异性的操作性测量的影响。方法：56名男孩，其中一半被诊断为多动症，完成了一项电脑任务，以屏幕上有两个方块的游戏形式呈现。其中一个方格与强化有关。该任务要求计算机鼠标在突发事件的可变间隔时间表(短（平均2秒）和长（平均20秒）之间交替进行响应。强化物是卡通图片和小饰品。结果：总体而言，频繁给予强化物的ADHD患儿与对照患儿之间无显著差异。在持续注意和变异性的测量上有统计学上的显著差异，但在不频繁的强化中没有发现多动和冲动。年龄效应与群体效应对持续注意力的影响相互作用，表明群体差异只在幼儿中发现。令人惊讶的是，年龄较大的孩子表现出更大的反应变异性，而且没有学习能力。结论：当强化物较少时，ADHD儿童表现出持续注意力不足和反应变异性增加。使用电脑的经历可能会干扰多动症和冲动性的测量。年龄较大的比较组儿童出乎意料地表现不佳，可能是由于强化因素效率低下，或者是口头控制的行为压倒了强化因素的影响。在动机因素研究中，强化物的特征和实验步骤是影响结果的重要因素。该研究为ADHD的动态发展理论提供了一些支持，该理论预测了神经生物学缺陷、改变的强化机制和治疗建议之间的关系。
Background: The underlying behavioral/psychological processes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are unclear. Motivational factors, related to dopamine dysfunction, may play an important role in the development of the behavioral symptoms. Particularly, infrequent, but not frequent, reinforcers have been suggested to be associated with altered responding and deviant behavior in children with ADHD. The present study was designed to analyze the influence of reinforcement frequency on operationalized measures of hyperactivity, impulsiveness, sustained attention, and response variability. Methods: Fifty-six boys, half of whom were diagnosed with ADHD, completed a computerized task presented as a game with two squares on the screen. One square was associated with reinforcement. The task required responses by the computer mouse under contingencies alternating between variable interval schedules of short (mean 2 s) and long (mean 20 s) durations. Reinforcers were cartoon pictures and small trinkets. Results: Overall, there was no difference between children with ADHD and comparison children when reinforcers were given frequently. Statistically significant differences on measures of sustained attention and variability, but not hyperactivity and impulsiveness, were found during infrequent reinforcement only. Age effects interacted with group effects on sustained attention, showing that group differences were found in the young children only. Surprisingly, older comparison children showed increased response variability and no learning. Conclusions: When reinforcers are infrequent, children with ADHD show deficient sustained attention and increased variability in responding. Computer experience may have interfered with measures of hyperactivity and impulsiveness. The unexpectedly poor performance of the older comparison children may have been due to inefficient reinforcers or to verbally governed behavior overruling reinforcer effects. Reinforcer characteristics and experimental procedures are important factors influencing findings in studies investigating motivational factors. The study provides some support for the dynamic developmental theory of ADHD predicting relationships between neurobiological deficits, altered reinforcement mechanisms, and treatment recommendations.