心理学外文翻译空间工作记忆和战略形成成年人诊断注意缺陷多动障碍.docxVIP

Spatial working memory and strategy formation in adults diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorderSusan Young a,*, Robin Morris a, Brian Toone b, Carolyn Tyson cAbstractThe study investigated problem spatial working memory in ADHD adults. Twenty-seven patients diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood and 27 matched normal controls were tested using the Executive Golf Task, a test that also measures spatial strategy formation. Overall the ADHD patients were significantly impaired, the deficit increasing with task difficulty. They were also more impaired on a measure of task strategy formation, and when taking this into account in terms of memory performance the patient deficit remained, suggesting that their spatial working memory deficits are not wholly explained by problems with strategy formation.IntroductionWorking memory is defined as a cognitive system that provides temporary storage and manipulation of the information necessary for activities such as reasoning, language comprehension and learning (Baddeley, 1992). This process requires the ability to hold information ‘‘on-line’’ during a brief time until a decision and subsequent response is made (Goldman-Rakic, 1990). It has been postulated that there is a dissociation between basic memorial requirements of tasks and their executive components which control response selection, e.g. the adoption of an overall strategy or plan, or the utilization of specific attentional inhibitory mechanisms. Thus performance is determined by two factors, one related to short-term spatial memory and the other to strategic factors (Robbins, 1996). Several studies have shown that spatial working memory deficits in patients with frontal lobe excisions may be related to the inefficient use of a particular search strategy (Miotto, Bullock, Polkey, Morris, 1996; Owen, Downes, Sahakian, Polkey, Robbins, 1990; Owen, Morris, Sahakian, Polkey, Robbins, 1996). This suggests that part of the deficit may arise from executive failu