Behavioral adjustment to asymmetric reward availability among children with and without ADHD: effects of past and current reinforcement contingencies

Abstract

Altered reinforcement sensitivity is hypothesized to underlie symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Here we evaluate the behavioral sensitivity of Brazilian children with and without ADHD to a change in reward availability. Forty typically developing children and 32 diagnosed with DSM-IV ADHD completed a signal-detection task in which correct discriminations between two stimuli were associated with different frequencies of reinforcement. The response alternative associated with the higher rate of reinforcement switched, without warning, after 30 rewards were delivered. The task continued until another 30 rewards were delivered. Both groups of children developed a response bias toward the initially more frequently reinforced alternative. This effect was larger in the control group. The response allocation of the two groups changed following the shift in reward availability. Over time the ADHD group developed a significant response bias toward the now more frequently reinforced alternative. In contrast, the bias of the control group stayed near zero after an initial decline following the contingency change. The overall shift in bias was similar for the two groups. The behavior of both groups of children was sensitive to the asymmetric reward distribution and to the change in reward availability. Subtle group differences in response patterns emerged, possibly reflecting differences in the time frame of reward effects and sensitivity to reward exposure.

Reinforcement Contingency Learning in Children with ADHD: Back to the Basics of Behavior Therapy

“…There seemed to be a trend towards less such exploratory behavior in children with ADHD; those who acquired the correct response under partial reinforcement conditions were less likely to engage in other behaviors to obtain rewards during extinction. It may be that children with ADHD, compared to TD children, have a greater difficulty adapting their behavior to a changing environment (e.g., when previously reinforced behavior is no longer or infrequently followed by a reinforcer) (Alsop et al 2016; Barkley 1997; Furukawa et al 2018). This tentative difference, if confirmed in future research, might reflect a reduction in motivation in children with ADHD to find reinforcement, especially when an unpredictable reward schedule during acquisition is followed by an unannounced contingency change (Alsop et al 2016).…”

How to Improve Behavioral Parent and Teacher Training for Children with ADHD: Integrating Empirical Research on Learning and Motivation into Treatment

“…A small number of studies have compared the response allocation of children with and without ADHD using concurrent variable interval scales (VI/VI; Kollins et al 1997 ; Taylor et al 2010 ); reversal learning tasks (Chantiluke et al 2015 ; Hauser et al 2014 ) and signal detection tasks (Alsop et al 2016 ; Furukawa et al 2019a ). Kollins et al ( 1997 ) and Talyor et al ( 2010 ) reported the behavior of children with ADHD does not match the contingencies in operation as well as that of typically developing children.…”

“…Kollins et al ( 1997 ) and Talyor et al ( 2010 ) reported the behavior of children with ADHD does not match the contingencies in operation as well as that of typically developing children. Cross-culturally children with ADHD adjust their behavioral responses to changing reinforcer availability less efficiently than their typically developing peers (Alsop et al 2016 ; Furukawa et al 2017b , 2019a ). These latter deficits are most apparent when rates of reinforcement are relatively low and the contingencies are not made explicit.…”

“… 2 Gambling tasks are sometimes described in the literature as punishment tasks, however, as these tasks do not assess the effects of punishment alone, i.e., results are confounded by reward immediacy/size, and may reflect poor decision making (Furukawa et al 2019a , b ), we do not describe these here. …”

توقیت تقدیم تعزیز الوکیل الرسومی( المتواصل – المتقطع) المصاحب لأنشطة القصة الرقمیة وأثرها على السلوک الإنسحابی ومدة الانتباه وتنمیة بعض المفاهیم ما قبل الأکادیمیة لدى الأطفال المعاقین عقلیا ًالقابلین للتدریب

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