The effects of story structure on the recall of stories in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Abstract

This study explored influences of story structure properties on recall of story events by children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants listened to and retold 2 stories. Two properties of the stories' causal structure were derived: the number of causal connections an event has to other events and whether an event is on the causal chain linking events from beginning to end. The extent to which causal properties and the more subjective property of perceived importance predicted recall in the 2 groups of children was examined. Each property predicted recall, but there were group differences in sensitivity to causal structure that were moderated by intelligence level and gender. Variations in amount and allocation of cognitive resources applied to comprehension contributed to performance of children with ADHD. There are implications for understanding academic and social difficulties common in children with ADHD.

Young children's use of causal connections during storytelling : The role of context and individual differences in attention.

“…Lorch, O'Neil et al (2004) replicated these results using aurally presented narratives. These studies, like Lorch, Sanchez et al (1999), found that children with ADHD benefited less from causal structure than the comparison group.…”

“…Children with attentional deficits can perform at typical levels when they can allocate their attention similarly to comparison children. Studies by Lorch and colleagues (Lorch, Eastham et al, 2004;Renz et al, 2003;Lorch et al, 2000;Lorch, Diener et al, 1999;Lorch, Sanchez et al, 1999) suggest that attention skills are important for causal understanding across a range of ages.…”

“…Children as young as 16 and 20 months are able to imitate events with enabling relations compared to temporally ordered, but arbitrarily related events (Wenner & Bauer, 1999;Bauer, 1992 sequence, but also make use of those relationships in order to complete a task. Similarly, research with older children and adults shows that causal relationships are used to remember and comprehend information (Lorch, Diener et al, 1999;Lorch, Sanchez et al, 1999;Rizella & O'Brien, 1996;van den Broek & Trabasso, 1986;Trabasso & van den Broek, 1985;Trabasso et al, 1984). Trabasso and Nickels (1992) examined the relative frequencies of the four types of relations in story narratives.…”

“…When evaluating information in narrative, children and adults are more likely to rate causally connected information as more important than unconnected information (Wolman, 1991;van den Broek, 1989;Trabasso & Sperry, 1985;Trabasso & van den Broek, 1985). Other research shows that children developing typically and children with disabilities also use causal connections in tasks of recall and comprehension (Lorch, O'Neil et al, 2004;Lorch, Diener et al, 1999;Lorch, Sanchez et al, 1999;Wolman, van den Broek, & Lorch, 1997;van den Broek et al, 1996;Wolman, 1991;van den Broek, 1989;Trabasso, Secco, & van den Broek, 1984). Little is known, however, about the use and understanding of causal connections in very young children.…”

“…The link between attention skills and causal understanding is suggested by research with children diagnosed with ADHD (Lorch, O'Neil et al, 2004;Lorch, Diener et al, 1999;Lorch, Sanchez et al, 1999) and research showing relations between attention and school achievement, in particular reading achievement Rabiner, Coie, & The Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, 2000;Rapport, Scanlan, & Denney, 1999;de Jong, 1993;Fergusson & Horwood, 1992). No study has examined how the attention of children without diagnosed attention deficits influences causal understanding.…”