The Effect of Physical Effort in the Decision Making Process of Preadolescents With ADHD

Overview

In the current study we will examine a specific aspect of these processes that has yet to be studied. We will test the effect that a physically effortful assignment has on the choices that a preadolescent makes using a forced choice paradigm in which the participant will be asked to choose between and carry out either a high cost-high reward option (HR) or a low cost-low reward (LR) option. The HR option will demand a significant amount of physical effort and will be paired up with a large reward as opposed to the LR option which will be less demanding physically and paired up with a small reward. The assignment will be carried out using a hand held dynamometer which measures the power produced by the participants' upper extremity. We propose that a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) will choose a task that involves less effort despite the small reward tied to it compared to a control child who will choose the more demanding task and the larger reward.

In the current study we will examine a specific aspect of these processes that has yet to be studied. We will test the effect that a physically effortful assignment has on the choices that a preadolescent makes using a forced choice paradigm in which the participant will be asked to choose between and carry out either a high cost-high reward option (HR) or a low cost-low reward (LR) option. The HR option will demand a significant amount of physical effort and will be paired up with a large reward as opposed to the LR option which will be less demanding physically and paired up with a small reward. The assignment will be carried out using a hand held dynamometer which measures the power produced by the participants' upper extremity. We propose that a child with ADHD will choose a task that involves less effort despite the small reward tied to it compared to a control child who will choose the more demanding task and the larger reward.

Conditions