Language production strategies and disfluencies in multi-clause network descriptions: A study of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Artículo de Revista
Autores: Engelhardt, Paul E.; Ferreira, Fernanda; Nigg, Joel T.
Resumen
A prominent behavioral manifestation of impulsivity in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is inappropriate language production, such as talking excessively, blurting out answers, and interrupting others. Objective: In this study, we examined language production in ADHD and non-ADHD controls to determine whether these types of language production problems are apparent in adults with ADHD. Method: Participants (18¿35 years old, 53.3% male) were asked to describe networks of colored dots that contained two branches that differed in length and complexity. According to the Minimal-Load Principle (Levelt, 1989), participants should prefer to describe a shorter and less complex branch first, in order to minimize planning and memory demands when formulating a description of the network. The dependent measures focused on which branch participants chose to describe first and the fluency of the descriptions. Four types of disfluency were examined: filled pauses, silent pauses, repetitions, and repairs. Results: There was no difference between ADHD participants and controls in the decisions they made when describing the networks (p > .10, ?² = .004). Participants in both groups preferred to describe a short branch before describing a long branch and decisions were unaffected by complexity. However, ADHD participants did produce more words overall, t(73) = -2.33, p < .05, ?² = .07, and they also produced more disfluencies, F(4, 70) = 2.98, p < .05, ?² = .15, even after adjusting for number of words produced. Conclusions: These findings suggest less language efficiency and reduced fluency in ADHD, and that language production issues remain in adults with ADHD.
