Interference Control In Children Research Articles

Evaluating in the Real-World Educational Intervention to Improve Interference Control in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present deficiencies in interference control processes. The main aim of this pilot study was to analyze the efficacy of an educational intervention designed to optimize the interference control of eight ASD children, attending to their ASD severity level. A mixed-methods approach grounded in systematic observation and nomothetic/follow-up/multidimensional observational designs was used. An observation instrument was developed to code data, which were grouped according to the ASD severity level (Group 1, requires support; Group 2, requires substantial support) and were analyzed using a lag sequential analysis. The results show that, although both groups progressed during the intervention and could have continued to improve, each group evolved differently. Group 1 performed relatively well from the onset and increased and developed their interference control strategies throughout the intervention, while Group 2, despite also acquiring new interference control strategies, took more time to show improvements. One month after the intervention ended, both groups were unable to consolidate the strategies learned. A mixed-methods approach allowed for real interference control deficits in ASD children to be captured in a natural context. To conclude, it would be necessary to lengthen this intervention and adapt it to the needs of each group.

Brain structural changes and the development of interference control in children with ADHD: The predictive value of physical activity and body mass index

BackgroundChildren with ADHD face deficits in interference control due to abnormalities in brain structure. A low body mass index and high physical activity are factors promoting brain health and may have the potential to reduce ADHD-related cognitive deficits. We aimed to investigate the predictive values of ADHD, body mass index and physical activity for interference control and the potential mediation of these associations by brain structure. MethodAt 9 and 11 years, 4576 children with ADHD and neurotypical peers from the ABCD-cohort completed a Flanker task, anthropometric assessments and reported physical activity. Additionally, T1- and T2-weighted magnet resonance images were collected at both measurement time points. ResultsADHD, lower physical activity and higher body mass index at baseline predicted lower interference control. Gray matter volume, surface area and gray-white matter ratio contributed to interference control. The longitudinal association between body mass index and interference control was mediated by gray-white-matter ratio. This mediating effect was stronger for children with ADHD than neurotypical peers and mainly restricted to regions associated with cognitive control. ConclusionThe maintenance of a lower body mass index contributes to interference control by a tendency to normalize regional alterations in grey-white-matter ratio. Being compliant with physical activity also promises higher interference control, but brain structure does not seem to underlie this association.

Is interference control in children with specific language impairment similar to that of children with autistic spectrum disorder?

AimsThe purpose of the study was to examine resistance to proactive interference, which is strongly associated with working memory (WM) performance and language processing, in children with specific language impairment (SLI), with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and with typical development (TD). MethodsSixty children (eight to ten years; matched in age and nonverbal IQ) participated in the study. Resistance to proactive interference was measured using a verbal conflict paradigm. ResultsChildren with SLI and ASD show a deficit in resistance to proactive interference compared to their TD peers, but the source of the problem appears to be different for the two clinical groups. The interference problem exhibited by the children with SLI is related to a more complex deficit involving different cognitive-linguistic functions, whereas the children with ASD show a specific problem in cognitive flexibility. ImplicationsThe theoretical implications are that poor resistance to interference may be caused by weaknesses in different WM functions, such as a deficit in updating or responses based on familiarity rather than recollection. The clinical implications are that children with SLI and ASD show distinct patterns of performance; therefore they need different types of intervention to strengthen their resistance to proactive interference.

Atypical interference control in children with AD/HD with elevated theta/beta ratio

The theta/beta ratio (TBR) is a major area of interest within electroencephalogram (EEG) research in AD/HD. While researchers suggest a prognostic role for TBR in AD/HD, its relationship to behavior remains uncertain. Recent evidence suggests that elevated TBR in AD/HD may be related to atypical inhibition, particularly at an attentional level. This study aimed to examine the performance on three inhibitory tasks of children with AD/HD. Fifty-eight children with AD/HD participated, divided into an elevated TBR (ET) group and a control group (CT). A behavioral disassociation was found − compared to CT, ET showed more difficulty in inhibiting surrounding stimuli but had less day-to-day inhibitory issues measured by BRIEF. There was no significant group difference on response inhibition. The results support the prognostic value of TBR in AD/HD. Elevated TBR may be an inhibitory biomarker; further studies are needed to explore the behavioral implications in patients without elevated TBR.

The relationship between physical fitness and inhibitory ability in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: An event-related potential study

ObjectivesThe purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between physical fitness and interference control by comparing higher and lower fitness children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral indices. DesignCross-sectional design was employed. MethodEighty children, previously diagnosed with ADHD, were evaluated on their inhibitory ability as measured during their participation in the flanker task, and this ability was examined in relationship to measures of their physical fitness. Only children in the top 40% or in the bottom 40% of the distribution for each fitness components were included in the statistical analysis. ResultsThe results showed that children with higher levels of muscular endurance, muscular power, and aerobic capacity had shorter reaction times (RT) and larger P3 amplitudes compared to less fit children. In addition, children with lower body composition had shorter reaction times and shorter P3 latencies compared to those with higher body composition. ConclusionsBetter physical fitness, especially muscular endurance, muscular power, aerobic capacity, and body composition, were associated with enhanced interference control in children with ADHD. Our findings suggest the need for a closer examination of the possible impact of different aspects of fitness on the general relationship between physical fitness and cognition.

Working Memory and Interference Control in Children with Specific Language Impairment

AbstractLanguage and communication disorders are often associated with deficits in working memory (WM) and interference control. WM studies involving children with specific language impairment (SLI) have traditionally been framed using either resource theories or decay accounts, particularly Baddeley's model. Although significant interference problems in children with SLI are apparent in error analysis data from WM and language tasks, interference theories and paradigms have not been widely used in the SLI literature. A primary goal of the present paper is to provide an overview of interference deficits in children with SLI. Review of the extant literature on interference control shows deficits in this population; however, the source and the nature of the deficit remain unclear. Thus, a second key aim in our review is to demonstrate the need for theoretically driven experimental paradigms in order to better understand individual variations associated with interference weaknesses in children with SLI.

Auditory interference control in children with learning disability: An exploratory study

ObjectivesThe current study aimed to compare the auditory interference control of participants with Learning Disability (LD) to a control group on two versions of an auditory Stroop task. MethodsA group of eight children with LD (clinical group) and another group of eight typically developing children (control group) served as participants. All the participants were involved in a semantic and a gender identification-based auditory Stroop task. Each participant was presented with eight different words (10 times) that were pre-recorded by a male and a female speaker. The semantic task required the participants to ignore the speaker's gender and attend to the meaning of the word, and vice-versa for the gender identification task. The participants’ performance accuracy and reaction time (RT) was measured on both the tasks. ResultsControl group participants significantly outperformed the clinical group participants on both the tasks with regard to performance accuracy as well as RT. ConclusionThe results suggest that children with LD have problems in suppressing irrelevant auditory stimuli and focusing on the relevant auditory stimuli. This can be attributed to the auditory processing problems in these children.

Interference control in children with reading difficulties

Two studies investigated whether the greater Stroop interference reported in children with reading difficulties compared to typical readers of the same age represents a generalized deficit in interference control or a consequence of their reading problems. In Study 1, a color-word Stroop task and a nonverbal task involving responses to locations associated with pictures were administered to 23 children with single word reading difficulties and 22 typically developing children matched for age and nonverbal ability. Children with reading difficulties showed disproportionate interference effects in the color-word Stroop but not the nonverbal task. In Study 2, groups of poor and typical readers completed a spatial Stroop task with printed input that did not require a verbal response and a nonverbal analogue. Both groups showed comparable interference in these two tasks. Thus, the reported problems in the color-word Stroop task in children with reading difficulties do not appear to entail general impairments in interference control.

A Randomized, Double-Blind Comparison of Atomoxetine and Placebo on Response Inhibition and Interference Control in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Comorbid Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms

A Randomized, Double-Blind Comparison of Atomoxetine and Placebo on Response Inhibition and Interference Control in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Comorbid Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms

Interference Control in Children with First Episode Major Depression: A Brief Report

The ability to deal with sources of conflict, that is, interference control, was evaluated in a group of 11 children with first episode Major Depression and a peer control group. To this end, the Eriksen and Schultz (1979) task was used. Here, the participant is presented with a stimulus that simultaneously activates two conflicting response channels: One response is activated by the instructions, whereas the other response is activated by elements in the array that strongly invite an alternative — yet incorrect — response. Findings provided no evidence for an undisturbed interference control nor impaired overall processing speed in children with first episode Major Depression.

Varying required effort during interference control in children with AD/HD: Task performance and ERPs

Prominent models of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) contend that disinhibition is the core deficit, or that any inhibition deficits that exist are secondary to dysfunctional energetic regulation (i.e. effort and arousal). This study tested these models by investigating the influence of task-directed effort, as manipulated by stimulus degradation, on interference control deficits in children with AD/HD. Twenty children with AD/HD aged between 7 and 14 years were matched in age to 20 controls and performed a modified visual Eriksen flanker task, while EEG and skin conductance level (SCL) were recorded. Participants completed the task under three conditions varying in stimulus degradation: none, 30% or 60%. Results revealed a quadratic effect with improved task performance in the 30% degradation condition, relative to the other conditions. Overall, children with AD/HD showed a tendency towards increased errors and more variable responding, although this did not differ between conditions. Importantly, children with AD/HD showed no deficits in interference control at a behavioural level. SCL revealed reduced activity in the AD/HD group during the non-degraded condition which normalised to control levels in the highest degradation condition. ERPs revealed two functionally distinct N2 components, one of which, along with the P3, was larger to incongruent stimuli, consistent with previous studies linking this component to inhibitory processing. Atypical activation of these components was evident in children with AD/HD and occurred as a function of degradation condition. Taken together these findings suggest the role of other factors such as state regulation as underlying deficits in AD/HD.

Interference Control in Children with and without ADHD: A Systematic Review of Flanker and Simon Task Performance

The present review systematically summarizes the existing research that has examined two reaction-time-based interference control paradigms, known as the Eriksen Flanker task and the Simon task, in children with and without ADHD. Twelve studies are included, yielding a combined sample size of 272 children with ADHD (M age 9.28 yrs) and 280 typically developing children (M age 9.38 yrs). As predicted, specific disadvantages were found in the ADHD group in terms of reaction time, percentage of errors, and efficiency of performance on incongruent relative to congruent trials, providing evidence for weaker interference control in this group.

Response inhibition and interference control in children with AD/HD: A visual ERP investigation

Children with Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) show deficits in executive inhibitory functions such as behavioral inhibition and interference control, but investigations of both of these domains in the same groups of children is scarce, especially with concurrent consideration of ERP indices of inhibitory processes. Twenty children with AD/HD and 20 matched controls aged between 8 and 14 years performed visual Go–Nogo (30% Nogo) and Flanker tasks while EEG was recorded. Results indicated that children with AD/HD traded off speed for accuracy in the Go–Nogo task, resulting in similar levels of response inhibition accuracy; in the Flanker task response speed and errors were at control levels, while misses were increased and showed an enhanced interference effect. In the Go–Nogo task, the AD/HD group showed reduced Go/Nogo P2, a reduced central N2 Nogo > Go effect, and a more anterior Go/Nogo P3 compared to controls. For the Flanker task, the AD/HD group showed delayed N1 and P2, dramatically reduced N2 to Incongruent stimuli, enhanced N2 to Neutral stimuli, as well as increased P3 to Incongruent stimuli, compared to controls. These results indicate that Go–Nogo behavioral inhibition and Flanker interference control were not equally impaired in children with AD/HD, and that factors such as effort, arousal and motivation require further investigation.

Interference Control in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

The view that Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with a diminished ability to control interference is controversial and based exclusively on results of (verbal)-visual interference tasks, primarily the Stroop Color Word task. The present study compares medication-naïve children with ADHD (n = 35 and n = 51 in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively) with normal controls (n = 26 and n = 32, respectively) on two interference tasks to assess interference control in both the auditory and the visual modality: an Auditory Stroop task and a Simon task. Both groups showed reliable but equal degrees of interference on both tasks, suggesting that children with ADHD do not differ from normal controls in their ability to control interference in either modality.

ERPS and task performance during response inhibition and interference control in children with AD/HD

ERPS and task performance during response inhibition and interference control in children with AD/HD