Behavioral sensitivity of Japanese children with and without ADHD to changing reinforcer availability: an experimental study using signal detection methodology

Abstract

BackgroundMost research on motivational processes in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been undertaken in Western Europe and North America. The extent to which these findings apply to other cultural groups is unclear. The current study evaluated the behavioral sensitivity of Japanese children with and without ADHD to changing reward availability. Forty-one school-aged children, 19 diagnosed with DSM-IV ADHD, completed a signal-detection task in which correct discriminations between two stimuli were associated with different reinforcement frequencies. The response alternative associated with the higher rate of reinforcement switched twice during the task without warning.FindingsBoth groups of children developed an initial bias toward the more frequently reinforced response alternative. When the reward contingencies switched the response allocation (bias) of the control group children followed suit. The response bias scores of the children with ADHD did not, suggesting impaired tracking of reward availability over time.ConclusionsJapanese children with ADHD adjust their behavioral responses to changing reinforcer availability less than their typically developing peers. This is not explained by poor attention to task or a lack of sensitivity to reward. The current results are consistent with altered sensitivity to changing reward contingencies identified in non-Japanese samples of children with ADHD. Irrespective of their country of origin, children with ADHD will likely benefit from behavioral expectations and reinforcement contingencies being made explicit together with high rates of reinforcement for appropriate behaviors.

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

“…Two recent response allocation studies (Alsop et al 2016;Furukawa et al 2017) used signal-detection methodology to evaluate the sensitivity of children with ADHD to changes in reward availability. Children with ADHD are known to experience difficulty adjusting their behavior according to situational demands (Douglas and Peters 1979;Barkley 1997) and this is reflected in current and previous diagnostic criteria (American Psychiatric Association 2013).…”

“…Children with ADHD are known to experience difficulty adjusting their behavior according to situational demands (Douglas and Peters 1979;Barkley 1997) and this is reflected in current and previous diagnostic criteria (American Psychiatric Association 2013). Both Alsop et al (2016) and Furukawa et al (2017) reported the behavior of children with ADHD did not track the changing reinforcement contingencies as closely as their typically developing peers, when rates of reinforcement were low and there was uncertainty over the association between an action and its outcome. In the Alsop et al (2016) study, the ADHD group did alter their response allocation following the change in reinforcement contingencies, but to a smaller extent than was seen in the control group.…”

“…Here we evaluate how the behavior of Brazilian children with and without ADHD responds to unequal reward frequency, and how it adapts when reward availability changes. We employed a variant of the signal-detection task described by Alsop et al (2016) and Furukawa et al (2017), in which the children received greater exposure to the reinforcement contingencies before and after these changed. In the current task, children were asked to indicate which of two stimuli were presented on a computer screen by pressing the appropriate response button.…”

“…The response contingencies reversed after delivery of 30 rewards (Phase 1), the task continuing until a further 30 rewards were delivered (Phase 2). In the earlier studies (Alsop et al 2016;Furukawa et al 2017), the children were exposed to only 20 rewards before the response contingencies switched, and there were two contingency changes.…”

“…The majority of studies comparing reinforcement sensitivity in children with and without ADHD has been undertaken in Western Europe and North America. The small number of studies with other cultural groups, one in South Africa and three in Asia (Masunami et al 2009;Yu et al 2015;Furukawa et al 2017), suggest altered sensitivity to reward is a common characteristic of ADHD. On the other hand, increased reward seeking, irrespective of associated risks, has been identified in Latin American countries with a relatively recent history of migration and associated variation in the dopamine D4 receptor allele frequencies (Chen et al 1999).…”