The consolidation of a motor skill in young adults with ADHD: Shorter practice can be better

• Published in: Research in developmental disabilities 2016-04, Vol.51-52, p.135-144
• Main Authors: Fox, Orly, Karni, Avi, Adi-Japha, Esther
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ADHD; Adult; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - psychology; Case-Control Studies; Female; Humans; Learning; Motor learning; Motor Skills; Practice (Psychology); Procedural memory consolidation; Psychomotor Performance; Skill practice optimization; Speed-accuracy trade-off; Training session length; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0891-4222; 1873-3379
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2016.01.014

•After motor skill training persons with ADHD gain speed but lose accuracy overnight.•We tested if costs in accuracy result from overlong training in persons with ADHD.•We show that shorter practice sessions lead to robust gains in speed and accuracy.•In persons with ADHD the shortened practice session eliminated accuracy costs.•Skill training protocols should be adjusted for the benefit of persons with ADHD. Practice on a given sequence of movements can lead to robust procedural memory (skill). In young adults, in addition to gains in performance accrued during practice, speed and accuracy can further improve overnight; the latter, delayed, ‘offline’, gains are thought to emerge when procedural memory consolidation processes are completed. A recent study suggested that female college students with ADHD show an atypical procedural memory consolidation phase, specifically, gaining speed but losing accuracy, overnight. Here, to test if this accuracy loss reflected a cost of overlong training in adults with ADHD, we compared the performance of female college students with (N=16) and without (N=16) ADHD, both groups given a shorter training protocol (80 rather than the standard 160 task repetitions). Speed and accuracy were recorded before training, immediately after, and at 24-h and 2 weeks post-training. The shortened practice session resulted in as robust within-session gains and additional overnight gains in speed at no costs in accuracy, in both groups. Moreover, individuals with ADHD showed as robust speed gains and retention as in the longer training session, but the costs in accuracy incurred in the latter were eliminated. The shortening of practice sessions may benefit motor skill acquisition in ADHD.