Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Schalles, Matthew

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Executive functions (EFs) have been found to be impaired in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is characterized by inattention, inhibitory difficulties, and hyperactivity which impair social, professional, and academic functioning. EFs are commonly understood as the skill set necessary for carrying out goal-directed behavior, this includes inhibition, working memory, attention, and performance monitoring. Performance monitoring consists of immediate error detection, denoted by the ERN, and conscious error detection in which the error is fully recognized and processed as an error to then improve behavior, denoted by the Pe. This improvement in behavior can manifest as post-error slowing. Attention is explored using the P300 to determine how much attentional resources are being allocated and how long it takes to process stimuli. These processes have been evidenced to be impaired in ADHD individuals. EFs are important for explicit learning, which is learning with a set goal. Given the deficits in these processes, will ADHD individuals display explicit learning? The ERN and Pe were more variable in the ADHD group, and the P300 was smaller in amplitude, and longer in latency. Evidence for explicit learning was limited in the ADHD group compared to the non-ADHD control group, however, there may be evidence for implicit learning which is discussed here.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

Download

Share

COinS