Difficulties of children with ADHD symptoms in solving mathematical problems when information must be updated

tIt has been hypothesized that ADHD is associated both with difficulties in mathematicalproblem solving and in updating information in working memory. However, the relation-ship between updating and performance on mathematical word problems has never beenstudied for children with ADHD. The present study examined these issues comparing theperformance of solving mathematical word problems (with no updating request vs highupdating request) in a group of 11–12 year old children with ADHD compared to a matchedcontrol group with typical development (TD). Results showed that children with ADHDsolved fewer problems correctly than typically-developing children; moreover they mademore errors in solving problems with updating requirements than those without updat-ing requirements. In contrast, typically-developing children did not show any differences inproblems performance on problems with and without updating requirements. Fine grainedanalyses of children’s problem solving processes showed that children with ADHD foundmore difficult to select the appropriate data prior to calculation and to choose and executethe correct solution than typically-developing children. The difficulty to select the appropri-ate data results more severe in problems with updating requirements. Overall, these resultssupport the hypothesis that the learning difficulties of children with ADHD are related totheir executive dysfunctions, that negatively affect complex tasks requiring updating ofto-be-processed information.