Differential Impacts of Addition and Omission Deviants on the Working Memory Performance of Adults with and without Self-reported ADHD

Abstract

To improve work productivity and concentration when undertaking daily tasks, such as studying or engaging in mentally difficult activities, some individuals prefer to work in the presence of background auditory noise such as music, nature sounds, or even white noise. We investigated the impact of background white noise on short-term serial recall performance in adults with (n = 66) and without (n = 66) ADHD whereby variation in other traits that could potentially influence performance (anxiety and depression) was controlled. The potential decline of the impact of task-irrelevant sound across trials (e.g., habituation) and serial position effects were also explored. Participants completed the verbal working memory task in the presence of continuous white noise sequences that were occasionally interrupted by a period of quiet (omission deviant), and continuous quiet sequences that were occasionally interrupted by a period of white noise (addition deviant). Addition deviants were more disruptive for non-ADHD individuals than ADHD individuals, while omission deviants were more disruptive for ADHD individuals than non-ADHD individuals. A direct implication of this interaction is, in order to limit distractions, adults with ADHD should refrain from listening to continuous background white noise if there is a likelihood of a break in sound stimulation, whereas adults without ADHD should avoid quiet auditory backgrounds in which a rare or unexpected sound may occur. Further, exploratory findings show the absence of a serial position primacy effect for adults self-reporting ADHD compared to adults without ADHD.