Objective: Prior research suggests that individuals with ADHD overestimate their performance across domains despite performing more poorly in these domains. The authors introduce measures of accuracy from the larger realm of judgment and decision making—namely, relative accuracy and calibration—to the study of self-evaluative judgment accuracy in adults with ADHD.
Method: Twenty-eight adults with ADHD and 28 matched controls participate in a computer-administered paired-associate learning task and predict their future recall using immediate and delayed judgments of learning (JOLs). Retrospective confidence judgments are also collected.
Results: Groups perform equally in terms of judgment magnitude and absolute judgment accuracy as measured by discrepancy scores and calibration curves. Both groups benefit equally from making their JOL at a delay, and the group with ADHD show higher relative accuracy for delayed judgments.
Conclusion: Results suggest that under certain circumstances, adults with ADHD can make accurate judgments about their future memory.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
2.
Barkley, R. A. (1998). ADHD and the nature of self-control. New York: Guilford.
3.
Barkley, R. A., DuPaul, G. J., & McMurray, M. B. (1990). Comprehensive evaluation of attention deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity as defined by research criteria. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 775-789.
4.
Barkley, R. A., Fischer, M., Smallish, L., & Fletcher, K. (2002). The persistence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder into young adulthood as a function of reporting source and definition of disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 279-289.
5.
Barkley, R. A., Fischer, M., Smallish, L., & Fletcher, K. (in press). Young adult outcome of hyperactive children: Educational, occupational, social, sexual, and financial functioning. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
6.
Barkley, R. A., & Murphy, K. R. (1998). Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A clinical workbook (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.
7.
Barkley, R. A., Murphy, K. R., & Kwasnik, D. (1996). Psychological adjustment and adaptive impairments in young adults with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 1, 41-54.
8.
Conners, C. K., Erhardt, D., & Sparrow, E. (1999). Adult ADHD rating scales: Technical manual. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Multi-Health Systems.
9.
Connor, L. T., Dunlosky, J., & Hertzog, C. (1997). Age-related differences in absolute but not relative metamemory accuracy. Psychology and Aging, 12, 50-71.
10.
Derogatis, L. R. (1975). Symptom Checklist-90-R. Bloomington, MN: Pearson Assessments.
11.
Diener, M. B., & Milich, R. (1997). Effects of positive feedback on the social interactions of boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A test of the self-protective hypothesis. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 26, 256-265.
12.
Dunlosky, J., Hertzog, C., Kennedy, M., & Thiede, K. (2005). The self-monitoring approach for effective learning. Cognitive Technology, 10, 4-11.
13.
Dunlosky, J., Kubat-Silman, A. K., & Hertzog, C. (2003). Training monitoring skills improves older adults’ self-paced associative learning. Psychology and Aging, 18, 340-345.
14.
DuPaul, G. J., Power, T. J., Anastopoulos, A. D., & Reid, R. (1998). ADHD Rating Scale-IV: Checklists, norms, and clinical interpretation. New York: Guilford.
15.
DuPaul, G. J., Schaughency, E. A., Weyandt, L. L., Tripp, G., Kiesner, J., Ota, K., et al. (2001). Self-report of ADHD symptoms in university students: Cross-gender and cross-national prevalence. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34, 370-379.
16.
Gerdes, A. C., Hoza, B., & Pelham, W. (2003). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disordered boys’ relationships with their mothers and fathers: Child, mother, and father perceptions. Development and Psychopathology, 15, 363-382.
17.
Heiligenstein, E., Conyers, L. M., Berns, A. R., & Smith, M. A. (1998). Preliminary normative data on DSM-IV attention deficit disorder in college students. Journal of American College Health, 46, 185-188.
18.
Heiligenstein, E., Guenther, G., Levy, A., Savino, F., & Fulwiler, J. (1999). Psychological and academic functioning in college students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. College Health, 47, 181-185.
19.
Hervey, A. S., Epstein, J. N., & Curry, J. F. (2004). Neuropsychology of adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analytic review. Neuropsychology, 18, 495-503.
20.
Hoza, B., Gerdes, A. C., Hinshaw, S. P., Arnold, L. E., Pelham, W. E., Molina, B., et al. (2004). Self-perceptions of competence in children with ADHD and comparison children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 382-391.
21.
Hoza, B., Pelham, W. E., Dobbs, J., Owens, J. S., & Pillow, D. R. (2002). Do boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have positive illusory self-concepts?Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 268-278.
22.
Hoza, B., Pelham, W. E., Milich, R., & Pillow, D. R. (1993). The self-perceptions and attributions of attention deficit hyperactivity disordered and non-referred boys. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 271-286.
23.
Hoza, B., Waschbusch, D. A., Pelham, W. E., Molina, B. S. G., & Milich, R. (2000). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disordered and control boys’ responses to social success and failure. Child Development, 71, 432-446.
24.
Kennedy, M. R. T., & Yorkston, K. M. (2000). Accuracy of metamemory after traumatic brain injury: Predictions during verbal learning. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 43, 1072-1086.
25.
Knouse, L. E., Bagwell, C. L., Barkley, R. A., & Murphy, K. R. (2005). Accuracy of self-evaluation in adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Evidence from a driving study. Journal of Attention Disorders, 8, 221-234.
26.
Koriat, A. (1997). Monitoring one’s own knowledge during study: A cue-utilization approach to judgments of learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 126, 349-370.
27.
Koriat, A., & Schitzer-Reichert, R. (2002). Metacognitive judgments and their accuracy: Insights from the processes underlying judgments of learning in children. In P. Chambres, M. Izaute, & P. Marescaux (Eds.), Metacognition: Process, function, and use (pp. 1-18). Boston: Kluwer.
28.
Koriat, A., Sheffer, L., & Ma’ayan, H. (2002). Comparing objective and subjective learning curves: Judgments of learning exhibit increased underconfidence with practice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 131, 147-162.
29.
Lichtenstein, S., & Fischhoff, B. (1977). Do those who know more also know more about how much they know?Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 20, 159-183.
30.
Moulin, C. J., Perfect, T. J., & Fitch, F. (2002). Metacognitive processes at encoding: Insights from Alzheimer’s disease. In P. Chambres, M. Izaute, & P. Marescaux (Eds.), Metacognition: Process, function, and use (pp. 35-47). Boston: Kluwer.
31.
Murphy, K. R., & Barkley, R. A. (1996). Prevalence of DSM-IV symptoms of ADHD in adult licensed drivers: Implications for clinical diagnosis. Journal of Attention Disorders, 1, 147-161.
32.
Nelson, T. O. (1984). A comparison of current measures of the accuracy of feeling-of-knowing predictions. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 109-133.
33.
Nelson, T. O. (1996). Gamma is a measure of the accuracy of predicting performance on one item relative to another item, not of the absolute performance on an individual item. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 10, 257-260.
34.
Nelson, T. O., & Narens, L. (1990). Metamemory: A theoretical framework and new findings. In G. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 26, pp. 125-140). New York:Academic Press.
35.
Nelson, T. O., Narens, L., & Dunlosky, J. (2004). A revised methodology for research on metamemory: Pre-judgment recall and monitoring. Psychological Methods, 9, 53-69.
36.
Nigg, J. T., Butler, K. M., Huang-Pollock, C. L., & Henderson, J. M. (2002). Inhibitory processes in adults with persistent childhood onset ADHD. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 153-157.
37.
Nigg, J. T., Stavro, G., Ettenhofer, M., Hambrick, D., Miller, T., & Henderson, J. M. (in press). Executive functions and ADHD in adults: Evidence for selective effects on ADHD symptom domains. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
38.
Ohan, J. L., & Johnston, C. (2002). Are the performance overestimates given by boys with ADHD self-protective?Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 31, 230-241.
39.
O’Neill, M. E., & Douglas, V. I. (1991). Study strategies and story recall in attention deficit disorder and reading disability. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 19, 671-692.
40.
Owens, J. S., & Hoza, B. (2003). The role of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity in the positive illusory bias. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 680-691.
41.
Ryan, M. P., Petty, C. R., & Wenzlaff, R. M. (1982). Motivated remembering efforts during tip-of-the-tongue states. Acta Psychologica, 51, 137-147.
42.
Schneider, W. (1998). Performance prediction in young children: Effects of skill, metacognition, and wishful thinking. Developmental Science, 1, 291-297.
43.
Schwartz, B. (1994). Sources of information in metamemory: Judgments of learning and feelings of knowing. Psychonomic, Bulletin, & Review, 1, 357-375.
44.
Shipley, W. C. (1946). The Shipley Institute of Living Scale. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
45.
Tannock, R., Schachar, R., & Logan, G. (1995). Methylphenidate and cognitive flexibility: Dissociated dose effects in hyperactive children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23, 235-266.
46.
Weiss, G., & Hechtman, L. (1993). Hyperactive children grow up. New York: Guilford.
47.
Whalen, C. K., Henker, B., Hinshaw, S. P., Heller, T., & Huber-Dressler, A. (1991). Messages of medication: Effects of actual versus informed medication status on hyperactive boys’ expectancies and self-evaluations. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 602-606.
