Children with ADHD symptoms are less susceptible to gap-filling errors than typically developing children

Enhanced semantic processing is associated with increased false recognition of items consistent with studied material, suggesting that children with poor semantic skills could produce fewer false memories. We examined whether memory errors differed in children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and controls. Children viewed 18 photographs for each of 4 scripts (e.g., eating at a restaurant). A recognition test followed which included old and new photographs, some of which presenting script consistent information and others depicting the cause (e.g., knocking over a glass of coke) of an effect actually viewed during encoding (wiping the table at the restaurant). Children with ADHD exhibited lower false recognition for script-consistent photographs and were more confident in their errors than controls.