ADHD modulates link between event processing and recall

How might ADHD symptomatology influence adults’ ability to process and recall the actions of others? University undergraduates observed a woman packing a suitcase by advancing through a self-paced slide show of still images extracted from a digital video, and were then asked to recall as many actions as possible. Results showed that lower self-reported retrospective ADHD symptomatology was associated with a) longer overall dwelling on images from the slideshow, r(91) = -.315, p=.002, and b) recall of more actions r(85) = -.237, p=01. Further, exploratory analyses indicated that ADHD symptomatology modulated the specific linkage between dwell time patterns and stronger recall: Attention to fine-grain details within activity improved recall for those reporting higher ADHD symptomatology; those reporting lower ADHD symptomatology displayed stronger recall when prioritizing attention at a more coarse-grain level, F(1,83) = 4.19, p=.04. These findings offer suggestive novel evidence that ADHD has implications for event processing.