Study finds that auditory interruptions impact working memory performance differently in adults with ADHD symptoms, suggesting tailored auditory environments may be beneficial.
Many individuals usebackground noise to aid concentration on tasks, yet its effect on workingmemory, especially for those with ADHD, is not well understood. This studyexamined how background white noise influences short-term serial recall inadults with self-reported ADHD (n = 66) and those without (n = 66), controllingfor anxiety and depression. Participants performed a visual-verbal serialshort-term memory task under two conditions: continuous white noise interruptedby quiet intervals (omission deviant) and continuous quiet interrupted by whitenoise (addition deviant). Results showed that addition deviants disruptedperformance more in non-ADHD adults, while omission deviants had a greater disruptiveeffect on adults with self-reported ADHD. These findings suggest thatinterruptions in background sound may differently affect individuals with ADHDsymptoms. Exploratory analyses showed the absence of a primacy effect in adultswith self-reported ADHD. Future research might explore optimal auditoryenvironments tailored to attention differences in those with and without ADHD.
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Elbe et al. (2025) studied this question.
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