Anne Fleur Kortekaas-Rijlaarsdam

CHAPTER 1 12 due to behavioral symptoms, cognitive and motivational problems of children with ADHD are likely to contribute to the academic problems of these children. Cognitive problems of children with ADHD are especially apparent in working memory (verbal and spatial), attention (including attention variability and vigilance), response inhibition, planning and processing speed (Faraone et al., 2015; Mullane, Corkum, Klein, & McLaughlin, 2009a; Willcutt, Doyle, Nigg, Faraone, & Pennington, 2005). These cognitive problems result in a variety of problems within the classroom: For example, impairments in working memory make it difficult for children with ADHD to remember task instructions and planning deficits result in trouble when week tasks have to be organized. Due to their attentional problems, children with ADHD find it difficult to pay attention to a task for a long time. Further, children with ADHD have trouble awaiting their turn, due to impairments in inhibition. In previous research, cognitive impairments in children with ADHD have been associated with academic underperformance: For example, children with ADHD and executive impairments (including impairments in planning, attention, cognitive flexibility and working memory) also showed academic impairments (Biederman et al., 2004). These results were extended by Thorell (2007) who found that executive impairments partly mediated the effects of ADHD on academic underachievement. In line with this, Preston and colleagues (2009) also showed that impaired flexibility in attention contributed to underperformance in school. Furthermore, their results indicate that impairments in sustained attention negatively affect academic performance. In addition to these attentional impairments and impairments in executive functions, lower processing speed in children with ADHD is likely to further impair academic performance (Mayes & Calhoun, 2007a). However, it is important to realize that, although cognitive dysfunction plays an important role in the neuropsychology of ADHD, not all children with ADHD show cognitive impairments (for example, see Willcutt et al., 2005). Thus, although there is accumulating evidence that cognitive problems contribute to the academic impairments of children with ADHD, other factors are likely to contribute as well. In addition to cognitive impairments, lower motivation for schoolwork may further contribute to the academic problems of children with ADHD. Intrinsic motivation for schoolwork is the spontaneous interest, the natural willingness to learn. When a child is intrinsically motivated, he or she will perform an activity for the inherent satisfaction of the activity itself. However, especially after early childhood, a large part of learning becomes at least partly extrinsically motivated meaning that learning activities are carried out to attain a certain outcome such as a good grade or a compliment from the teacher, or to avoid punishment in the form of a bad grade or