Anne Fleur Kortekaas-Rijlaarsdam

19 INTRODUCTION 1 which measures the ability to profit from reward and ecologically valid, positive feedback on a math (addition) task. Finally, Chapter 7 will provide the general summary and discussion of the findings. The aim of this chapter is to integrate findings of the studies presented in this thesis towards a better understanding of MPH effects on academic functioning. In this chapter, the results will be integrated and reviewed, strengths and limitations of the current thesis will be discussed. Specifically, clinical implications for treating physicians, parents and teachers will be discussed and future research avenues will be proposed. RCT Design In the studies described in Chapter 3 to 6, we compared a group of 63 children with ADHD with 67 TD children. Children were recruited between 2012 and 2014 through Figure 1.2 Specification of the proposed mechanism behind MPH-related improvements in academic performance: Firstly, it was hypothesized that treatment with MPH would result in reduced ADHD symptoms, which would increase academic productivity. Secondly, MPH-related improvements in cognition were hypothesize to improve both academic productivity (i.e. by improving attention and processing speed and by increasing interference control) and academic accuracy (i.e. by improving working memory, attention and by increasing interference control). Thirdly, MPH-related improvements in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for schoolwork as well as MPH-related increases in self-perceived competence were hypothesized to increase academic productivity.