Attention deficits linked with proclivity to explore while foraging

Summary & key facts

This pre-registered study tested whether ADHD-like traits relate to how people search for rewards. In an online task, participants chose either to keep collecting from a depleting patch or to leave and go to a new one. They also completed a well-validated ADHD self-report screen. People left patches sooner when travel times were short, as predicted by foraging theory. Participants who scored above the ADHD screening threshold left patches significantly sooner and earned higher reward rates than others. The authors say these results suggest ADHD traits might help with exploration in some environments, but the findings come from a screening measure and a lab task and do not prove ADHD is an ad

Key facts:

• The study was pre-registered and used an online foraging task where people repeatedly chose to stay in a depleting reward patch or leave for a new one.
• Participants completed a well-validated ADHD self-report screening assessment at the end of the sessions; the screen was used to classify who crossed the threshold for a positive screen and who did not.
• Participants departed resource patches sooner when travel times between patches were shorter, which matches predictions from optimal foraging theory.
• Participants who crossed the ADHD screening threshold departed patches significantly sooner than participants who did not cross the threshold.
• Participants who crossed the ADHD screening threshold achieved higher reward rates in the task than participants who did not cross the threshold.
• The authors state these results suggest ADHD attributes may confer advantages for exploration in some environments, but the study used a self-report screen and an online task, so it does not by itself prove ADHD is an evolutionary adaptatio

Abstract

All mobile organisms forage for resources, choosing how and when to search for new opportunities by comparing current returns with the average for the environment. In humans, nomadic lifestyles favouring exploration have been associated with genetic mutations implicated in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), inviting the hypothesis that this condition may impact foraging decisions in the general population. Here we tested this pre-registered hypothesis by examining how human participants collected resources in an online foraging task. On every trial, participants chose either to continue to collect rewards from a depleting patch of resources or to replenish the patch. Participants also completed a well-validated ADHD self-report screening assessment at the end of sessions. Participants departed resource patches sooner when travel times between patches were shorter than when they were longer, as predicted by optimal foraging theory. Participants whose scores on the ADHD scale crossed the threshold for a positive screen departed patches significantly sooner than participants who did not meet this criterion. Participants meeting this threshold for ADHD also achieved higher reward rates than individuals who did not. Our findings suggest that ADHD attributes may confer foraging advantages in some environments and invite the possibility that this condition may reflect an adaptation favouring exploration over exploitation.

Topics

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Behavioral Health and Interventions Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Psychiatry and Mental health

Tags

Adaptation (eye) Biology Cognitive psychology Demography Ecology Economics Forage Foraging Management Neuroscience Population Psychology Sociology Task (project management)