is this a plausible hypothesis for attention deficit disorder?
March 24th, 2008 | by admin |Shannon XoXo asked:
I had this idea that maybe the reason that more kids are having symptoms of attention deficit disorder, and have such a hard time paying attention in class and all, is because they are used to things like television and video games that have a very high level of stimulation both visually and aurally. Then when they go to school and it’s just some lady standing up there talking about school things, it’s harder to pay attention because they are used to more visual stimulation.
I had this idea that maybe the reason that more kids are having symptoms of attention deficit disorder, and have such a hard time paying attention in class and all, is because they are used to things like television and video games that have a very high level of stimulation both visually and aurally. Then when they go to school and it’s just some lady standing up there talking about school things, it’s harder to pay attention because they are used to more visual stimulation.
One thing that supports my idea is that boys are more frequently diagnosed with A.D.D. than girls and they also play more video games.
Any reasons why you think I’m wrong? Does anyone think this is worth studying??
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3 Responses to “is this a plausible hypothesis for attention deficit disorder?”
By Robin B on Mar 27, 2008 | Reply
Sure it’s worth studying-hell they study how many BREATHS a fly takes.I think we owe our children that much…but my son was diagnosed before he even played video games.He did watch tv though,and cartoons….but he was never that interested in cartoons…they made him feel a little out of sorts.I think it was all the music in the background but I’m not certain.
TV surely might be one of the stimuli-if you are researching it,maybe look to see when the charts raised in comparison to television,then maybe look into vid games after that???
By Buddy_Lee_Hombre_de_accion on Mar 30, 2008 | Reply
I can’t believe no one answered this question with what I’m going to tell you.
A couple of years ago they released a study that showed the correlation between TV watching and ADD. Children who spent more than two hours a day watching TV were waaaaayyyyy more likely to have ADD then children who watched less than two hours.
It is, like you described. This stimulation basically causes the brain to be used to only short bursts of information. These images on TV are usually in constant motion. Students dont exactly get 5 second intervals between every bit of information they get at school.
I think you’re totally correct. I just wish I could find that study.
By Ryan M on Apr 1, 2008 | Reply
Large quantities of television intake in early childhood have been correlated with a higher prevalence rate of ADHD. However, that does not prove causation nor does it explain all the cases. ADHD is almost predominately a male disorder (90% of cases are boys) and whenever you see an incidence rate that strongly biased to one gender it usually means that biology is your main culprit. This is also why its highly unlikely that television/video game consumption is the major cause of ADHD. You can’t possibly try to tell me that the gap between genders in regards to television/video game consumption is that large.
Furthermore, ADHD is problems with attention/hyperactivity in multiple, if not all, areas of life, not just school. Children with ADHD typically get easily distracted when doing just about anything. Even when watching television/play video games they may not even be paying full attention (I myself was diagnosed with ADD as a child and I find myself zoning out doing just about anything: playing games, watching television, reading, school, driving, talking, just about everything).
I would also like to point out that children with ADHD may be predisposed to watching more television or playing more video games, among other activities due to a couple of reasons that I can think of:
- These are passive activities that do not require intense concentration thus making it much easier for kids with ADHD to pay attention
- Shows, movies, and games tend have lots of variability. The subject, camera angles, and scenes change constantly which makes paying attention easier since you’re not having to pay attention to the same thing for very long
Also keep in mind that inattentiveness is not the only symptom of ADHD, hyperactivity is too. While your hypothesis would at least partly explain inattentiveness if correct it would not explain the hyperactivity symptoms. Indeed, the hyperactivity is what you should be focusing on. The gender gap in the disorder is partly explained by the fact that boys are naturally more active than girls (at least in the symptoms that one looks at when trying to diagnose ADHD). Hyperactivity also partly explains the fact that ADHD tends to be comorbid with conduct disorder (another disorder in which boys greatly outnumber girls) which has been shown to have a biological component (at least when it appears in early childhood). Taken together this means that we’re either looking at a major social cause (in other words that the way society treats boys differently from girls somehow results in a high incidence of these disorders) or a biological cause. And the fact that ADHD can be treated with medication strongly supports a biological cause.