OCT 1
I was expecting to be on ADHD medication by the time I started my third year, but that didn’t happen. My ADHD hinders my ability to focus and commit to projects a lot, so I end up using apps like flora or chill corner (when I remember) — and I found that they were okay, but none of them specifically appealed to me. Which made me think about the ideal study buddy app for me. I specifically didn’t want it to be AI related because I was sick of the oversaturation, but I also wanted something that could feel personable.
My current idea for this is a study buddy program with a built in timer, to do list, notepad, and transcriber. This is inspired by the transcription software given to students with a SLD in UAL.
OCT 15
I tried using UAL blogs but I ended up losing my previous blog entry, so TXTo it is. I’ve been slowly gathering papers to use. My research area is if my widget will help extend focus in ADHD individuals. My research areas are: - Parallel play (known as body doubling) - Games that help with concentration in educational scenarios - Applications that help with concentration - Social rewards (smiling, compliments) - Hyperfocusing in ADHD - “Positive distraction”
OCT 29 I have drafted my literature review. A few of the papers I chose didn’t end up relating to the research question I was settling on, and I ended up with 4 remaining papers. I went through each paper in depth, and picked out the most important quotes and laid them out, then wrote a summary of information learned from each paper at the end. Below is my informal literature review [edit: Updated in January]:
UNIQUE SOUNDS INCREASE MEMORY - TEMPORARY DISTRACTIONS HELP RETAIN INFO https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1388245707002064 (distractibility could be a functional attempt to modulate underarousal by seeking stimulation (Zentall and Zentall, 1983).) (Behaviorally, the hypothesis was tested that novel sounds compared to standard tones would result in a larger deterioration in performance (i.e. increased reaction times and/or decreased performance accuracy) in the ADHD group than in the normal control group.) [The visual stimulus was a colored picture of a runner, which was either turned to the left or to the right. Children were asked to indicate the direction of the runner with a button press. The runner was displayed in the middle of a white screen. The irrelevant sound was presented prior to the visual stimulus through a speaker.] [Trials were completely randomized, with the exception that at least three standard tones had to occur between any two successive novel sounds.] [Each novel sound was presented once.] [Every trial began with the presentation of a small fixa- tion cross in the centre of the screen for a random time interval ranging from 0 to 200 ms. The sound was then pre- sented for 200 ms followed by a 100 ms delay. The fixation cross was on during the sound and the delay. Thereafter, the runner was presented for 300 ms.] [The main findings of the present study were that the novel sounds reduced the percentage of errors of omissions in the ADHD group more than in the normal control group and enhanced the mean amplitude of the second part of the P3a (lP3a) to a greater extent in the ADHD group than in the normal control group.] [An intriguing finding was that children with ADHD committed fewer omission errors after the occurrence of a novel. Overall, children with ADHD made more omis- sion errors. […] The novel sounds in this task could serve as stimulation for children with ADHD by making them more alert and focused on the task result- ing in a decreased number of omission errors. That chil- dren with ADHD benefit from extra-task distraction has been established in several studies (Zentall and Meyer, 1987; Abikoff et al., 1996; Leung et al., 2000) and can be considered as support for the optimal stimulation theory of ADHD (Zentall and Zentall, 1983) and the cognitive energetic model of ADHD (Sergeant et al., 1999; Sergeant, 2005).] [No differences were found between the groups for the LN component, which suggests that children with ADHD did not have more difficulty than their normal peers in reorienting their attention back to the task after having been distracted. […] Perhaps children with ADHD do not have a functional deficit in reorienting of attention, but their reorienting capability may be more dependent on task demands.] GAMES HELP WITH CONCENTRATION - figure out what part of games help and apply it to mine https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875952119300953 this is what it says: computer assisted learning. serious games are proven to help students with adhd focus and many exist [The researchers concluded that training multiple (executive functions) simultaneously through the game was a successful strategy; further, they linked the improvements they detected to the type of medical treatment used ] [Shaw et al. emphasized using game or game-like contexts for ADHD learning to increase participants’ motivation and reduce the errors that come with using traditional computer-based learning.] [Overall, this study found a positive impact of using SGs as an assistive tool in training interventions for ADHD individuals’ EFs and overall attitudes.] [SGs are an attention-grabbing approach that keeps players concentrated for long time-spans. This mood can be sustained as long as the player remains motivated. Thus, this paper recommends that game developers aim to keep players’ motivation high for an adequate time-span, especially for ADHD-I individuals.] [There is a need to find non-pharmaceutical treatments for children with ADHD, and using gamified intervention may fill this gap due the impressive effects these games have within a short period of time. This solution needs more investigation and research in the future to confirm its effects, especially because parents prefer non-pharmaceutical solutions]
Attention grabbing effects combined with information helps adhd people learn and stay focused. Fills a space as non pharmaceutical treatment, which is good for those who are pre diagnosis or those who cannot or prefer not to go on medication, or short term.
-THERE’S A LARGE SOCIAL REWARD COMPONENT TO HELPING ADHD - PARALLEL PLAY/SEEING SOMEONE NEXT TO YOU IS REWARDING https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186⁄1744-9081-5-20 (Recently, we demonstrated that not only money, but also social incentives such as smiles and friendly faces act as effective reinforcers in a go/no-go task, boosting response inhibition accuracy in developing boys between 8 to 12 years of age) (Geurts reported that individuals with ADHD […] exhibited a significantly higher level of accuracy in a social reward situation compared to a neutral condition.) (particularly had an augmenting effect on memory per- formance in ADHD patients […] revealed by functional MRI. Taken together, one may speculate that social-emotional stimuli, including social reinforcers, are specifically suited to enhance the arousal level in subjects with ADHD, which may help compensate for performance deficits on a variety of cognitive tasks) The study found that in simulated social situations students with adhd worked better and had better memory in regards to their tasks. Little buddy could possibly count as social simulation? Need to look into studies about if cartoonish stuff could actually help, even if its only a fraction
-BODY DOUBLING
-APPS THAT HELP STUDENTS WITH ADHD - WHAT WORKS? https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/pders/article/view/23913 ( Because of the substantial impact of the disorder on educational performance, over 50% of students with ADHD qualify for special education services under IDEA, most frequently under the Other Health Impairment (OHI) category and as a disability under Section 504 (Reid, 1999).) (As noted, students with ADHD frequently struggle with organization and time management. Several tech tools and apps can assist users with managing tasks and schedules. For example, simple electronic timers and alarms can help students sustain attention to task and appropriately pace themselves through their work.) (. Moreover, children with ADHD may be particularly disposed to excessive screen time given the stimulating visual graphics, sound effects, action, constant change, immediate feedback, and incentive of video games and other technology tools (Kutscher & Rosin, 2015). Students with ADHD often require frequent and immediate rewards (Reid, 1999) which are needs quickly fed by screen-time activities. Therefore, teachers and parents should supervise and monitor
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/2318/ https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1394096/full
technology access to ensure proper and reasonable use, require tech breaks, and limit exposure as needed.) Timers help focus. Video games are stimulating, therefore appealing to those with adhd.
Overall notes: - Students with ADHD work best with rewards they can conceptualise, even expanding to positive affirmations
NOV 5 I’ve started planning the appearance of my widget. A worry of mine is that the widget in itself could be a form of distraction, so to account for this, I am doing the opposite of my design instincts and trying to make my design “boring”. I do not want a lot of customisation or bright colours, nor many large menus. In my experience with ADHD, if there is a lot of customisation in focus apps, I will use that as a means to distract myself. Learning from this, I don’t want the reward system to open a large amount of options for the user. The only menu I have planned is the options menu, and a start and stop for the timer. I want the widget to have the bare minimum to work and be effective.
NOV 12 I have started doing concept sketches of my widget. I settled on a simple style. I intend to do the final model in blender, and I do not have much experience in blender, so this will help the process of translating the designs. I also started designing two personas for my widget, for the two educational use cases I envision.
NOV 19 I previously found a paper I think will support my thesis a lot, based on the abstract and conclusion. We don’t have access to it as UAL students, though. Nicola told me I should try and email the paper’s author if I can’t get access to it, but I found something in UAL (ILL) that lets me request access and keep working.
JAN 7 I got back the paper from ILL! I honestly expected it to be a lost cause, but no. Very happy. It was a very interesting paper, basically claimed that when kids with ADHD generally have lower information retention than their non-adhd peers, but when they heard something new, it resets their brain and improves retention of information, even if just for a little bit. I have updated my previous informal literature review.
JAN 21 I’ve started one of the final drafts of my thesis. I started later than I would have liked, but I experienced an ear infection that impeded my ability to work greatly. I’m glad I did enough work beforehand for this not to be a major issue.
JAN 28 Finished the final version of my thesis and my abstract. Google docs is a pain to work with, moving images around can mess with the text. I’m very glad I had backups of my work.
txto