Video Games: Assisting College Students with ADHD in Improving Attention

Principal Investigator:
Jeremiah Garcia

Faculty Advisor:
Marvin Andujar

Abstract:
This study will focus on how video games can help college students with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Various research studies focus on ADHD in its entirety, but we will be specifically concentrating on the attention aspect of ADHD. Inattention refers to the lack of focus, concentration and/or attention which leads to a lack of task completion, losing track of one's thoughts, and the inability to filter out irrelevant stimuli. The game that was used in the experiment for this research project was an original game called “Stack Racer”. This was created through the game engine Unity and the objective is to drive a racecar around a track and collect as many falling blocks as the player can. The experiment consisted of participants with and without ADHD who participated in a pre and post questionnaire and played through an original game called “Stack Racer.” The results showed that participants found “Stack Racer” to help with their attention regardless of stress with all participants saying they would play again to improve their attention. Future research will investigate adding more levels that increase in difficulty and rewards throughout the playthrough to better reward the player for playing.