Hyperactivity And Videogames Linked

Thanks to BBC News for their article discussing claims that hyperactive children spend much longer playing computer games than healthy children. According to the UK-based research, "Children with ADHD were more likely to play games based on fighting", and "..spent 11.3 hours a week playing computer games, double the time spent by the other [non-hyperactive] group." The researcher, Dr. Justin Williams, said that the hyperactive children "...were the least socially able and the most technically able, which leads them to prefer computer games to social interaction", but didn't condemn games completely, adding: "It's important for parents to be fully engaged in what their children are getting from their media diet... there are lots of good computer games to play."

Comments

Re:Correlation vs. Causation?

[seinman]

There's not a lot to conclude based on this study except "hyperactive kids like videogames".

And that's somehow not important? Knowing trends of a group of people with a certain affliction can greatly help in diagnoising it. Especially something like ADHD, which is a title thrown on every kid who ever gets bored. The more things like this that we can use to discover the true problems with people, the better.

And we always forget

[M3wThr33]

How often do we just diagnose every little boy with ADD or ADHD? Honestly, how many boys ages 4-10 have you EVER KNOWN TO BEHAVE? It's not the majority, so surely that means it's the GOOD kids who have problems. /me plays the frasier video game!

It's all bull anyway

[El]

The amazing thing is that what were once considered normal variation in humans are now considered disorders. Does being classified as having ADHD make the kids _better_ at the games? Then maybe it is a beneficial mutation. Were the effects of medication factored out? Obviously none of the kids without ADHD were on medication, so differences in the the ADHD group may be attributable to their medication, not their ADHD.

Re:Correlation vs. Causation?

[Lemmy Caution]

That's not true. Correlation is very important. For one thing, it justifies looking for causation when that's possible. In many cases when you're studying human behaviour, there are limits on just what you can do to prove causation (what, give a bunch of videogames to kids and see if you can "make" them ADHD? There was a scandalous attempt to prove the role of trauma in creating stuttering that has had reverberations in the American psychology scene ever since - human test restrictions are now quite stringent.)

Trotting out the "correlation isn't causation" mantra like it proves you're some brilliant social critic is sophomoric. The most appropriate thing to study is how videogames and ADHD interact as a *system,* not as a simple cause/effect question. And by looking at the behaviour as part of a system of adaptations, you can explain it better. You need to find the correlation first.

The case for causation

[andy_fish]

Okay, I am a guy that played a ridiculous amount of games as a kid (Mega Man 2 was the best ever), who was diagnosed with ADD in high school, and who subsequently took prescriptions for it. Anyway, based on my experiences with the phenomenon of ADD, I would actually support the case that video games cause ADD. Consider that human beings enjoy visual stimuli. We get a small amount of pleasure from seeing new things. And consider that video games provide a ridiculous amount of stimuli. There's all kinds of flashy lights, explosions, animations, stuff moving around, sound effects, fast-paced music, etc. So, a kid who is exposed to the flashy lights for a long time is going to gain a very high tolerance for stimuli. And, just like a drug addict, the kid gets dependant on a high level of stimuli. If the kid is put in a situation with very little stimuli (like, oh I dunno, a classroom?), he will get very uncomfortable, and will probably seek out more stimuli. One good way is daydreaming. Another way is running around and causing trouble. You can list all the other symptoms of ADD/ADHD here. Anyway, now that I've made my case, I don't think that ADD should be called a "disorder" any more than being spoiled is a disorder. And video games certainly are not the only ones to blame for stimulus overload. Have you guys seen the Disney channel recently? Watching that channel makes my eyes hurt, it's so bad. But neither the games nor the TV should get the blame. The blame should go to parents for letting their kids be exposed to this junk. Eye candy should be limited just like regular candy is.