The Effect of Computer Games on Sustaining Attention and Organisation Ability of Students with Attention Deficit Disorder

Background and Objective: While it is proclaimed that computer games function as a new therapy method via regulating electroencephalographic (EEG) abnormalities by sustaining attention and organization in students suffering from attention deficit disorder, the current study was a further endeavor to verify this impression. Materials and Methods: In this queasy-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design, all elementary students with attention deficit disorder referred to the counseling centers of Gharchak city in 2014 were entered and through available sampling method, 30 of the students were selected and were randomly assigned to two groups of the control and experimental whose subjects received instruction on computer games for 12 sessions each 60 minutes in duration. Computer-based tests of CPT and Tower of London were the instruments employed for the measurement of attention sustaining and organization, respectively. Consequently, the collected data was fed to SPSS-19 software and analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MONCOVA) method. Results: Mean and standard deviation of sustaining attention and organization ability prior to the intervention in the computer game group was 124/97±9/64 and 18/39±2/67, respectively, which extended to 143/66±11/70 and 27/51±3/24 subsequent to the intervention. In the meanwhile, computer games method significantly augmented sustaining attention and organization ability in students with attention deficit disorders (P<0/05). Conclusion: The results of this study advocate that the computer games can recuperate for students’ attention deficit disorders and increase their sustaining attention and organization ability.