The Effect of Serious Games on Response Inhibition, Selective Attention and Visual-Spatial Processing in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): BrainـTrain and Cogniplus Games CogniPlus

Abstract

Background and Aims This study aims to compare the effectiveness of two computerized cognitive training applications, “Brain Train” and" CogniPlus”, in improving the response inhibition, selective attention, and visual-spatial processing speed of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods This is a quasi-experimental. Participants were 45 elementary school students diagnosed with ADHD who were selected by a convenience sampling method. The students were divided randomly into three groups: intervention group 1 (n=15, receiving training by Brain Train), intervention group 2 (n=15, receiving training by CogniPlus) and control (n=15). Each intervention group separately received training for two months, three session per week, each for 50-60-minutes. Performance of three groups were evaluated in response inhibition, selective attention, and visual-spatial processing in pre-test and post-test phases using Stroop test, the integrated visual and auditory continuous performance test (IVA+Plus), and visual-spatial processing subscale of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales. Collected data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance. Results Results showed a significant difference between the two intervention groups in the study variables (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between two intervention groups in improving selective attention and response inhibition (P>0.05). However, in visual-spatial processing, the group received training by Brain Train application showed a significant improvement more than the group received training by CogniPlus (P< 0.05). Conclusion Computerized cognitive training applications can improve the cognitive skills of children with ADHD, where the Brain Train application is more effective than Cogniplus regarding the visual-spatial processing ability.