Time Simulator in Virtual Reality for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

This project aims at investigating how effective virtual reality is in manipulating and eventually training time perception for children with learning and/or behavior disorders. The interconnectivity of multiple brain regions is needed for time perception. Small dysfunctions in these brain regions may cause time perceiving problems. Likewise, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appear to have comparable dysfunction in time orientation. However, the time perception can be trained in their early ages. In addition, research confirms the effectiveness of virtual reality in improving the sequential time perception of children with mental retardation. This paper presents the theoretical and empirical framework that uses a virtual reality time simulation game for training time perception of children with ADHD.

[1]  E. A. Attree,et al.  Learning and Memory in Virtual Environments: A Role in Neurorehabilitation? Questions (and Occasional Answers) from the University of East London , 2001, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[2]  Robin Le Poidevin,et al.  The Experience and Perception of Time , 2000 .

[3]  J. Galen Buckwalter,et al.  A Controlled Clinical Comparison of Attention Performance in Children with ADHD in a Virtual Reality Classroom Compared to Standard Neuropsychological Methods , 2007, Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence.

[4]  Andrea Gaggioli,et al.  Presence and rehabilitation: toward second-generation virtual reality applications in neuropsychology , 2004, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[5]  R. Tannock,et al.  Temporal information processing in ADHD: Findings to date and new methods , 2006, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[6]  M. Bouvard,et al.  Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and video games: A comparative study of hyperactive and control children , 2008, European Psychiatry.

[7]  R. Barkley,et al.  Sense of time in children with ADHD: Effects of duration, distraction, and stimulant medication , 1997, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

[8]  R B Ivry,et al.  Effects of divided attention on temporal processing in patients with lesions of the cerebellum or frontal lobe. , 1999, Neuropsychology.

[9]  Thomas E. Scruggs,et al.  Enhancing School Success with Mnemonic Strategies , 1998 .

[10]  H. Forssberg,et al.  Training of Working Memory in Children With ADHD , 2002 .

[11]  Sylvie Droit-Volet,et al.  Alerting attention and time perception in children. , 2003, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[12]  Katya Rubia,et al.  Evidence for a pure time perception deficit in children with ADHD. , 2002, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[13]  José Pablo Zagal,et al.  Temporal Frames: A Unifying Framework for the Analysis of Game Temporality , 2007, DiGRA Conference.

[14]  P. Hurks,et al.  Retrospective and Prospective Time Deficits in Childhood ADHD: The Effects of Task Modality, Duration, and Symptom Dimensions , 2010, Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence.

[15]  M. Dehn.  Working Memory and Academic Learning: Assessment and Intervention , 2008 .