Children with executive function deficits

Youngsters with executive function deficits are easily distracted and must cope with difficulties planning, initiating and sustaining focus. These symptoms are pervasive in a number of disabilities, including Autism, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and ADHD. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether it is possible to leverage these learners' innate distractibility in a way that augments focus and improves performance. The technique under investigation involved purposefully distracting students in a way that redirected their attention onto a goal task. I hypothesized that linking unrelated subtasks to goal tasks would cognitively occupy students, not allowing them to get distracted in other ways, thereby extending time on task and improving performance on goal tasks. An empirical study, utilizing a crossover design, was performed on a convenience sample (N paired =30) of participants ages 8-14 diagnosed with a disability related to executive dysfunction. The aim of the study was to determine whether purposefully embedding and linking distractions (ELD) into goal tasks would improve focus and time on task behavior for these learners.

The study utilized custom software based on continuous performance testing (widely used in the field to diagnose disabilities), to determine the impact of ELD. Repeated measures were taken for each participant, one for performing tasks with ELD, and one without. Differences in performance and time on task were quantified with matched pair analysis. The data show that with ELD there were statistically significant gains in time on task as well as performance.