Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a concurrent “white noise” stimulus on selective attention in children with ADHD. Method: Participants were 33 children aged 7 to 14 years, who had been previously diagnosed with ADHD. All children completed a computer-based conjunction search task under two noise conditions: a classroom noise condition and a classroom noise + white noise condition. The white noise stimulus was sounds of rain, administered using an iPhone application called Sleep Machine. Results: There were no overall differences between conditions for target detection accuracy, mean reaction time (RT), or reaction time variability (SD). The impact of white noise on visual search depended on children’s medication status. Conclusion: White noise may improve task engagement for non-medicated children. White noise may be beneficial for task performance when used as an adjunct to medication.
AbikoffH.CourtneyM. E.SzeibelP. J.KoplewiczH. S. (1996). The effects of auditory stimulation on the arithmetic performance of children with ADHD and nondisabled children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29, 238-246. doi:10.1177/002221949602900302
2.
AchenbachT. M.RescorlaL. A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms and profiles (Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6-18). Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Centre for Children, Youth and Families.
3.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
4.
BoothJ. R.BurmanD. D.MeyerJ. R.LeiZ.TrommerB. L.. . . MesulamM. M. (2005). Larger deficits in brain networks for response inhibition than for visual selective attention in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 94-111. doi:10.1111/j.14697610.2004.00337.x
5.
BrodeurD. A.PondM. (2001). The development of selective attention in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 29, 229-239.
6.
ConnersC. K. (2008). Conners 3rd edition manual. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems.
7.
CookA.Bradley-JohnsonS.JohnsonC. M. (2013). Effects of white noise on off-task behaviour and academic responding for children with ADHD. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47, 1-5. doi:10.1002/jaba.79
8.
DaleyD.BirchwoodJ. (2010). ADHD and academic performance: Why does ADHD impact on academic performance and what can be done to support ADHD children in the classroom?Child: Care, Health and Development, 36, 455-464. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2009.01046.x
9.
GumenyukV.KorzyukovO.EsceraC.HamalainenM.HuotilainenM.HayrinenT.. . . AlhoK. (2005). Electrophysiological evidence of enhanced distractibility in ADHD children. Neuroscience Letters, 374, 212-217. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2004.10.081
10.
HazellP. L.CarrV. J.LewinT. J.DewisS. A. M.HeathcoteD. M.BruckiB. M. (1999). Effortful and automatic processing in boys with ADHD and specific learning disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 275-286. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00441
11.
HorowitzT. S.WolfeJ. M. (1998). Visual search has no memory. Nature, 394, 575-577.
12.
Huang-PollockC. L.NiggJ. T.CarrT. H. (2005). Deficient attention is hard to find: Applying the perceptual load model of selective attention to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder subtypes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 1211-1218. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.00410.x
13.
KaratekinC.AsarnowR. F. (1998). Components of visual search in childhood onset schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 367-380.
14.
LarsonK.RussS. A.KahnR. S.HalfonN. (2011). Patterns of comorbidity, functioning, and service use for US children with ADHD, 2007. Pediatrics, 127, 462-470. doi:10.1542/peds.2010-0165
15.
LoeI. M.FeldmanH. M. (2007). Academic and educational outcomes of children with ADHD. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 32, 643-654. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsl054
16.
MaccariL.CasagrandeM.MartellaD.AnolfoM.RosaC.FuentesL. J.PasiniA. (2013). Change blindness in children with ADHD: A selective impairment in visual search?Journal of Attention Disorders, 17, 620-627. doi:10.1177/1087054711433294
17.
MasonD. J.HumphreysG. W.KentL. S. (2003). Exploring selective attention in ADHD: Visual search through space and time. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 1158-1176. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00204
18.
MasonD. J.HumphreysG. W.KentL. S. (2004). Visual search, singleton, and the control of attentional set in ADHD. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 21, 661-687. doi:10.1080/02643290342000267
19.
MasonD. J.HumphreysG. W.KentL. S. (2005). Insights into the control of attentional set in ADHD using the attentional blink paradigm. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 1345-1353. doi:10.1111/j.14697610.2005.01428.x
20.
MullaneJ. C. R.KleinM. K. (2008). Literature review: Visual search by children with and without ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 12, 44-53. doi:10.1177/1087054707305116
21.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. (2008). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Diagnosis and management in children, young people and adults (NICE guideline 72). London, England: NICE.
22.
O’RiordanM. A.PlaistedK. C.DriverJ.Baron-CohenS. (2001). Superior visual search in autism. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27, 719-730. doi:10.1037//0096-1523.27.3.719
23.
PelhamW. E.WaschbuschD. A.HozaB.GnagyE. M.GreinerA. R.SamsS.. . . CarterR. L. (2011). Music and video as distractors for boys with ADHD in the classroom: Comparison with controls, individual differences, and medication effects. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 39, 1085-1098. doi:10.1007/s10802-011-9529-z
24.
QuinlanP. T. (2003). Visual feature integration theory: Past, present, and future. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 643-673. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.643
25.
RapportM. D.KoflerM. J.AldersonR. M.TimkoT.Jr.DuPaulG. J. (2009). Variability of attention processes in ADHD: Observations from the classroom. Journal of Attention Disorders, 12, 563-573. doi:10.1177/1087054708322990
26.
RootR. W.ResnickR. J. (2003). An update on the diagnosis and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 34, 34-41. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.34.1.34
Sleepsoft LLC. (2011). Sleep Machine (Version 3.0) [Mobile application software]. Available from http://itunes.apple.com
29.
SöderlundG.SikströmS.LoftesnesJ. M.Sonuga-BarkeE. J. (2010). The effects of background white noise on memory performance in inattentive school children. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 6, 55-64. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-6-55
30.
SöderlundG.SikströmS.SmartA. (2007). Listen to noise: Noise is beneficial for cognitive performance in ADHD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 840-847. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01749.x
31.
SolantoM. V. (2002). Dopamine dysfunction in AD/HD: Inte-grating clinical and basic neuroscience research. Behavioural Brain Research, 130, 65-71. doi:10.1016/S0166-4328(01)00431-4
32.
TabachnickB.FidellL. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
33.
TalesA.ButlerS. R.FosseyJ.GilchristI. D.JonesR. W.TrosciankoT. (2002). Visual search in Alzheimer’s disease: A deficiency in processing conjunctions of features. Neuropsychologia, 40, 1849-1857.
34.
TreismanA.GeladeG. (1980). A feature-integration theory of attention. Cognitive Psychology, 12, 97-136.
35.
van MourikR.OosterlaanJ.HeslenfeldD. J.KonigC. E.SergeantJ. A. (2007). When distraction is not distracting: A behavioural and ERP study on distraction in ADHD. Clinical Neuropsychology, 118, 1855-1865. doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2007.05.007
36.
VidyasagarT. R.PammerK. (1999). Impaired visual search in dyslexia relates to the role of magnocellular pathway in attention. NeuroReport, 10, 1283-1287.
37.
ZentallS. S.ZentallT. R. (1983). Optimal stimulation: A model of disordered activity and performance in normal and deviant children. Psychological Bulletin, 94, 446-471.
