Does positive feedback improve focus more than negative feedback for individuals with ADHD? People with ADHD sometimes struggle to focus, communicate, and work properly (Barkley, 2015). I want to see if giving positive feedback can help increase the way they work, act, and focus because if so, that could help them become better and more efficient in their everyday lives (Luman et al., 2005).

For my science fair project I used a variety of different searches such as ADHD, Positive feedback, Sustained Attention, etc. I used authentic websites like Google Scholar PubMed and ScienceDirect. I mainly used articles that came out in the past 10 years because they’re more advanced and accurate. (Pfiffner & Haack, 2014). For analyzing the articles I checked how they gave positive feedback, was it candy, points, or just giving good positive feedback. (Luman et al., 2005). After I narrowed down the articles I compared them. Were they contradicting each other, were there other theories and looked deeper into it.

My research examined whether feedback improves focus in individuals with ADHD by analyzing peer-reviewed journal articles on attention, motivation, and behavioral regulation. (Berridge & Devilbiss, 2011) The research demonstrated that different dopamine levels in ADHD patients disrupt their brains for attention and motivation which leads to diminished brain power. The research shows that positive feedback supports ADHD patients in achieving better behavior and control because it boosted their ability to focus and their level of confidence whereas negative feedback resulted in frustration which leads to lower work behavior. The research demonstrated that feedback acts as a crucial component which helps ADHD individuals in maintaining their task-focused concentration.Studies indicate that positive feedback improves focus and confidence in people with ADHD, while negative feedback often causes frustration and reduced motivation (Luman et al., 2005). Feedback plays an important role in helping individuals with ADHD stay focused on tasks (Pfiffner & Haack, 2014).

What is ADHD? ADHD stands for Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This is now one of the most common disorders found in children nowadays. It's a brain disorder that affects your attention, sitting still and behaviour. Many people take medication and therapy for it but it will never go away but it gets better and less prominent.Some effects of untreated ADHD are other mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, substance abuse, fidgeting, academic difficulties, lower self-esteem etc. There are 3 types of ADHD. Inattentive ADHD: This is mainly when people are forgetful, and have trouble doing simple tasks. Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD: People with this type of ADHD are affected physically more and neurologically less. Combined ADHD: This is the most common and is a combo of both types of ADHD.

What is Feedback? Feedback is the information you give someone about something they're doing like a job or a task or even a behavior. It helps them know if their behavior/ task is being done properly and where they need to improve. Feedback is necessary because it helps people as to what they can improve on and it also gives them a sense of accomplishment. There are many different types of feedback but the main ones are positive, negative and constructive feedback.

What is Sustained Attention? Sustained attention lets a person stay focused on a task or activity for a long period of time without getting distracted or mentally tired. It allows a person to have a consistent performance, such as listening to a lecture, studying for an exam, or driving for a long time. This type of attention is necessary for tasks that require concentration and thinking.

The project used its data from four scientific articles which examined how positive and negative feedback affected people with ADHD. Out of the four sources, three (75%) showed that positive feedback helped improve focus, motivation, and task performance.(Luman et al., 2005) The studies demonstrated that people with ADHD who received positive reinforcement or rewards remained focused on their work and achieved better results. The studies which examined negative feedback showed that this type of feedback led to increased frustration and decreased motivation for most people.(Barkley, 2015). The majority of research studies demonstrate that positive feedback enhances concentration abilities of people with ADHD.

After reviewing the studies and articles, I concluded that positive feedback does help individuals with ADHD improve focus. Positive feedback increases motivation and encourages better performance, while negative feedback often leads to decreased focus and frustration (Pfiffner & Haack, 2014). Because individuals with ADHD may take longer to complete tasks, supportive feedback is especially important for improving focus and learning outcomes (Barkley, 2015)

References (APA 7) Barkley, R. A. (2015). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment (4th ed.). Guilford Press. https://www.guilford.com/books/Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder/Russell-Barkley/9781462542673 Berridge, C. W., & Devilbiss, D. M. (2011). Psychostimulants as cognitive enhancers: The prefrontal cortex, catecholamines, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 69(12), e101–e111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.01.002 Luman, M., Oosterlaan, J., & Sergeant, J. A. (2005). The impact of reinforcement contingencies on ADHD: A review and theoretical appraisal. Clinical Psychology Review, 25(2), 183–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2004.11.001 Pfiffner, L. J., & Haack, L. M. (2014). Behavior management for school-aged children with ADHD. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 23(4), 731–746.

I would like to thank my teacher Mrs. Atabayeva for providing support and constructive feedback during this project. I also appreciate the researchers whose studies on ADHD and feedback helped my understanding for the topic and my ability to complete it with authentic sources. Finally, I am thankful to my family for their patience and encouragement while I completed this research.