Effectiveness of Cognitive Computer games on Attention Span of Students with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

The present study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive computer games on attention of students with intellectual disability. For this purpose, a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest design with control group was conducted. 20 students with intellectual disability were selected and assigned randomly into two an experimental (10) and a control (10) group. The experimental group was trained for 20 sessions and the control group received no intervention during the training sessions of the experimental group. The Stroop Color-Word test (1935) was used to evaluate the attention span of children with intellectual disability and the obtained data was analyzed using Analysis of Covariance. The findings showed significant differences (p<0.5) between the experimental and the control group in attention of students with intellectual disability. At the end, using cognitive games for improving attention and working memory was discussed. Further discussions as well as suggestions for future research are presented.