[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Nov 8 2004, 08:18 PM\']I was on MSN late one night with another member of this forum. We had discussed game shows, and the type of people that view them. If I recall the conversation correctly, we came to the general consensus that many people who have ADD (or ADHD), hyperactivity, or mental impairments enjoy game shows, as opposed to other genres of television.
For those of you who may have taken some psychology courses while in school, is their a plausable explaination for this, or is this heresay?[/quote]
This is a touchy subject. I'll tiptoe through it very carefully. As someone who was diagnosed with ADD a decade ago, I don't object to the wording or questioning at all. When reading this, please remember I'm a student, not a professional. I've taken four psychology courses plus I'm taking a class about special needs this semester.
Two characteristics of autism are finding comfort in repetitive, non-changing situations (which Dave mentioned) and being obsessive about a particular topic. On a day-to-day basis, very little changes on a game show. Outside of a drastic rule change or a makeover of the set, the game's played the same way every day, except that you'd likely see new people on each episode.
On game shows, there are no deep plots which might last a year or two, multiple plots going on at once, or dozens of characters and personalities. All one needs to know about a game show is the basic rules, and most rules could be understood after watching a single episode. In most cases, there are 5 episodes per week, compared to one time a week for most primetime shows. In addition, usually in half an hour or less, you know who wins, who lost, and why. There's also the sounds, the flashing lights, and the spinning wheels, all of which appeal to peoples' senses.
As I mentioned above, I was diagnosed with ADD a decade ago. My attraction to game shows was the mental challenge. I know that reason is probably in the minority as to why people like game shows. It doesn't really answer the question. I thought I'd toss my 2 cents into the matter. (As an aside, my attention span is very short, usually 15 or 20 minutes before my mind wanders off to places unknown. I can recall a minute detail I learned in 5th grade some 20+ years ago but I can't remember what happened less than half an hour ago. Go figure.) Aaron brought up a great point about AD(H)D and TPiR--wait six minutes and you'll have a different activity.
When I get home this evening, I'll send an e-mail to my special needs professor about this topic. If she isn't terribly busy, I'd like to hear her professional opinion on this question. I'll post her reply, given that both she replies and she gives me permission to post her thoughts in a public forum.
