I’m reading ADHD in Adults (Barkley, Murphy, & Fischer, 2008) for a book review.  The authors list the kids’ game Simon as a test of executive function impairment in ADHD.  Of course!  That’s a great idea!  This is the electronic game where a sequence of colors is given to you, and you have to repeat it back.  It’s a great test of working memory. 

Research studies on ADHD have used Simon as an evaluation measure.  Sure enough, people with ADHD have more difficulty following sequences than people without ADHD. 

Since the color sequence is paired with a tone, I’ve wondered how musical ability helped people learn the sequencing.  When I was a kid, I remembered I paid just as much attention to the tones (maybe even more) as I did to the colors.  It would also be an interesting test of visual learning versus auditory learning.

Wikipedia said that Simon debuted at Studio 54.  I bet Simon was the envy of the other games.  They just debuted at Toys ‘R’ Us.  Simon was destined for hipness.  http://www.neave.com/games/simon/

Here’s an online version of Simon: http://www.neave.com/games/simon/

Tags: ADD, ADHD, adults, Barkley, executive functions, Simon