Adhd Research Paper
Katie Beth Dunham
Ms. Yarrington
English 9H P.7
April, ,2016
The Effectiveness of ADHD and ADD Medications as Cognitive-Enhancers?
ADHD and ADD Medications; Cognitive-Enhancers, Study Aids, and the Effects on the Brain?
What I Knew I have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) so, I came to this project with knowledge that I had already gained from my personal experience with ADD and the medications to treat it. Naturally I learned a lot about these medications from taking them. I know that the common medication prescribed is called methylphenidate. It’s an amphetamine, and part of a class of drugs call stimulants. Other stimulants are caffeine and methlanphetamine. Before I started taking medication, I had trouble focusing. My mind wandered, …show more content…
I was wondering why someone without ADD/ADHD would want to take this medication unprescribed. I know people take it to help them study, but I would think that if you already have the ability to concentrate, What would you gain from taking this medication? Why would you want to have to deal with the side affects? Wouldn’t the side effects outweigh the benefits? That led me to wonder if they affect me differently then someone without ADD/ADHD. Witch led me to my main question: How do medications meant for ADD/ADHD affect those with and without ADD/ADHD differently? This question was too broad, because there are so many different ways a medication could be used differently. To remedy this, I broke up this question into four parts. How do ADD/ADHD medications affect people with ADHD? How do they affect someone without ADD/ADHD? Do they work as a study aid? If so, why not have everyone take …show more content…
This article introduced me to cognitive-enhancers, or medicines that cause the “pharmaceutical enhancement of our cognitive skill set, whether of memory, our ability to focus, or the speed with which we process information” (1). This article also told me about the debate between scientists on whether cognitive enhancers; are ethical, useful, or even possible. This really changed the way that I looked at my topic because I thought that the use of these drugs was just a thing students did to get better grades. This article was exactly the kind of information that I was looking for. I used this knew knowledge of cognitive-enhancers to split my topic into parts; How do Medicines meant for ADHD/ADD affect those with ADHD/ADD? How do they affect those without ADHD/ADD? Do they Work as a study aid? If so why not have everyone take them? I also added cognitive-enhancers to my keywords which helped me weed out the articles that weren't relevant to my search. I wanted to find more articles similar to this one so I began to search Scientific American. I found a few that seemed promising but a paid subscription is needed to view the articles. So, I typed the articles into Marvel to get full
Ms. Yarrington
English 9H P.7
April, ,2016
The Effectiveness of ADHD and ADD Medications as Cognitive-Enhancers?
ADHD and ADD Medications; Cognitive-Enhancers, Study Aids, and the Effects on the Brain?
What I Knew I have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) so, I came to this project with knowledge that I had already gained from my personal experience with ADD and the medications to treat it. Naturally I learned a lot about these medications from taking them. I know that the common medication prescribed is called methylphenidate. It’s an amphetamine, and part of a class of drugs call stimulants. Other stimulants are caffeine and methlanphetamine. Before I started taking medication, I had trouble focusing. My mind wandered, …show more content…
I was wondering why someone without ADD/ADHD would want to take this medication unprescribed. I know people take it to help them study, but I would think that if you already have the ability to concentrate, What would you gain from taking this medication? Why would you want to have to deal with the side affects? Wouldn’t the side effects outweigh the benefits? That led me to wonder if they affect me differently then someone without ADD/ADHD. Witch led me to my main question: How do medications meant for ADD/ADHD affect those with and without ADD/ADHD differently? This question was too broad, because there are so many different ways a medication could be used differently. To remedy this, I broke up this question into four parts. How do ADD/ADHD medications affect people with ADHD? How do they affect someone without ADD/ADHD? Do they work as a study aid? If so, why not have everyone take …show more content…
This article introduced me to cognitive-enhancers, or medicines that cause the “pharmaceutical enhancement of our cognitive skill set, whether of memory, our ability to focus, or the speed with which we process information” (1). This article also told me about the debate between scientists on whether cognitive enhancers; are ethical, useful, or even possible. This really changed the way that I looked at my topic because I thought that the use of these drugs was just a thing students did to get better grades. This article was exactly the kind of information that I was looking for. I used this knew knowledge of cognitive-enhancers to split my topic into parts; How do Medicines meant for ADHD/ADD affect those with ADHD/ADD? How do they affect those without ADHD/ADD? Do they Work as a study aid? If so why not have everyone take them? I also added cognitive-enhancers to my keywords which helped me weed out the articles that weren't relevant to my search. I wanted to find more articles similar to this one so I began to search Scientific American. I found a few that seemed promising but a paid subscription is needed to view the articles. So, I typed the articles into Marvel to get full