Steve Joordens | ADHD: Reduced Attention Span or Heightened Distractability?

Step 1: Get your action plan, and look at the action guide for this masterclass to see the most specific help.

Get Action Guide

Step 2: Follow the instructions in your action plan.

Step 3: if you need more information, watch the masterclass.

Step 4: Go to the second recommended masterclass in your action plan which was sent to your email when you completed the ADHD action plan form.

Step 5: After watching your first masterclass, check out the remaining features of your plan. One by one, look at the personalized care list of features. This includes: ADHD professional matching service, online course library, support groups (post what you learned in the Masterclass), and other perks & deals.

Conclusion: Now you know how to use all of the features in your ADHD summit personalized care plan, please schedule another care call with your care coordinator if you haven't already.

May 24, 2023 5:00 PM

Steve Joordens is most known for the courses he has taught that have reached over 500,000 students worldwide, and for peerScholar, his educational technology which is now used in 10 countries, positively impacting over 200,000 students per term

Steve Joordens is most known for the courses he has taught that have reached over 500,000 students worldwide, and for peerScholar, his educational technology which is now used in 10 countries, positively impacting over 200,000 students per term

Today he’ll be sharing psychological knowledge about processes of human attention, and we’ll then consider ADHD within the context, ultimately arriving at some clear strategies for allowing those with ADHD to perform to their highest level.

Steve's ability to communicate with people, even in large groups of thousands, feels intimate and personal, as though he were just having a one-on-one conversation. Steve's speaking style is very casual and informal, which makes it easy for others to learn from him.

Mark as complete
JOIN LIVE MASTERCLASS 
Lesson completed

ADHD symptomology varies from individual to individual but generally is characterized by the two factors captured in its acronym; hyperactivity and “attentional deficit”.  

Professor Joordens will be focusing on the attention deficit component and will specifically address the following important questions: 

  • Do those with ADHD symptomology have a shorter span of attention, or are they simply more prone to distraction?  
  • If the latter, is there anything they can do to reduce the impact of their symptomology in contexts where it is important that they show their optimal performance?

Joordens will begin his consideration of these questions with a discussion of human attention systems.  That is, attentional processes bring information from the environment or from our memory systems into our minds.  

Critically, there are two ways this happens.   

First, sudden onsets in our environment capture our attention without our conscious control and bring things into our mind whether we want that to happen or not.  

Alternatively, when we have well-formed goals we can consciously direct attention, controlling what does and does not get into our minds.  

These two systems are continually competing but, without an explicit directed effort, the automatic capture of attention by the environment will tend to win out.

With this as context, Joordens will describe how this knowledge maps onto ADHD, especially the attention deficit aspect of it.  

He will argue that those who suffer from ADHD do not have a short attention span nor an ability to focus.  Rather, the much more likely possibility is that they are oversensitive to distraction.  

He will describe how such an oversensitivity to distraction would play out, which would be in symptomology very similar to that characteristic of ADHD.

Understanding ADHD in this way is empowering because while distractions can indeed be debilitating, they can also be defended against.  That is, there are some clear steps anyone with ADHD symptomology could take to shield themselves from distraction at times when it's critical they perform at their best.  

You will walk away with concrete strategies and tips for managing your attention.

Professor Steve Joordens is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, and is also the Director of their Advanced Learning Technologies Lab.  

Steve is passionate about psychology and teaching and also offers 4 free “Massive Open Online Courses” (aka MOOCs) on Coursera.org.  

In addition, with colleagues from his lab, he co-created peerScholar, an Educational Technology focused on helping students develop core “skills of success” like those involved in critical thought, creative thought, and effective collaboration.  

Steve’s work has been recognized by awards at the institutional, provincial, and national levels including his being named a 3M National Teaching Fellow in 2015.

https://vimeo.com/830268698?share=copy

Upcoming LIVE Webinars
No items found.
ADHD MATCHING SERVICE

Get Matched With The Right ADHD Professionals Who Can Help You Now

Get matched with mental health professionals, RBTs, therapists, psychologists, tutors, ADHD coaches, and many more.

Get connected to thousands of ADHD Professionals best fit to help you
Work directly with professionals to get customized support tailored to your needs
Meet remotely or in-person and find professionals that fit into your budget
Get Matched with Professionals
1-Hour Free Consultation

Schedule Your Free 1-Hour Consultation With Our Care Coordinators

We'll answer any questions you have
Guide you through how to best use our resources
Ensure you're getting the best support
Schedule Free 1-Hour Consultation
for healthcare professionals

Help Families Who Need You Now

We’re recruiting mental health professionals, RBTs, therapists, psychologists, tutors, ADHD coaches, and many other roles.

Get connected to thousands of parents and kids who need your help
Learn directly from our experts and get career advancement training
Work remotely or in-person and set your own hours & rates
Work With Us
Care Team  of Health Experts
Contact us

Need Help?
We Got Your Back.