METHODOLOGY FOR EARLY TESTING OF CORRECTIONAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL HYPOTHESES IN DESIGNING GAME INTERVENTIONS FOR CHILDREN WITH ADHD

Abstract

The article is devoted to the development and justification of the methodology for early testing of correctional and psychological hypotheses as a tool for reducing the preparatory phase of research in the design of game interventions for primary school children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The purpose of the study is to describe the step-by-step protocol of the method and verify its applicability on an illustrative case. Methods: theoretical analysis and synthesis of scientific literature on correctional psychopedagogy, game design and prototyping methods. Results: a five-step protocol for the rapid prototyping method of correctional and psychological hypotheses was developed, which includes: formalization of the intervention hypothesis, preparation of a specification document, creation of a working prototype, its expert assessment and definition of criteria for testing the hypothesis. The central tool of the method is the specification document - a structured correctional and psychological description of the hypothesis, which is the key contribution of the researcher regardless of the chosen technical means of implementation. The method was verified on an illustrative case of the simulation-cognitive game “Morning Meetings”, aimed at developing skills for independent performance of the morning routine in children aged 6–10 with ADHD. Conclusions: the proposed method allows the researcher to reduce the preparatory phase of developing a game intervention from months to several days without losing the theoretical validity of the correctional-psychological hypothesis; the quality of the result is determined primarily by the accuracy of the correctional-psychological description, and not by the choice of a technical tool. The method is preliminary to a full-fledged pilot study and does not replace empirical verification of the effectiveness of the intervention.