“But They Can Focus on Video Games”: Task-Dependent Attention in ADHD

Parents often express confusion when a child diagnosed with ADHD is able to sustain attention for long periods of time on activities they enjoy, reflecting a common myth that attention difficulties must be present across all tasks. When children with ADHD struggle to maintain focus on disliked or even neutral activities, this is frequently misinterpreted as a problem of willpower or motivation rather than a difference in processing.

What is less widely understood is that enjoyable and unenjoyable tasks are biochemically reinforced differently in the ADHD brain. Individuals with ADHD tend to have lower baseline levels of dopamine—the neurotransmitter responsible for motivation, attention, learning, and reward anticipation. Compared to neurotypical individuals, they require greater or more immediate reinforcement for dopamine to be released, which is why tasks that are interesting, novel, stimulating, or immediately rewarding are far easier to sustain attention on. In other words, neutral tasks barely move the needle, while interesting, novel tasks can send attention into overdrive.

Although many compensatory strategies emphasize organization tools such as lists and agendas, the delayed gratification of crossing an item off of a to-do list—or even avoiding future stress—is often insufficient to elicit a meaningful dopaminergic response. Instead, the most effective approach is to focus on how to make the task feel worth the effort in the present moment. By creatively introducing novelty, stimulation, or immediate rewards into mundane tasks, attention becomes less about effort or discipline and more about supporting the brain’s natural motivation system—allowing children with ADHD to engage more successfully without unnecessary shame or frustration.