Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)If you know the premise of the toy, skip to the second paragraph. This toy takes a measure of brain activity in the left frontal lobe and, based on the amount of activity there, sends power to a fan (high power when high; low or off when low). This raises a foam ball in the air and a dial can be turned with the hands to move the ball through an obstacle course that arrange with detachable pieces.
I read the other reviews. They make some good points. This toy could get boring fast. The headset does get uncomfortable after about 10 minutes. The guy who said that all it does is measure stress is way off-base. He is right that the ear clips are used to complete a circuit, but that is not all this toy does. After playing it for awhile, I can say it responds negatively to stress (i.e., the ball lowers and the fan turns off). I'm basing that off of the fact the fan tended to turn off when I would get worried about it turning off. If it was responding to stress, the power should have increased.
So why am I recommending this toy? Because studies have shown that if you can increase frontal lobe activity through exercises like this, you can increase objective measures of concentration (e.g., amount of time engaged with a task) and decrease measures of impulsivity. And not just for the task where the skill was trained. So a child who got adept at playing this game should also pay better attention in school, likely increase their reading comprehension, do better on homework, etc.
My recommendation is that, if this is something that is interesting to you, you buy this toy for your child and that you play it with them. Set performance goals with them and give them some sort of reward for meeting and exceeding those goals. Start small. At first, get a stopwatch and see how long they can keep the ball in the air. After that, see if they can start to raise and lower the ball a couple of times, then see how many times they can pass it through one of the hoops. And take data the whole time. Chart their data in some way so they can see the progress they are making.
But get this toy!!! In labs where they do this sort of therapy, children with ADHD have shown serious improvement in functioning. Some kids are able to get off meds altogether.
If you want to do a little extra research before purchasing, go to wikipedia and search neurofeedback. There's a good synopsis there with links to some peer-reviewed research at the bottom.
Scott Herbst, Ph.D. (in behavioral psychology)
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Mindflex GameHave you ever dreamed of moving an object with the power of your mind? Mindflex™, the new mental acuity game from Mattel, makes that dream a reality! A lightweight headset containing sensors for the forehead and earlobes measures your brainwave activity. When you focus your concentration, a small foam ball will rise on a gentle stream of air. Relax your thoughts and the ball will descend. By using a combination of physical and mental coordination, you must then guide the ball through a customizable obstacle course-the various obstacles can be repositioned into many different configurations.Mindflex™ combines advanced technology with the power of thought to create an interactive experience unlike any other- a game where players compete in the ultimate mental marathon! For ages 8 and up. Requires 4 ?C? and 2 ?AAA' batteries
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