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Luke Aulbert
Malcolm Campbell
UWRT 1103
2/11/2016
ADHD as an Evolutionary Trait
I will be examining the characteristics of ADHD as a disorder in modern
time and its association with how ADHD correlates with behavior of earlier
humans, particularly in nomadic settings. ADHD, or attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder is a neurodevelopmental Psychiatric disorder, in which
it impairs ones attention, making one exhibit hyperactive and impatient
behaviorsbehavior as well as exhibiting impatient behaviors. ADHD has long
been a long part of human history, with writer Sir Alexander Criton describing
it as mental restlessness; however, it waswasnt only until 1902 thatwhen
the symptoms of ADHD werewas clearly described by a writer known as
George Still. ADHD was officially declared a mental disorder in 1980 when it
was introduced into the DSM-III.
I would make sure to clearly describe what the DSM-III is as I have no
prior knowledge as to what it is. Otherwise, try to avoid the really particular
terms in a field youre speaking about, it is really important to use simpler
language to establish the readers understanding of what you are talking
about. If you were writing toward others in the field of study that you are
speaking about, then this is when you would use the jargon associated with
the field.

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However, there has been some evidence to conclude that perhaps
ADHD the symptoms of ADHD were beneficial to earlier human life.
According to a study conducted in Kenya by Northwestern Uuniversity in
2008, concluded that tribesmen who lived in nomadic settings who displayed
traits of ADHD traits, were better nourished than those who were without
theseis traits, however, those living in civilized settings who displayed traits
of ADHD traits were less nourished than those who did not display these
traitsADHD traits. The Study concluded that the tribesman that possessed
ADHD like symptoms, might be beneficial for nomadic settings as these
tribesmen were impatient, more athletic, and constantly shifted from one
target of prey target to the next. Also these tribesmen possessed greater
Drug and food cravings, therefore spent more time hunting and ultimately
were better nourished than the others.
Homo Sapiens have existed for around 100,000 years. However it
wasnt until 10,000 BC when agriculture began to develop, allowing
civilization to flourish whichflourish, which in turn meant Humans had to live
for 90,000 living in nomadic tribes. As a result, the ability to hunt for food
was placed at a greater importance in this time period and those who were
best at hunting reproduced the most and those who didnt possess the skills
to hunt for food simply died out and therefore theirre traits were not passedt
on to the next generation.
I will use several past expiencesexperiences with past psychologist and
psychiatrist as sources I will utilize in order to help gather my

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resoucresresources on ADHD and evolution. Also resoucesresources I will use
will be webmd, Harpers website, as well as sites such as psychologytoday.
Linking ADHD to an evolutionary trait might be beneficial to research about
ADHD and treatment methods for ADHD. If ADHD were to be an evolutionary
trait, perhaps psychologist, therapist, psychiatrist, and doctors could adapt
treatment methods in order to ensure better treatment is provided to those
afflicted to those with ADHD.
You give a great background on the subject and describe the
symptoms well within the paragraphs, I feel that you should just
explicitly state what direction your research into this subject will be
taking.
Initial Inquiry questionsWas ADHD more prevalent in ancestors in the past. Is ADHD an
evolutionary advantage. Is ADHD really a mental disorder. Have
circumstances in modern day society created this disorder or has this
disorder been detrimental in earlier human history as well. Could the
treatment used to treat ADHD improve if this finding were to be significant.
Could this disorder possibly benefit modern society as well. Has the
prevalence of ADHD gone up then in the past, and has the academic world
contributed to the cause of people exhibiting ADHD behavior in modern
society.
My Interest in the topic

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I am interested in this topictopic, as I washave been diagnosed with
ADHD when I was a child, and I typically believe that ADHD will typically be
detrimental to human beings in general. I have looked at documentaries
explaining that ADHD leads to a rise in Athletic ability however I took this bit
of information with a grain of salt. Also, in my school I noticed that people in
who explicitly said they had ADHD, oftentimes did not do well in school,
however most of these people afflicted with ADHD tended to do quite well in
sport activate. By conducting research on this topic I will see if I should have
taken information like this a bit more seriously or should I have been right in
being skeptical of this information in general. By conducting this research, I
will ultimately find the answer to this question.
Next Steps
I will be searching databases in order to find information on topics
using subject words such as ADHD and human history and ADHD as an
evolutionary advantage and perhaps find original studies on ADHD and
human history. I may also use the psychology references to help find topics
related to ADHD and evolution in the Atkins library. I will also be utilizing
websites such as Psychology today and news sources such as NPR, and the
Guardian in order find information revenanrelevant to this topic. I believe my
database sources will be the most reliable as these will most likely be the
least bias out of all of my source.
I think youre on a really good track for this paper, and I like that you
have a personal stake in it as hopefully that should make it more enjoyable

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to write about. The only overall advice I think I can give is to read what you
write out loud to yourself. This should help you word sentences in really
fluent and natural ways. I do this a lot, except its weirder when I do it
because I tend to do it under my breath around other people and they just
think Im grunting to myself haha! I like your topic and wish you luck with it!