Abstract: The behavioral characteristics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children with attention deficit symptoms are: 1. Poor selectivity of attention. This is characterized by impairment of active attention and predominance of passive attention. 2. Difficulty in maintaining attention. The symptoms of attention deficit in children with ADHD seriously affect the children’s cognition, memory and understanding of knowledge and new things, which is the main reason for their low learning efficiency and lower academic performance. Attention dificit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common behavioral disorders in children and adolescents today. Early knowledge of ADHD focused on motor activity levels. Recent studies have concluded that the core symptom of ADHD is not hyperactivity, but rather attention deficit. It has been suggested that different neurosteroids influence the expression of ADHD symptomatology. There is a deficit in catecholamine levels of central neurotransmitters. This results in a weakened inhibitory function of the brain, which does not act as a filter for extraneous stimuli entering the brain. This results in inattention and hyperactivity in children who respond indiscriminately to almost all stimuli from all external sources. This article provides an overview of the behavioral characteristics of clinically observed attention deficits in children with ADHD. 1. Passive attention is dominant Attention is the direction and concentration of mental activity on a certain object. There are two main types of attention: one is passive attention (unintentional attention, random attention, involuntary attention). It is the attention that has no predetermined purpose and does not require volitional effort. It is the objective thing that attracts people’s attention by its own characteristics. People can then turn and focus their attention on these things without subjective effort, at will and without effort. For example, watching TV, playing video games, listening to music, listening to interesting stories, etc. Another type of attention is active attention (intentional attention, involuntary attention, voluntary attention). That is, to focus on something according to the subjective will. To achieve a certain purpose, to complete a certain task. For example, listening to lectures, reading, doing homework, etc. Active attention requires will and perseverance. It is often referred to as “effort”. Active attention is an advanced form of attention that is unique to humans. The basic problem of attention deficit in children with ADHD is the impairment of higher level active attention and the relative increase of lower level passive attention. Children with ADHD have difficulty concentrating in class and are prone to desertion. They are often distracted by irrelevant stimuli. They have a low rate of absorption and mastery in class, are at a loss to understand the homework assigned by the teacher, procrastinate on homework, have a high error rate, and have significantly lower academic performance (insufficient active attention). In contrast, they can pay full attention to attractive things, such as watching interesting TV programs, playing video games, surfing the Internet, etc. (passive attention is dominant). It is clear that subjective needs and interests are important factors for passive attention. However, children with severe illness have difficulty concentrating on anything. Even if it is their favorite and most concerned thing. 2, the tension of attention (attention of attention) is the degree of mental activity to a certain object of high concentration. It is a characteristic of the intensity of attention. People in the case of intense concentration of attention, will be immersed in the object of their attention, and do not notice what is happening around. This is often referred to as being in a state of “concentration”. This is necessary to complete a task or achieve a goal. Children with ADHD have poor attentional tension and insufficient attentional intensity. They are easily distracted by the external environment. They are unable to pay attention in class and often look around and slip away. Some seem to sit quietly in the lecture, but their thoughts are not focused on the content of the teacher’s lecture. As a result, they are either “dumbfounded” or “unable to answer” the teacher’s questions. The efficiency of classroom learning is low. They often do their homework in a sloppy manner and lose everything. Children with ADHD have poor attention span and difficulty concentrating, and often lack self-control. Their behavior is impulsive and capricious. For example, a bee may fly into the classroom and call out loudly, or the teacher may suddenly interrupt during a lecture. Disregards the disturbance of the teaching environment and the classroom discipline that should be observed. When playing games and activities are not orderly, it is difficult to wait patiently in order ……ADHD children’s attention tension is low, the intensity of attention is not enough to achieve and complete the learning effect and activity ability consistent with their age. 3, the instability of attention People’s attention to the same thing is not fixed for a long time. Stability of attention refers to the length of time that attention is maintained on a certain thing. Children with ADHD show a shortened duration of active attention. The instability of attention often occurs when attention is sustained. In other words, children with ADHD are able to focus on something at the beginning, but as the attention span increases, the inattention becomes apparent. For example, a normal 6-year-old child has a maturity level of 80% in the development of neurological self-control and can concentrate on a lecture for at least 20 minutes. In contrast, a normal 10- to 12-year-old school-age child should be able to maintain a continuous state of work for a 40-minute class period without feeling particularly fatigued. Children with ADHD, on the other hand, have difficulty maintaining such long periods of active attention. The mind deserted after 20 minutes or even less of listening to the lesson. Small movements are then constant. The instability of attention in some children with ADHD, especially in the lower grades, is highlighted by the high volatility of academic performance, with a wide range of good and bad grades. Others show significant differences in performance in different courses, with some children doing well in math and poorly in foreign languages, and others doing the opposite. In addition to talent and interest, this phenomenon is also related to the instability of learning attention. The length of attention span is influenced by many factors such as the age of the child, personality, interests, the degree of educational training and the characteristics of the object of attention. Today’s only child has less responsibility for labor at home (too little active attention activity). If they do not pay attention to the development of perseverance, interest and concentration habits in the only learning activities available to them…, children tend to be inattentive in the classroom. It is difficult to achieve an age-appropriate attentional stability. Attention span can only be short. Similarly, any activity that is too long and monotonous to maintain the attention of children is not helpful, so the school to improve teaching methods, teachers pay attention to lecturing skills and artistry, to attract the attention of students, to maintain the stability and persistence of attention is very helpful. 4. Narrow attention span and inability to distribute and shift attention. The distribution of attention refers to the same time. The attention is directed to two and more kinds of objects of activity. This is necessary for the completion of a task. For example, when a driver is driving, the hands have to grasp the steering wheel, the feet have to control the brakes and gas pedal, the eyes have to look ahead, and the ears have to pay attention to the surrounding sound. This requires the driver to be able to distribute his or her attention well to ensure safe driving. Similarly, when students do homework, the brain has to think about the problem, the eyes have to look at the content of the book, the hands have to write out the answer, and the words have to be written within a specified size. children with ADHD have a narrow range of attention, are not good at distributing their attention, and cannot grasp the focus and main points of the object of attention. Learning efficiency is low, and they can only absorb and master a small part of the content in a lesson, or only the content that interests them. The homework is often incorrectly written, scribbled, wrongly calculated, and often makes low-level mistakes that should not occur. They always have trouble completing assignments on time. Shifting of attention is the process of shifting attention to a desired area according to subjective and objective requirements, in order to receive new stimuli and achieve new behavioral goals. Shifting of attention is different from distraction: distraction is the result of passive attention. Attention shifting is a requirement for active attention. Good at active and rapid attention shifting. It is very important for learning work. For example, when students return to class after recess, they are required to quietly listen to the lecture, and when they are asked to read aloud after the teacher’s lecture, they must quickly shift from listening to the coordinated act of seeing, hearing, and reading. children with ADHD have difficulty adapting to this shift in attention. The excitement of the classroom activity makes it difficult for the student to calm down and listen to the lesson. The teacher has already read several sentences of the text, but the child with ADHD has not yet flipped through or found the text or passage to read. This may also occur in younger grades and in normal children. However, the symptoms of ADHD are much more pronounced in children with ADHD than in children of the same age. It takes several times longer than normal children of the same age to fully or partially adjust to this shift in attention. In summary, the behavioral characteristics of attention deficit symptoms in children with ADHD are: 1) poor selectivity of attention, as evidenced by the impairment of active attention and the predominance of passive attention; 2) difficulty in maintaining attention, as evidenced by the poor intensity and stability of attention and the short duration of active attention; 3) inability to allocate and shift attention, and a narrow range of attention; and 4) severe impairment of attention in children with ADHD, as evidenced by the impairment of active attention and the predominance of passive attention. affect the children’s knowledge, memory and understanding of new things, and are the main cause of their low learning efficiency and lower academic performance. The diagnosis of ADHD is defined mainly by behavioral characteristics. Doctors base the diagnosis on the medical history provided by parents and teachers and follow a standardized scale score. However, due to differences in parents’ and teachers’ understanding of ADHD, their literacy level, personality, hobbies, length of contact with the child, and inconsistency in their understanding and tolerance of children with ADHD, the child’s behavior they report to the doctor can sometimes be overly exaggerated and sometimes overly disguised. This requires parents and teachers to learn about ADHD through study, learn to observe their children for signs of ADHD, and when symptoms of ADHD are found, spend another period of time carefully and thoughtfully observing the behavioral characteristics of the child’s attention deficit. Clinicians who are familiar with the behavioral characteristics of ADHD attention deficit can help diagnose ADHD correctly and work with parents and teachers to provide targeted psycho-behavioral treatment and necessary medication for the child.