ADHD in adults: signs, diagnosis, and attention tasks
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition involving persistent inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with daily functioning. Diagnosis depends on a clinical assessment of symptoms, development, impairment, settings, and alternative explanations.
Browser-based tasks can record attention and inhibition performance. They cannot diagnose ADHD or replace a full clinical assessment.
What ADHD is and how adults are diagnosed
ADHD is defined by a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development. Symptoms begin in childhood, occur in more than one setting, and are not better explained by another condition. In adults, hyperactivity may appear as restlessness, while inattention and impulsivity can affect organization, task completion, and relationships.
A qualified clinician diagnoses ADHD using a full developmental and psychiatric history, evidence of impairment, information across settings, and consideration of coexisting or alternative conditions. Rating scales can support that assessment, but no single questionnaire, observation, or cognitive task is sufficient on its own.
A careful boundary. Sleep, mood, anxiety, medication, health, device conditions, and the testing environment can all affect performance. A browser task cannot determine why a result looks the way it does.
Signs considered in an adult assessment
Clinical assessment looks for persistent symptoms, functional impact, childhood onset, and a pattern across settings. Examples include:
Sustaining attention
Difficulty staying with tasks or conversations, especially when they require sustained mental effort.
Organization
Difficulty sequencing tasks, managing time, keeping materials in order, or finishing what was started.
Forgetfulness
Frequently losing needed items or forgetting appointments and everyday responsibilities.
Impulsivity
Interrupting, answering before a question is complete, or finding it difficult to wait.
Restlessness
Feeling internally restless, fidgeting, or finding prolonged stillness difficult.
Functional impact
Symptoms cause meaningful difficulty in work, education, relationships, or daily responsibilities.
These examples are educational, not a self-diagnosis. A clinician considers duration, onset, impairment, multiple settings, and other possible explanations.
Tasks can sample performance, not diagnose ADHD
The Attention task battery contains 9 tasks in 2 sessions, about 50 minutes total. You can stop after any task and resume later. Four tasks focus on sustained attention, response restraint, action stopping, and distractor control. Five additional tasks cover working memory, interference control, sequencing, coding speed, and reaction time.
What it can show you
- Your recorded accuracy, response speed, and task-level variability.
- Task scores using the comparison data supported by current runtime scoring.
- A record of completed task performance that you may choose to discuss with a professional.
What it cannot do
- Diagnose ADHD or replace a full clinical assessment.
- Establish childhood onset, symptoms across settings, or functional impairment.
- Determine why attention is difficult or separate possible causes.
- Replace a qualified professional's assessment.
Primary sources
Try one challenge, or continue with the task battery
Choose the short interaction or the multi-session battery. Neither is a diagnostic evaluation.
The 30-second challenge
A short number-choice interaction that runs in the browser. It does not measure ADHD or attention and does not diagnose anything.
Play the challengeThe Attention task battery
Nine tasks cover sustained attention, response restraint, action stopping, distractor control, and five broader cognitive tasks.
Start the Attention task batteryTry the challenge without an account. Use an account for the full battery.
The 30-second challenge runs without an account. To continue the multi-session task battery and keep progress associated with your account, create or sign in to an account.