The effects of adderall on college students

Some students end up taking stimulants or amphetamines like Ritalin or with the aim of improving focus, thereby enhancing their academic performance. Amphetamines are drugs that stimulate the central nervous system and patients presenting with different psychiatric disorders have used them to reduce fatigue, increase their mental focus, and decrease or control hunger. Students also take such drugs to enable them to be alert for longer hours than before during the night so that they can either party, study, or perform specific tasks. Despite the fact that psychotherapists have confirmed the efficacy of Adderall for treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it is dangerous to take the drug for non-prescribed or non-medicinal purposes. A study by the University of Rhode Island (2018) indicates that as opposed to the general belief on the effects of the amphetamines and stimulants on mental focus and cognition, the drugs do not have positive impacts on healthy students.

From the research question, it is clear that this study will be concerned with the provision of information on the relationship between the variables indicated in the subsequent sections of the paper. The knowledge of the effects of Adderall on the memory of college students is important in knowing whether to allow them to use of the drug or not and to determine the best remedies for handling those who have already used the stimulants in enhancing attention and mental focus (Maahs, Weidner, & Smith, 2016). The knowledge of the impacts on cognition is needed to ensure that stakeholders can know how best to package the information to college students who are using the drugs to stop using it. That is because currently, individuals only talk about the possibilities of the medicine having adverse effects on the users yet there are no clear indicators of the exact impacts.

When there is sufficient evidence on the topic, it is easy to use various persuasion tools and skills in influencing the different stakeholders to take action on the prevention of adverse effects or advancement of the positive attributes of the drug. Cognition is the involvement of mental action in the acquisition of knowledge. It deals with the thought processes and patterns in an individual. The belief that amphetamines enhance memory and attention in individuals has led to an increased usage of the drugs among different college students (University of Rhode Island, 2018). Memory is the process, power, or ability to recall or remember something that one has learned through various associative mechanisms. It deals with encoding, storage, and retrieval of information. The variables for the study.

Source: (Author, 2019). Operational Definitions and Measurement Methods Memory: - Memory is about the ability to recall experiences and items that one has. It is measured by the number of things the participants can be able to recall (Maahs, Weidner, & Smith, 2016). Those who can recall or remember several experiences or items are considered to have a good memory. However, it has numerous side effects such as memory loss and impacts on cognition. This drug will be measured by the existence of side effects in the participants such as loss of memory, insomnia, irregular or loss of appetite, nausea, stomach pain, anxiety, hair loss, nervousness, among other symptoms. There will be a differential diagnosis of the participants during the assessment for suitability to take part in the interview to ensure that those presenting with other infections do not take part in the study as that can interfere with the accuracy of the results.

Sampling The sampling method to be used will be purposive sampling. Purposive sampling entails selecting the sample based on particular characteristics and the aims, objectives, and purpose of the study (Sykes, Verma, & Hancock, 2018). This sampling method fits the study since the research entails having respondents with particular attributes. The results will be generalized to communicate the effects of Adderall use on cognition and memory among college students. Even though purposive sampling allows for the best choice of respondents to take part in a study, it has some few shortcomings that if taken into account properly, will make this research study a success. First, this sampling method is prone to mistakes coming from the judgments I make (Sykes, Verma, & Hancock, 2018). The fact that I have to infer or generalize the findings based on the sample selected through a lot of scrutinies may lead to a wrong conclusion of the results.

The control groups will be identified and exposed to the drug without any alteration of the independent variable (drug). The different variables identified before such as cognition and memory will be tested before and after the exposure. The changes in the variables will communicate the relationship between the indicated variables in the study. The results obtained will be compared with those not exposed to the drug. This design has limitations including; the lack of randomization and the reduced internal validity as well as the fact that conclusions about causality are less definitive. I will use an open communication process that entails the use of memos and social media to recruit the respondents before they can be vetted for the final sample size.

The advertisement will get to every college student irrespective of gender, and the validation or recruitment process will be fair enough to prevent any form of disparity during the selection of the final sample (Smith & Mcgannon, 2018). Finally, the students or participants will have to consent to any form of disclosure of information. Before the gathering of relevant information from the respondents, I will explain to them the purpose of the research, the scope, and the use of the data. All these steps will be taken to ensure that the experiments and the complete study are carried out most ethically for the best results. , & Farah, M. J. Prescription stimulants’ effects on healthy inhibitory control, working memory, and episodic memory: A meta-analysis. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 27(6), 1069–1089.