Working Memory Training

We have previously demonstrated that training on a dual n-back task results in improvements in
fluid intelligence (Gf) as measured by matrix reasoning tasks. Here, we explored the underlying
mechanisms of this transfer effect in two studies, and we evaluated the transfer potential of a
single n-back task. In the first study, we demonstrated that dual and single n-back task
performances are approximately equally correlated with performance on two different tasks
measuring Gf, whereas the correlation with a task assessing working memory capacity was
smaller. Based on these results, the second studywas aimed on testing the hypothesis that training
on a single n-back task yields the same improvement in Gf as training on a dual n-back task, but
that there should be less transfer toworking memory capacity.Wetrained two groups of students
for four weeks with either a single or a dual n-back intervention. We investigated transfer effects
onworking memory capacity and Gf comparing the two training groups' performance to controls
who received no training of any kind. Our results showed that both training groups improved
more on Gf than controls, thereby replicating and extending our prior results.

We investigated whether and how individual differences in personality determine cognitive training outcomes.
Forty-seven participants were either trained on a single or on a dual n-back task for a period of
4 weeks. Fifty-two additional participants did not receive any training and served as a no-contact control
group. We assessed neuroticism and conscientiousness as personality traits as well as performance in
near and far transfer measures. The results indicated a significant interaction of neuroticism and intervention
in terms of training efficacy. Whereas dual n-back training was more effective for participants
low in neuroticism, single n-back training was more effective for participants high in neuroticism. Conscientiousness
was associated with high training scores in the single n-back and improvement in near
transfer measures, but lower far transfer performance, suggesting that subjects scoring high in this trait
developed task-specific skills preventing generalizing effects. We conclude by proposing that individual
differences in personality should be considered in future cognitive intervention studies to optimize the
efficacy of training.

Objectives: Breast cancer enhances anxiety and depressive vulnerability, profoundly impairing the quality of life in survivors. Hinging on recent research that training attentional control can reduce emotional vulnerability, we assess how improving cognitive function could reduce emotional vulnerability in female survivors of breast cancer. Methods: Participants took part in a course of adaptive dual n-back cognitive training (Training Group) or a non-adaptive active control group (Active Control) for 12 days across a 2-week period. Transfer-related training gains were assessed immediately after the intervention, at a shorter 1-month follow-up and at a longer follow-up time of approximately 15 months post intervention, to assess sustainability of training effects. Results: Adaptive cognitive training reduced anxiety and rumination with effects evident at shorter and longer term follow-up assessments. Conclusions: Our results are among the first to suggest that adaptive cognitive training can reduce emotional vulnerability in breast cancer, with the potential to enhance quality of life in survivorship. Our findings have profound implications for designing interventions targeting cognitive function in populations who have suffered from cancer.

Studies revealing transfer effects of working memory (WM) training on non-trained cognitive performance of children hold promising implications for scholastic learning. However, the results of existing training studies are not consistent and provoke debates about the potential and limitations of cognitive enhancement. To examine the influence of individual differences on training outcomes is a promising approach for finding causes for such inconsistencies. In this study, we implemented WM training in an elementary school setting. The aim was to investigate near and far transfer effects on cognitive abilities and academic achievement and to examine the moderating effects of a dispositional and a regulative temperament factor, neuroticism and effortful control. Ninety-nine second-graders were randomly assigned to 20 sessions of computer-based adaptive WM training, computer-based reading training, or a no-contact control group. For the WM training group, our analyses reveal near transf...

Studies revealing transfer effects of working memory
(WM) training on non-trained cognitive performance of
children hold promising implications for scholastic learning.
However, the results of existing training studies are not consistent
and provoke debates about the potential and limitations
of cognitive enhancement. To examine the influence of individual
differences on training outcomes is a promising approach
for finding causes for such inconsistencies. In this
study, we implemented WM training in an elementary school
setting. The aim was to investigate near and far transfer effects
on cognitive abilities and academic achievement and to examine
the moderating effects of a dispositional and a regulative
temperament factor, neuroticism and effortful control. Ninetynine
second-graders were randomly assigned to 20 sessions of
computer-based adaptiveWMtraining, computer-based reading
training, or a no-contact control group. For the WM training
group, our analyses reveal near transfer on a visual WM
task, far transfer on a vocabulary task as a proxy for crystallized
intelligence, and increased academic achievement in
reading and math by trend. Considering individual differences
in temperament, we found that effortful control predicts larger
training mean and gain scores and that there is a moderation
effect of both temperament factors on post-training improvement: WM training condition predicted higher post-training gains compared to both control conditions only in children with high effortful control or low neuroticism. Our results
suggest that a short but intensive WM training program can
enhance cognitive abilities in children, but that sufficient self regulative abilities and emotional stability are necessary for
WM training to be effective.

Working memory training may help children with attention and learning difficulties, but robust evidence from population-level randomized controlled clinical trials is lacking. To test whether a computerized adaptive working memory intervention program improves long-term academic outcomes of children 6 to 7 years of age with low working memory compared with usual classroom teaching. Population-based randomized controlled clinical trial of first graders from 44 schools in Melbourne, Australia, who underwent a verbal and visuospatial working memory screening. Children were classified as having low working memory if their scores were below the 15th percentile on either the Backward Digit Recall or Mister X subtest from the Automated Working Memory Assessment, or if their scores were below the 25th percentile on both. These children were randomly assigned by an independent statistician to either an intervention or a control arm using a concealed computerized random number sequence. Resea...

Extended working memory training with the dual n-back task has been shown to improve performance on various untrained cognitive tasks, but previous findings were inconsistent with regard to the extent of such transfer. The dual n-back training task addresses multiple components of working memory as sequential information from two different stimulus modalities needs to be simultaneously encoded, maintained, continuously monitored and updated in working memory while irrelevant information needs to be inhibited. However, it is unclear which executive functions account for the observed transfer effects. In this study, the degree of inhibitory control required during training was manipulated by comparing two versions of the dual n-back task in which participants are asked to either respond or withhold a response on the less frequent trials when an item was identical to an item n trials back. Eight 80-min sessions of training with adaptive versions of both n-back tasks were shown to impro...