Is Working Memory Training Effective? Shipstead, Zach; Redick, Thomas S.; Engle, Randall W.
Psychological bulletin,
07/2012, Letnik:
138, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Working memory (WM) is a cognitive system that strongly relates to a person's ability to reason with novel information and direct attention to goal-relevant information. Due to the central role that ...WM plays in general cognition, it has become the focus of a rapidly growing training literature that seeks to affect broad cognitive change through prolonged training on WM tasks. Recent work has suggested that the effects of WM training extend to general fluid intelligence, attentional control, and reductions in symptoms of ADHD. We present a theoretically motivated perspective of WM and subsequently review the WM training literature in light of several concerns. These include (a) the tendency for researchers to define change to abilities using single tasks, (b) inconsistent use of valid WM tasks, (c) no-contact control groups, and (d) subjective measurement of change. The literature review highlights several findings that warrant further research but ultimately concludes that there is a need to directly demonstrate that WM capacity increases in response to training. Specifically, we argue that transfer of training to WM must be demonstrated using a wider variety of tasks, thus eliminating the possibility that results can be explained by task specific learning. Additionally, we express concern that many of the most promising results (e.g., increased intelligence) cannot be readily attributed to changes in WM capacity. Thus, a critical goal for future research is to uncover the mechanisms that lead to transfer of training.
In this follow-up to my 2002 article on working memory capacity, fluid intelligence, and executive attention in Current Directions in Psychological Science, I review even more evidence supporting the ...idea that the ability to control one’s attention (i.e., executive attention) is important to working memory and fluid intelligence. I now argue that working memory tasks reflect primarily the maintenance of information, whereas fluid intelligence tests reflect primarily the ability to disengage from recently attended and no longer useful information. I also point out some conclusions in the 2002 article that now appear to be wrong.
A latent variable study examined whether different classes of working-memory tasks measure the same general construct of working-memory capacity (WMC). Data from 270 subjects were used to examine the ...relationship between Binding, Updating, Recall-N-back, and Complex Span tasks, and the relations of WMC with secondary memory measures, indicators of cognitive control from two response-conflict paradigms (Simon task and Eriksen flanker task), and fluid intelligence. Confirmatory factor analyses support the concept of a general WMC factor. Results from structural-equation modeling show negligible relations of WMC with response-conflict resolution, and very strong relations of WMC with secondary memory and fluid intelligence. The findings support the hypothesis that individual differences in WMC reflect the ability to build, maintain and update arbitrary bindings.
Cognitive tasks that produce reliable and robust effects at the group level often fail to yield reliable and valid individual differences. An ongoing debate among attention researchers is whether ...conflict resolution mechanisms are task-specific or domain-general, and the lack of correlation between most attention measures seems to favor the view that attention control is not a unitary concept. We have argued that the use of difference scores, particularly in reaction time (RT), is the primary cause of null and conflicting results at the individual differences level, and that methodological issues with existing tasks preclude making strong theoretical conclusions. The present article is an empirical test of this view in which we used a toolbox approach to develop and validate new tasks hypothesized to reflect attention processes. Here, we administered existing, modified, and new attention tasks to over 400 participants (final N = 396). Compared with the traditional Stroop and flanker tasks, performance on the accuracy-based measures was more reliable, had stronger intercorrelations, formed a more coherent latent factor, and had stronger associations to measures of working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. Further, attention control fully accounted for the relationship between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. These results show that accuracy-based measures can be better suited to individual differences investigations than traditional RT tasks, particularly when the goal is to maximize prediction. We conclude that attention control is a unitary concept.
Executive functions (EFs) make possible mentally playing with ideas; taking the time to think before acting; meeting novel, unanticipated challenges; resisting temptations; and staying focused. Core ...EFs are inhibition response inhibition (self-control--resisting temptations and resisting acting impulsively) and interference control (selective attention and cognitive inhibition), working memory, and cognitive flexibility (including creatively thinking "outside the box," seeing anything from different perspectives, and quickly and flexibly adapting to changed circumstances). The developmental progression and representative measures of each are discussed. Controversies are addressed (e.g., the relation between EFs and fluid intelligence, self-regulation, executive attention, and effortful control, and the relation between working memory and inhibition and attention). The importance of social, emotional, and physical health for cognitive health is discussed because stress, lack of sleep, loneliness, or lack of exercise each impair EFs. That EFs are trainable and can be improved with practice is addressed, including diverse methods tried thus far.
This study aimed to determine the relations between fluid intelligence (Gf) and reading/mathematics and possible moderators. A meta-analysis of 680 studies involving 793 independent samples and more ...than 370,000 participants found that Gf was moderately related to reading, r = .38, 95% CI .36, .39, and mathematics, r = .41, 95% CI .39, 44. Synthesis on the longitudinal correlations showed that Gf and reading/mathematics predicted each other in the development even after controlling for initial performance. Moderation analyses revealed the following findings: (a) Gf showed stronger relations to mathematics than to reading, (b) within reading or mathematics, Gf showed stronger relations to complex skills than to foundational skills, (c) the relations between Gf and reading/mathematics increased with age, and (d) family social economic status (SES) mostly affected the relations between Gf and reading/mathematics in the early development stage. These findings, taken together, are partially in line with the investment theory but are more in line with the intrinsic cognitive load theory, mutualism theory, and the gene-SES interaction hypothesis of cognition and learning. More importantly, these findings imply an integration model of these theories from an educational and developmental perspective: Children may rely on Gf to learn reading and mathematics early on, when high family SES can boost the effects of Gf on reading/mathematics performance. As children receive more formal schooling and gain more learning experiences, their reading and mathematics improvement may promote their Gf development. During development, the negative effects of low family SES on the relations between Gf and reading/mathematics may be offset by education/learning experiences.
Public Significance Statement
Gf has moderate relations with reading and mathematics, with stronger relations with mathematics. The relations between Gf and reading/mathematics are stronger when involving complex reading/mathematics skills and composite nonverbal reasoning tasks. Gf and reading/mathematics predict each other in the development and their relations increase with age, suggesting a reciprocity between Gf and reading/mathematics. Compared with country SES, family SES is more important to the relations between Gf and reading/mathematics and the family SES effect is most obvious early on.
The current study examined the extent to which attention control abilities, secondary memory abilities, or both accounted for variation in working memory capacity (WMC) and its relation to fluid ...intelligence. Participants performed various attention control, secondary memory, WMC, and fluid intelligence measures. Confirmatory factor analyses suggested that attention control, secondary memory, and WMC were best represented as three separate, yet correlated factors, each of which was correlated with fluid intelligence. Structural equation modeling suggested that both attention control and secondary memory accounted for unique variance in WMC. Furthermore, structural equation modeling and variance partitioning analyses suggested that a substantial part of the shared variance between WMC and fluid intelligence was due to both attention control and secondary memory abilities. Working memory capacity also accounted for variance in fluid intelligence independently of what was accounted for by the other two factors. The results are interpreted within a dual-component model of WMC which suggests that both attention control and secondary memory abilities (as well as other abilities) are important components of WMC.
Fluid intelligence (gF) and working memory (WM) span predict success in demanding cognitive situations. Recent studies show that much of the variance in gF and WM span is shared, suggesting common ...neural mechanisms. This study provides a direct investigation of the degree to which shared variance in gF and WM span can be explained by neural mechanisms of interference control. The authors measured performance and functional magnetic resonance imaging activity in 102 participants during the n-back WM task, focusing on the selective activation effects associated with high-interference lure trials. Brain activity on these trials was correlated with gF, WM span, and task performance in core brain regions linked to WM and executive control, including bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (middle frontal gyrus; BA9) and parietal cortex (inferior parietal cortex; BA 40/7). Interference-related performance and interference-related activity accounted for a significant proportion of the shared variance in gF and WM span. Path analyses indicate that interference control activity may affect gF through a common set of processes that also influence WM span. These results suggest that individual differences in interference-control mechanisms are important for understanding the relationship between gF and WM span.
An enduring aim of research in the psychological and brain sciences is to understand the nature of individual differences in human intelligence, examining the stunning breadth and diversity of ...intellectual abilities and the remarkable neurobiological mechanisms from which they arise. This Opinion article surveys recent neuroscience evidence to elucidate how general intelligence, g, emerges from individual differences in the network architecture of the human brain. The reviewed findings motivate new insights about how network topology and dynamics account for individual differences in g, represented by the Network Neuroscience Theory. According to this framework, g emerges from the small-world topology of brain networks and the dynamic reorganization of its community structure in the service of system-wide flexibility and adaptation.
Accumulating evidence from network neuroscience indicates that g depends on the dynamic reorganization of brain networks, modifying their topology and community structure in the service of system-wide flexibility and adaptation.
Whereas crystallized intelligence engages easy-to-reach network states that access prior knowledge and experience, fluid intelligence recruits difficult-to-reach network states that support cognitive flexibility and adaptive problem-solving.
The capacity to flexibly transition between networks states therefore provides the basis for g – enabling rapid information exchange across networks and capturing individual differences in information processing at a global level.
This framework sets the stage for new approaches to understanding the neural foundations of g, examining individual differences in brain network topology and dynamics.
This study investigated the role of fluid intelligence, personality traits and different models of emotional intelligence in relation to core self-evaluation, resilience and life satisfaction. The ...Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM), the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ), the Mayer Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), the Bar-On Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Bar-On EQ-i), the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue), the Core Self-Evaluation Scale (CSES), the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) were administered to 164 Italian high school students. These results highlighted the role of emotional intelligence and in particular of trait emotional intelligence in promoting individual resources and offering new research and intervention opportunities.
PDF
