Working Memory III

What is Transfer?

Improvements in a practiced tasks lead to improvements in unpractised tasks

What are the difficulties with strategy-based training?

Task specific (hard to transfer)

What is processed-based training?

Repeated practice of specific tasks targeting cognitive processes

What are the issues with process-based training?

Difficult to create strategies for

What is functional overlap?

Transfer is expected if practiced and non-practiced tasks share underlying processes.

How can we practice training?

Working memory training tasks (n-back)

What is near transfer training?

Untrained working memory tasks

What is far transfer training?

Different but related cognitive ability

How can we measure training effects?

Pretest, training & posttest

How is change evaluated in training?

Relative to a control group

What are seminal training studies?

• Computerised training program with a variety of working memory tasks.

• Tested improvements relative to an active control group in the trained and in untrained tasks.

What is observed in successful training?

Higher performance in intensive trainings for both training and transfer outcomes

How does success of training/transfer carry out long term?

Improvement in intensive programs but with a lot of variability

What are the results of training tasks in multicentre, randomised controlled trials?

Larger benefits in adaptive relative to nonadaptive WM training group in the practiced tasks.

What are the results of transfer tasks in multicentre, randomised controlled trials?

Larger benefits in adaptive relative to nonadaptive WM training group in unpracticed inhibition and reasoning tasks.

How significant are results in training and transfer effects?

Corrected differences are significant whereas uncorrected differences are small

Does working memory training work?

Inconsistent

What did Redick et al. (2013) find about training and transfer effects?

• No significant near transfer effects (verbal and spatial WM)

• No significant far transfer effects: Spatial & verbal reasoning

What is enhanced capacity?

Training increases the number of information elements held in working memory

What is the prediction from enhanced capacity?

Training leads to broad transfer effects

What is enhanced efficiency?

Training supports a more efficient use of the existing capacity through strategies or faster processing.

What is the prediction from enhanced efficiency?

Training leads to selective transfer effects

What did De Simoni & von Bastian (2018) find with training improvements?

Training improved neither WM capacity nor efficiency.

What is magnification in training?

People with higher ability gain more

What is compensation in training?

People with lower ability gain more

How are initial training performance and slope in training progress related? (Guye et al., 2017)

Younger adults showed magnification of initial task performance.

What factors affect how much people gain from training?

Demographics

How are demographics, personality, motivation, and beliefs related to the slope in training progress?

• Limited evidence for individual differences predicting slope in training progress.

• However, results may differ for samples with successful training and transfer.

Does effectiveness depend on the type of training task?

On average, Cogmed induces relatively larger verbal near transfer, but n-back yields relatively larger far transfer.

Does effectiveness depend on training dose?

Training dose has little effect; the only significant difference occurs for far transfer – but in the opposite direction

What is the main question addressed by Shipstead et al.?

Whether working memory training leads to meaningful improvements, especially beyond trained tasks.

What do most studies find about near transfer?

There is consistent evidence that people improve on similar trained tasks.

What do most studies find about far transfer?

Evidence is weak or inconsistent, with little reliable improvement in general intelligence.

Why might working memory training appear effective?

Improvements may reflect practice effects or task-specific strategies, not true cognitive enhancement.

What methodological issue affects training studies?

Lack of proper active control groups, which can inflate perceived benefits.

What is an active control group?

A comparison group that performs a similar activity without the critical training component, controlling for placebo effects.

What is the overall conclusion of Shipstead et al.?

Working memory training shows limited general benefits, especially for far transfer.

What is the implication for real-world use of WM training?

It should be viewed cautiously, as it does not reliably improve broad cognitive abilities.