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Working Memory Training for Schoolchildren Improves Working Memory, with No Transfer Effects on Intelligence

Working memory contributes to many higher-order cognitive processes and predicts general cognitive skills. It is therefore important to know if its functions are trainable. In this study we investigated the malleability of working memory processes in schoolchildren whose cognitive functions are stil...

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Autores principales: Żelechowska, Dorota, Sarzyńska, Justyna, Nęcka, Edward
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6526407/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31162427
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence5040036
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author Żelechowska, Dorota
Sarzyńska, Justyna
Nęcka, Edward
author_facet Żelechowska, Dorota
Sarzyńska, Justyna
Nęcka, Edward
author_sort Żelechowska, Dorota
collection PubMed
description Working memory contributes to many higher-order cognitive processes and predicts general cognitive skills. It is therefore important to know if its functions are trainable. In this study we investigated the malleability of working memory processes in schoolchildren whose cognitive functions are still developing. We also analyzed transfer effects to both general and specific intellectual skills. To address these issues, we examined the effectiveness of working memory training (10 training sessions) in terms of practice effects (trained tasks), near-transfer effects (working memory capacity), and far-transfer effects (psychometric intelligence). Sixty-nine children aged 8–10 participated in the study. The experimental group (42 children) participated in working memory training that intensely engaged the updating function of working memory. The training tasks, implemented as computer games, were based on the n-back and keep track paradigms. There was also an active control group (27 children). The results suggest that the experimental group improved their working memory capacity, as measured with both trained and untrained tasks. Regarding intelligence, far-transfer effects were weak and may be attributed to mere repetition of measurements. Moreover, whereas improvement in the training tasks could be observed after 15 months, the far-transfer effects disappeared in the delayed assessment.
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spelling pubmed-65264072019-05-29 Working Memory Training for Schoolchildren Improves Working Memory, with No Transfer Effects on Intelligence Żelechowska, Dorota Sarzyńska, Justyna Nęcka, Edward J Intell Article Working memory contributes to many higher-order cognitive processes and predicts general cognitive skills. It is therefore important to know if its functions are trainable. In this study we investigated the malleability of working memory processes in schoolchildren whose cognitive functions are still developing. We also analyzed transfer effects to both general and specific intellectual skills. To address these issues, we examined the effectiveness of working memory training (10 training sessions) in terms of practice effects (trained tasks), near-transfer effects (working memory capacity), and far-transfer effects (psychometric intelligence). Sixty-nine children aged 8–10 participated in the study. The experimental group (42 children) participated in working memory training that intensely engaged the updating function of working memory. The training tasks, implemented as computer games, were based on the n-back and keep track paradigms. There was also an active control group (27 children). The results suggest that the experimental group improved their working memory capacity, as measured with both trained and untrained tasks. Regarding intelligence, far-transfer effects were weak and may be attributed to mere repetition of measurements. Moreover, whereas improvement in the training tasks could be observed after 15 months, the far-transfer effects disappeared in the delayed assessment. MDPI 2017-12-13 /pmc/articles/PMC6526407/ /pubmed/31162427 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence5040036 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Żelechowska, Dorota
Sarzyńska, Justyna
Nęcka, Edward
Working Memory Training for Schoolchildren Improves Working Memory, with No Transfer Effects on Intelligence
title Working Memory Training for Schoolchildren Improves Working Memory, with No Transfer Effects on Intelligence
title_full Working Memory Training for Schoolchildren Improves Working Memory, with No Transfer Effects on Intelligence
title_fullStr Working Memory Training for Schoolchildren Improves Working Memory, with No Transfer Effects on Intelligence
title_full_unstemmed Working Memory Training for Schoolchildren Improves Working Memory, with No Transfer Effects on Intelligence
title_short Working Memory Training for Schoolchildren Improves Working Memory, with No Transfer Effects on Intelligence
title_sort working memory training for schoolchildren improves working memory, with no transfer effects on intelligence
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6526407/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31162427
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence5040036
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