Does working memory training work? The promise and challenges of enhancing cognition by training working memory

Morrison, Alexandra B.; Chein, Jason

doi:10.3758/s13423-010-0034-0

Cited by 615 publications

(561 citation statements)

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“…2003; Jaeggi et al. 2008; Morrison and Chein 2011). Future studies should investigate working memory training as an adjunct to substance abuse treatment in participants at high risk for treatment discontinuation to determine if such training improves processing of treatment‐related information, and thereby improves treatment retention and outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain potentials predict substance abuse treatment completion in a prison sample

et al. 2016

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IntroductionNational estimates suggest that up to 80% of prison inmates meet diagnostic criteria for a substance use disorder. Because more substance abuse treatment while incarcerated is associated with better post‐release outcomes, including a reduced risk of accidental overdose death, the stakes are high in developing novel predictors of substance abuse treatment completion in inmate populations.MethodsUsing electroencephalography (EEG), this study investigated stimulus‐locked ERP components elicited by distractor stimuli in three tasks (VO‐Distinct, VO‐Repeated, Go/NoGo) as a predictor of treatment discontinuation in a sample of male and female prison inmates. We predicted that those who discontinued treatment early would exhibit a less positive P3a amplitude elicited by distractor stimuli.ResultsOur predictions regarding ERP components were partially supported. Those who discontinued treatment early exhibited a less positive P3a amplitude and a less positive PC4 in the VO‐D task. In the VO‐R task, however, those who discontinued treatment early exhibited a more negative N200 amplitude rather than the hypothesized less positive P3a amplitude. The discontinuation group also displayed less positive PC4 amplitude. Surprisingly, there were no time‐domain or principle component differences among the groups in the Go/NoGo task. Support Vector Machine (SVM) models of the three tasks accurately classified individuals who discontinued treatment with the best model accurately classifying 75% of inmates. PCA techniques were more sensitive in differentiating groups than the classic time‐domain windowed approach.ConclusionsOur pattern of findings are consistent with the context‐updating theory of P300 and may help identify subtypes of ultrahigh‐risk substance abusers who need specialized treatment programs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain potentials predict substance abuse treatment completion in a prison sample

et al. 2016

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“…Can fluid cognitive abilities such as working memory (WM) and reasoning be improved through computer-based WM training? This is a highly controversial question, with prior empirical studies (for reviews, see Morrison & Chein, 2011;von Bastian & Oberauer, 2014) and meta-analyses (Au et al, in press;Karbach & Verhaeghen, 2014;Lampit, Hallock, & Valenzuela, 2014;Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2013) providing contradictory findings. Although multiple previous studies revealed promising effects (e.g., Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Jonides, & Perrig, 2008;Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Shah, & Jonides, 2014;Jaeggi et al, 2010; Klingberg et al, 2005;Schweizer, Hampshire, & Dalgleish, 2011;Stepankova et al, 2014;, a growing number of other WM training interventions failed to induce such broad transfer (e.g., Chein & Morrison, 2010;Chooi & Thompson, 2012;Colom et al, 2013;Harrison et al, 2013;Redick et al, 2013;Salminen, Strobach, & Schubert, 2012; Sprenger et al, 2013;Thompson et al, 2013;von Bastian, Langer, Jäncke, & Oberauer, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does working memory training have to be adaptive?

Bastian

Eschen

2015

Psychological Research

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This study tested the common assumption that, to be most effective, working memory (WM) training should be adaptive (i.e., task difficulty is adjusted to individual performance). Indirect evidence for this assumption stems from studies comparing adaptive training to a condition in which tasks are practiced on the easiest level of difficulty only [cf. Klingberg (Trends Cogn Sci 14:317-324, 2010)], thereby, however, confounding adaptivity and exposure to varying task difficulty. For a more direct test of this hypothesis, we randomly assigned 130 young adults to one of the three WM training procedures (adaptive, randomized, or self-selected change in training task difficulty) or to an active control group. Despite large performance increases in the trained WM tasks, we observed neither transfer to untrained structurally dissimilar WM tasks nor far transfer to reasoning. Surprisingly, neither training nor transfer effects were modulated by training procedure, indicating that exposure to varying levels of task difficulty is sufficient for inducing training gains. Can fluid cognitive abilities such as working memory (WM) and reasoning be improved through computer-based WM training? This is a highly controversial question, with prior empirical studies (for reviews, see Morrison & Chein, 2011;von Bastian & Oberauer, 2014) and meta-analyses (Au et al., in press;Karbach & Verhaeghen, 2014;Lampit, Hallock, & Valenzuela, 2014;Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2013) providing contradictory findings. Although multiple previous studies revealed promising effects (e.g., Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Jonides, & Perrig, 2008;Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Shah, & Jonides, 2014;Jaeggi et al., 2010; Klingberg et al., 2005;Schweizer, Hampshire, & Dalgleish, 2011;Stepankova et al., 2014;, a growing number of other WM training interventions failed to induce such broad transfer (e.g., Chein & Morrison, 2010;Chooi & Thompson, 2012;Colom et al., 2013;Harrison et al., 2013;Redick et al., 2013;Salminen, Strobach, & Schubert, 2012; Sprenger et al., 2013;Thompson et al., 2013;von Bastian, Langer, Jäncke, & Oberauer, 2013). The factors contributing to the success of WM training interventions in terms of improving WM and reasoning are still unclear (see von Bastian & Oberauer, 2014), and large variations (and, in some occasions, serious flaws) in the methodologies and training regimens used complicate comparisons across studies (cf. Shipstead, Redick, & Engle, 2012), and thus the identification of such factors. Therefore, before we can conclude whether and under which circumstances WM training can induce transfer, carefully controlled, systematic investigations of factors potentially contributing to training effectiveness are needed.In theory, cognitive plasticity occurs if there is a "prolonged mismatch between functional organismic supplies and environmental demands" (Lövden, Bäckman, Lindenberger, Schaefer, & Schmiedek, 2010, p. 659). According to Lövden and colleagues (2010), this mismatch occurs if the environmental demands exceed the routine demands the cognitiv...

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“…Some of the reviews concluded that working memory training has very promising prospects. For example, Morrison and Chein (2011) concluded that "the results from individual studies encourage optimism regarding working memory training as a tool for general cognitive enhancement" (p. 46) and Klingberg (2010) concluded that "the observed training effects suggest that working memory training could be used as a remediating intervention for individuals for whom low working memory capacity is a limiting factor for academic performance or in everyday life" (p. 317). In contrast, Shipstead et al (2010) were less optimistic and stated that "as of yet, the results are inconsistent and likely to be driven by inadequate controls and ineffective measurement of the cognitive variables of interest" (p. 245).…”

Section: Previous Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review.

Melby‐Lervåg

Hulme

2013

Developmental Psychology

1,543

1,138

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It has been suggested that working memory training programs are effective both as treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other cognitive disorders in children and as a tool to improve cognitive ability and scholastic attainment in typically developing children and adults. However, effects across studies appear to be variable, and a systematic meta-analytic review was undertaken. To be included in the review, studies had to be randomized controlled trials or quasi-experiments without randomization, have a treatment, and have either a treated group or an untreated control group. Twenty-three studies with 30 group comparisons met the criteria for inclusion. The studies included involved clinical samples and samples of typically developing children and adults. Meta-analyses indicated that the programs produced reliable short-term improvements in working memory skills. For verbal working memory, these near-transfer effects were not sustained at follow-up, whereas for visuospatial working memory, limited evidence suggested that such effects might be maintained. More importantly, there was no convincing evidence of the generalization of working memory training to other skills (nonverbal and verbal ability, inhibitory processes in attention, word decoding, and arithmetic). The authors conclude that memory training programs appear to produce short-term, specific training effects that do not generalize. Possible limitations of the review (including age differences in the samples and the variety of different clinical conditions included) are noted. However, current findings cast doubt on both the clinical relevance of working memory training programs and their utility as methods of enhancing cognitive functioning in typically developing children and healthy adults.

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Does working memory training work? The promise and challenges of enhancing cognition by training working memory

Cited by 615 publications

References 76 publications

Brain potentials predict substance abuse treatment completion in a prison sample

Brain potentials predict substance abuse treatment completion in a prison sample

Does working memory training have to be adaptive?

Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review.

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