Impact of strategy use during N-Back training in older adults

Pergher, Valentina; Vanbilsen, Nele; Tournoy, Jos; Schoenmakers, Birgitte; Hulle, Marc M. Van

doi:10.1080/20445911.2020.1833891

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(109 reference statements)

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“…Thus, the lack of transfer found in the simple span tasks can be interpreted in the same terms as the transfer found in the rest of the evaluation tasks. That is, transfer success depended neither on the similarity between the training and transfer tasks nor on the learning of useful strategies in the execution of both (see, nonetheless, Dunning and Holmes, 2014 ; Forsberg et al, 2020 ; Pergher et al, 2020 for the importance of strategy learning during the performance of WM training tasks). Rather, success depended on whether the performance of the training and transfer tasks both required the same specific processing process: the controlled retrieval of information from secondary memory.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working memory training improves episodic memory in older people: transfer based on controlled retrieval processes

Zamarreño,

Mateos,

Valentín

2024

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionThe results of working memory (WM) training to improve episodic memory in older people are inconsistent. This inconsistency could be due to the fact that the episodic memory tests used do not share the same cognitive resources as the trained WM task. The aim of this study was to assess whether performance on an episodic memory test will improve only when this test requires controlled processes of retrieval of information from secondary memory or recollection, similar to the processes exercised during WM training.MethodFifty-five people over 60 years of age participated in the study: 27 were randomly assigned to the experimental group (EG) and the rest to the control group (CG). The EG was trained in complex span tasks. Before and after training, both groups were tested on episodic memory tests (a verbal and a visuospatial recognition test) and WM span tasks (reading, digit and spatial location).ResultsANOVAs revealed a greater improvement of recollection estimates in the EG than in the CG for both verbal recognition (p = 0.023) and visuospatial recognition (p = 0.014).DiscussionOur results provide support for a cognitive mechanism whose shared presence favored transfer from training on a WM task to a test of episodic memory. Consistent with our predictions, training on complex span tasks improved performance on recognition tests only when recall required a controlled search process in secondary memory, or recollection. We therefore stress the importance of identifying other cognitive resources that are susceptible to transfer from a training task to other untrained tasks. A better understanding of the phenomenon of transfer is crucial for the design of increasingly effective intervention programs for older people.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working memory training improves episodic memory in older people: transfer based on controlled retrieval processes

Zamarreño,

Mateos,

Valentín

2024

Front. Psychol.

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“…A large test sample size should be used to verify whether the effect of gender in young but not in older adults could be replicated. The reason behind the small groups is due to the fact that most of the participants came from our previous studies ([ 52 ] for older adults; [ 53 ] for young adults) that investigated the effect of WM training, both in terms of behavioral and EEG responses, requiring several in-person training sessions for each subject.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Participants were divided according to age and gender as follows: female ( N = 14, education = 14.86 y ± 2.88) and male ( N = 9, education = 12.88 y ± 2.52) for young adults; female ( N = 8, education = 7.25 y ± 1.77) and male ( N = 8, education = 7.62 y ± 2.13) for older adults. All participants, except four, were part of previous studies on the effect of WM training on behavioral and EEG responses ([ 52 ] for older adults; [ 53 ] for young adults). Note that due to some technical issues when recording behavioral responses of 4 young participants, we retained 19 subjects in total for reaction time (RT) outcomes of which 10 females and 9 males.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effect of Mental Fatigue and Gender on Working Memory Performance during Repeated Practice by Young and Older Adults

2021

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Working memory (WM) is one of the most investigated cognitive functions albeit the extent to which individual characteristics impact on performance is still unclear, especially when older adults are involved. The present study considers repeated practice of a visual N -Back task with three difficulty levels (1-, 2-, and 3-Back) in healthy young and older individuals. Our results reveal that, for both age groups, the expected mental fatigue was countered by a learning effect, in terms of accuracies and reaction times, which turned out to benefit females more than males, for all three N -Back levels. We conclude that future WM studies, in particular when relying on repeated N -Back sessions, should account for learning effects in relation to mental fatigue and gender, in both young and older adults.

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Effects of task-specific strategy on attentional control game training: preliminary data from healthy adults

2023

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Although recent studies showed the beneficial effect of video game training, it is still unclear whether the used strategy plays an important role in enhancing performance in the trained cognitive ability and in promoting transfers to other cognitive domains. We investigated behaviourally the effect of strategy on the outcomes of visual attentional control game training and both behaviourally and in terms of EEG-based event-related potentials (ERPs), the effect on other cognitive domains. We recruited 21 healthy young adults (M = 24.33, SD = 3.23), and randomly divided them into three groups: a strategy-training group (STG) instructed to use a specific strategy, a non-strategy training group (NSTG) that self-developed their strategy, and a passive control group (PCG) that underwent only pre-and post-tests (Oxford Cognitive Screen test, Buschke Selective Reminding Test, D2 test of Attention, Digit span test, BADS test, Bells test, Oddball and N-Back tests). Our results showed that the use of a specific strategy made the STG participants respond faster to the trained contrast level task, but not on the contour exercises task. Furthermore, both STG and NSTG showed pre-and post-transfers, however no significant differences were found when comparing the groups, for both behaviour and ERP responses. In conclusion, we believe these preliminary results provide evidence for the importance of strategy choice in cognitive training protocols.

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Impact of strategy use during N-Back training in older adults

Cited by 3 publications

References 88 publications

Working memory training improves episodic memory in older people: transfer based on controlled retrieval processes

Working memory training improves episodic memory in older people: transfer based on controlled retrieval processes

The Effect of Mental Fatigue and Gender on Working Memory Performance during Repeated Practice by Young and Older Adults

Effects of task-specific strategy on attentional control game training: preliminary data from healthy adults

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