N-back Versus Complex Span Working Memory Training

Blacker, Kara J.; Negoita, Serban; Ewen, Joshua B.; Courtney, Susan

doi:10.1007/s41465-017-0044-1

Cited by 54 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…Ongoing research points to encouraging results from multifactorial training (Blacker, Negoita, Ewen, & Courtney, ). In the introduction to their research topic on improving WM in learning disabilities, Lanfranchi and Caretti () defined their aim to add new evidence on the direct and transfer effects of WM training in individuals with learning disabilities.…”

Section: And Dyslexiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Auditive training effects from a dichotic listening app in children with dyslexia

et al. 2018

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Dichotic listening (DL) taps information on the brain's language laterality, processing, and attention. Research has shown that DL responses in dyslexia deviate from the typical pattern. Here, effects of DL training and its correspondence to rapid naming (RAN) and digit span (DS) in typical children and children with dyslexia were assessed. Three groups of third graders participated: two training groups, control training (CT) and dyslexia training (DT), and a control group that received no training (control no training, CnT). All took part in testing pretraining and posttraining. DL measures were on laterality, response scores, and attention. The three groups showed different response patterns: minor changes in CnT, change in all measures in CT, and some changes in DT. RAN and DS scores correlated significantly with some of the DL measures, especially with the attention scores. Our findings support arguments that brain architecture for language in dyslexia is lateralised in the same way as in children without dyslexia. However, the ability to modulate attention during DL is weaker in dyslexia than in typically developing children. A training‐induced normalisation of lateralisation was observed in free recall in the dyslexia group, which suggests that DL training may be a promising intervention approach.

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Section: And Dyslexiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Auditive training effects from a dichotic listening app in children with dyslexia

et al. 2018

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“…Given that decline in WM, one of the main cognitive functions, is paralleled by neurochemical, structural, and functional changes in the aging brain (Bopp & Verhaeghen, ), the study of cognitive decline during one's life span, and, more importantly, what can be done to slow it down, has gained interest from the research community. Motivated by the alleged ability to rekindle plasticity processes in the brain, cognitive training has been promoted to be effective in improving cognitive function performance after extensive training (Blacker, Negoita, Ewen, & Courtney, ; Kundu, Sutterer, Emrich, & Postle, ; Yang, Krampe, & Baltes, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

N‐back training and transfer effects revealed by behavioral responses and EEG

et al. 2018

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IntroductionCognitive function performance decreases in older individuals compared to young adults. To curb this decline, cognitive training is applied, but it is not clear whether it improves only the trained task or also other cognitive functions. To investigate this, we considered an N‐back working memory (WM) training task and verified whether it improves both trained WM and untrained cognitive functions.MethodsAs EEG studies have noted task difficulty and age‐related changes in time‐locked EEG responses, called event‐related potentials (ERPs), we focused on the relation between the P300 ERP component, task difficulty level, and behavior response accuracy and reaction time (RT) in young and older healthy adults. We used two groups of young and older healthy participants to assess the effect of N‐back training: cognitive training group (CTG) and passive control group (PCG). Before and after training, cognitive tests were administered to both groups to evaluate transfer effects.ResultsDespite the observed age‐related differences in the P300 ERP component and in terms of RT and accuracy, our findings demonstrate a stronger improvement in the trained task for older CTGs compared to younger CTGs, larger near‐ and far‐transfer effect to WM and fluid intelligence for both younger and older CTGs, and a far‐transfer effect to attention but only for older adults. Significant differences in response accuracy were shown between young and older subjects in spatial memory and attention tests.ConclusionThe application of a WM training is a promising tool for both healthy adults, and in particular for older subjects, as it showed physiological and behavioral differences in cognitive plasticity across life span and evidence of benefits in the trained task and near‐/far‐transfer effects to other cognitive functions.

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“…Interestingly, while some papers in this Special Topic (e.g., Blacker et al, 2017; Karbach et al, 2017) find that training interventions are most beneficial for those with lower baseline abilities, other papers (e.g. Guye et al, 2017, Strobach & Huestegge, 2017) find the opposite.…”

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confidence: 98%

“…Blacker, Negoita, Ewen, and Courtney (2017) focus on two commonly used working-memory interventions to investigate their differential impact on near and far transfer tasks, as well as on neural activity via electroencephalography (EEG). In their first experiment, the authors rely on a correlational approach as a proof of concept to demonstrate that relational working memory predicted both, n-back performance as well as matrix reasoning, but not complex span performance, arguing that differences in the requirements to extract and maintain relational information in working memory might account for differential effects in training efficacy as observed in the literature.…”

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confidence: 99%