Brain Training May Strengthen Working Memory Capacity

Brain training programs may improve one’s working memory capacity, but not general fluid intelligence, according to the results of a recent study.

Working memory capacity is defined as a person’s ability to temporarily store information in the mind where it can be manipulated or quickly retrieved, particularly in the presence of interfering and distracting conditions, whereas general fluid intelligence is defined as a person’s ability to infer relationships, perform complex reasoning, and solve novel problems.

“Measures of working memory capacity correlate positively with many measures of real-world cognition, including fluid intelligence,” the authors write in their study.

Brain training programs, such as those in the forms of games, apps, or websites, have become increasingly popular, and claims of their benefits may be based on evidence of this correlation.

“It is hard to spend any time on the web and not see an ad for a website that promises to train your brain, fix your attention, and increase your IQ,” said lead researcher Randall W. Engle, PhD, Department of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, in a press statement. “These claims are particularly attractive to parents of children who are struggling in school.”

Researchers explored the relationship between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence by examining 55 undergraduate students who completed 20 days of training on certain cognitive tasks.

Participants in the two experimental conditions trained on either complex or simple span tasks and were compared with a control group. With the complex span tasks, they were asked to recall items while performing another task in between the presentation of each item; for simple span tasks, they were asked to recall items in the order they were presented. Complex span tasks have been shown to be good measures of working memory capacity. Students in the control group trained on a visual search task.

All tasks became progressively harder during the course of the study, and participants were paid extra money as an incentive for improving their performance each day.

Participants underwent testing before and after training to determine improvement and transfer of learning, including a variety of working memory capacity measures and three measures of fluid intelligence.

Researchers determined that only those who trained on complex span tasks showed transfer to other working memory capacity tasks, and none of the groups demonstrated any training benefit on measures of fluid intelligence.

The complete study is published in the October issue of Psychological Science.

Do you recommend that your patients participate in brain training programs?

-Meredith Edwards White

References

Harrison TL, Shipstead Z, Hicks KL, et al. Working memory training may increase working memory capacity but not fluid intelligence. Psychol Sci. 2013 Oct 3. [Epub ahead of print]

‘Brain training’ may boost working memory, but not intelligence [press release]. Washington, DC: Association for Psychological Science; October 8, 2013.