scholarly journals Cognitive Priming and Cognitive Training: Immediate and Far Transfer to Academic Skills in Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce E Wexler ◽  
Markus Iseli ◽  
Seth Leon ◽  
William Zaggle ◽  
Cynthia Rush ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Academic Skills ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Cognitive Priming

Task-Switching Training and Transfer

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 106-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsófia Anna Gaál ◽  
István Czigler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
Training Procedure ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Near Transfer ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Transfer Tasks

Abstract. We used task-switching (TS) paradigms to study how cognitive training can compensate age-related cognitive decline. Thirty-nine young (age span: 18–25 years) and 40 older (age span: 60–75 years) women were assigned to training and control groups. The training group received 8 one-hour long cognitive training sessions in which the difficulty level of TS was individually adjusted. The other half of the sample did not receive any intervention. The reference task was an informatively cued TS paradigm with nogo stimuli. Performance was measured on reference, near-transfer, and far-transfer tasks by behavioral indicators and event-related potentials (ERPs) before training, 1 month after pretraining, and in case of older adults, 1 year later. The results showed that young adults had better pretraining performance. The reference task was too difficult for older adults to form appropriate representations as indicated by the behavioral data and the lack of P3b components. But after training older adults reached the level of performance of young participants, and accordingly, P3b emerged after both the cue and the target. Training gain was observed also in near-transfer tasks, and partly in far-transfer tasks; working memory and executive functions did not improve, but we found improvement in alerting and orienting networks, and in the execution of variants of TS paradigms. Behavioral and ERP changes remained preserved even after 1 year. These findings suggest that with an appropriate training procedure older adults can reach the level of performance seen in young adults and these changes persist for a long period. The training also affects the unpracticed tasks, but the transfer depends on the extent of task similarities.

scholarly journals Working Memory Training Does Not Enhance Older Adults’ Cognitive Skills: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Sala ◽  
N Deniz Aksayli ◽  
Kemal Semir ◽  
Yasuyuki Gondo ◽  
Fernand Gobet
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Near Transfer ◽  
Analytic Review ◽  
Meta Analyses

In the last two decades, considerable efforts have been devoted to finding a way to enhance cognitive function by cognitive training. To date, the attempt to boost broad cognitive functions in the general population has failed. However, it is still possible that some cognitive training regimens exert a positive influence on specific populations, such as older adults. In this meta-analytic review, we investigated the effects of working memory (WM) training on older adults’ cognitive skills. Three robust-variance-estimation meta-analyses (N = 2,140, m = 43, and k = 698) were run to analyze the effects of the intervention on (a) the trained tasks, (b) near-transfer measures, and (c) far-transfer measures. While large effects were found for the trained tasks (g ̅ = 0.877), only modest (g ̅ = 0.274) and near-zero (g ̅ = 0.121) effects were obtained in the near-transfer and far-transfer meta-analyses, respectively. Publication-bias analysis provided adjusted estimates that were slightly lower. Moreover, when active control groups were implemented, the far-transfer effects were null (g ̅ = -0.008). Finally, the effects were highly consistent across studies (i.e., low or null true heterogeneity), especially in the near- and far-transfer models. While confirming the difficulty in obtaining transfer effects with cognitive training, these results corroborate recent empirical evidence suggesting that WM is not isomorphic with other fundamental cognitive skills such as fluid intelligence.

Far Transfer From Adaptive Cognitive Training to L2 Vocabulary Learning

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison M. Phillips ◽  
Chelsea M. Eddington ◽  
Jeffrey S. Phillips ◽  
Natasha Tokowicz
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

The near- and far-transfer effects of cognitive training on attentional networks in women and men

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Hanna Bednarek ◽  
Magdalena Przedniczek ◽  
Justyna M. Olszewska ◽  
Jakub Niewiarowski ◽  
Jarosław Orzechowski
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Attentional Networks

scholarly journals Near and Far Transfer in Cognitive Training: A Second-Order Meta- Analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Sala ◽  
N Deniz Aksayli ◽  
K Semir Tatlidil ◽  
Tomoko Tatsumi ◽  
Yasuyuki Gondo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Working Memory Training ◽  
Memory Training ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Near Transfer ◽  
Meta Analyses

Theory building in science requires replication and integration of findings regarding a particular research question. Second-order meta-analysis (i.e., a meta-analysis of meta-analyses) offers a powerful tool for achieving this aim, and we use this technique to illuminate the controversial field of cognitive training. Recent replication attempts and large meta-analytic investigations have shown that the benefits of cognitive-training programs hardly go beyond the trained task and similar tasks. However, it is yet to be established whether the effects differ across cognitive-training programs and populations (children, adults, and older adults). We addressed this issue by using second-order meta-analysis. In Models 1 (k = 99) and 2 (k = 119), we investigated the impact of working-memory training on near-transfer (i.e., memory) and far-transfer (e.g., reasoning, speed, and language) measures, respectively, and whether it is mediated by the type of population. Model 3 (k = 233) extended Model 2 by adding six meta-analyses assessing the far-transfer effects of other cognitive-training programs (video-games, music, chess, and exergames). Model 1 showed that working-memory training does induce near transfer, and that the size of this effect is moderated by the type of population. By contrast, Models 2 and 3 highlighted that far-transfer effects are small or null. Crucially, when placebo effects and publication bias were controlled for, the overall effect size and true variance equaled zero. That is, no impact on far-transfer measures was observed regardless of the type of population and cognitive-training program. The lack of generalization of skills acquired by training is thus an invariant of human cognition.

scholarly journals Controlling for Placebo Effects in Computerized Cognitive Training Studies With Healthy Older Adults From 2016-2018: Systematic Review (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Masurovsky
Keyword(s):  
Active Control ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
Placebo Control ◽  
Similar Form ◽  
Placebo Effects ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Healthy Older Adults ◽  
Computerized Cognitive Training

BACKGROUND Computerized cognitive training has been proposed as a potential solution to age-related cognitive decline. However, published findings from evaluation studies of cognitive training games, including metastudies and systematic reviews, provide evidence both for and against transferability from trained tasks to untrained cognitive ability. There continues to be no consensus on this issue from the scientific community. Some researchers have proposed that the number of results supporting the efficacy of cognitive training may be inflated due to placebo effects. It has been suggested that placebo effects need to be better controlled by using an active control and measuring participant expectations for improvement in outcome measures. OBJECTIVE This review examined placebo control methodology for recent evaluation studies of computerized cognitive training programs with older adult subjects, specifically looking for the use of an active control and measurement of expectations. METHODS Data were extracted from PubMed. Evaluation studies of computerized cognitive training with older adult subjects (age ≥50 years) published between 2016 and 2018 were included. Methods sections of studies were searched for (1) control type (active or passive) and subtype (active: active-ingredient or similar-form; passive: no-contact or passive-task); (2) if expectations were measured, how were they measured, and whether they were used in analysis; and (3) whether researchers acknowledged a lack of active control and lack of expectation measurement as limitations (where appropriate). RESULTS Of the 19 eligible studies, 4 (21%) measured expectations, and 9 (47%) included an active control condition, all of which were of the similar-form type. The majority of the studies (10/19, 53%) used only a passive control. Of the 9 studies that found results supporting the efficacy of cognitive training, 5 were for far transfer effects. Regarding the limitations, due to practical considerations, the search was limited to one source (PubMed) and to search results only. The search terms may have been too restrictive. Recruitment methods were not analyzed, although this aspect of research may play a critical role in systematically forming groups with different expectations for improvement. The population was limited to healthy older adults, while evaluation studies include other populations and cognitive training types, which may exhibit better or worse placebo control than the studies examined in this review. CONCLUSIONS Poor placebo control was present in 47% (9/19) of the reviewed studies; however, the studies still published results supporting the effectiveness of cognitive training programs. Of these positive results, 5 were for far transfer effects, which form the basis for broad claims by cognitive training game makers about the scientific validity of their product. For a minimum level of placebo control, future evaluation studies should use a similar-form active control and administer a questionnaire to participants at the end of the training period about their own perceptions of improvement. Researchers are encouraged to think of more methods for the valid measure of expectations at other time points in the training.

scholarly journals Near and Far Transfer in Cognitive Training: A Second-Order Meta-Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Sala ◽  
N. Deniz Aksayli ◽  
K. Semir Tatlidil ◽  
Tomoko Tatsumi ◽  
Yasuyuki Gondo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Working Memory Training ◽  
Memory Training ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Near Transfer ◽  
Meta Analyses

Theory building in science requires replication and integration of findings regarding a particular research question. Second-order meta-analysis (i.e., a meta-analysis of meta-analyses) offers a powerful tool for achieving this aim, and we use this technique to illuminate the controversial field of cognitive training. Recent replication attempts and large meta-analytic investigations have shown that the benefits of cognitive-training programs hardly go beyond the trained task and similar tasks. However, it is yet to be established whether the effects differ across cognitive-training programs and populations (children, adults, and older adults). We addressed this issue by using second-order meta-analysis. In Models 1 (k = 99) and 2 (k = 119), we investigated the impact of working-memory training on near-transfer (i.e., memory) and far-transfer (e.g., reasoning, speed, and language) measures, respectively, and whether it is mediated by the type of population. Model 3 (k = 233) extended Model 2 by adding six meta-analyses assessing the far-transfer effects of other cognitive-training programs (video-games, music, chess, and exergames). Model 1 showed that working-memory training does induce near transfer, and that the size of this effect is moderated by the type of population. By contrast, Models 2 and 3 highlighted that far-transfer effects are small or null. Crucially, when placebo effects and publication bias were controlled for, the overall effect size and true variance equaled zero. That is, no impact on far-transfer measures was observed regardless of the type of population and cognitive-training program. The lack of generalization of skills acquired by training is thus an invariant of human cognition.

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