Transcendental Meditation and Concentration Ability

Barnhard Sabel conducted a study to determine whether transcendental meditation lead to an improvement in concentration ability.

The study used 60 practitioners of transcendental meditation in a double-blind study.  The experimental group meditated for 20 minutes while the control group read text. Their concentration was tested before and after the experiment. The study found that meditation had no measurable short-term effects on concentration. Moreover, the subjects that were more experienced in meditation did not have a higher concentration score than subjects who were less experienced.

The study used the same number of males and females. The subjects' experience in transcendental meditation varied from a few days to 99 months. The concentration test called d2 was used for both groups. The tests had subjects cross out 'd's that had two marks around the letter (example of test in picture). They were measured on both speed and accuracy.

Critique

The authors acknowledge that the main issue with this study is that the test used to measure concentration, the d2 test, may not be the best way to measure the supposed benefits of transcendental meditation. Even so, the results of this study shows that the claimed benefits of transcendental meditation should be met with skepticism.

Transcendental meditation could still be a useful practice though. As discussed in last week's post about brain training. there is a possible placebo effect with transcendental meditation. Though the study did not show an improvement, it is possible that by believing meditation works while practicing it, the subject's concentration could increase. if this is the case for some, than meditation could have benefits. 

I am hesitant to say that the possible placebo effects could still make meditation useful for the intelligence community, as members of the IC tend to be fairly skeptical. which would greatly reduce any placebo effect.

Source

 Sabel, B (1980). Transcendental meditation and concentration ability, Perceptual and Motor Skills. 50:3, 799-802. Retrieved from http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2466/pms.1980.50.3.799 

Developing Consciousness in Organizations: The Transcendental Meditation Program in Business

Summary:
The change in the structure of the business world can be attributed to a number of things, one of which is the human psyche.  The authors of the article "Developing Consciousness in Organizations: The Transcendental Meditation Program in Business", look at the potential benefits of using Transcendental Meditation to improve the work place.  Schmidts-Wilk, Alexander, and Swanson (1996) looked at the concept of consciousness, particularly in the business place.  The authors review existing literature in terms of the application of Transcendental Mediation on both individuals as well as the overall work place structure.

Transcendental Meditation is an ancient technique that is used to mitigate stress which in turn allows for the an individual's conscious to develop.  The authors note that Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation is the most frequently studied, largely in part because the technique does not involve major life changes, so it is relatively easy to implement.

Productivity of people who practiced Transcendental Meditation was measured and looked at in both retrospective studies as well as prospective studies. This was accomplished through surveys where individuals, both practitioners of meditation as well as non-practitioners, self-reported on a number of factors including job satisfaction, performance, and various relationships in their workplace.  Once the results were analyzed, the research found that individuals who meditated had a statistically significant reports of greater satisfaction at worm compared to non-meditating individuals. Schmidts-Wilk, et.al. determined that the four case studies observed demonstrated that the development of consciousness was beneficial in the work place, and that Transcendental Meditation was one way to accomplish that.

Longitudinal studies were conducted in corporate settings.  Due to the subject of the study, quasi-experimental designs were employed.  Overall, the organizations were more productive when their employees developed a consciousness, which can be obtained through Transcendental Meditation.  Not only were the individuals more productive and had better relationships, but this moved over into the overall functioning of the organization.

The authors of this study looked at a number of different previous studies and their findings, both as applied to the individual as well as applied to a larger organization, such as a business.  One element discovered in this experiment was that business functions can be improved through means outside of outside structural change.  The application of Transcendental Mediation is one way in which this can be improved on a more internal level.

Critique:
The authors of this study acknowledged that there were some shortcomings to the approach taken from the various studies.  Particularly the self-reporting that was done by the subjects, though the results of the quasi-experimental approach and standardized questionnaires were consistent with the self reporting.  This consistency increases the confidence in the surveys done.

While the studies did indicate that there was an improvement in the development of consciousness, it did not seem to take any push-back about mediation into account.  Individuals who may be told to participate in meditation are less likely to have the same positive response as the individuals who want to participate.

Source:
Schmidts-Wilk, J., Alexander, C. N., & Swanson, G. C. (1996). Developing consciousness in organizations: The transcendental meditation program in business. Journal of Business and Psychology, 10(4), 429-44.

Short Term Effects of Meditation versus Relaxation on Cognitive Functioning

King and Coney compared the cognitive performances of 27 experienced meditators and 27 non-meditators immediately following their respective meditation or relaxation sessions in order to find the short term effects of meditation on cognitive functions. A battery of seven tests were used to measure cognitive performance and results showed there was no significant difference between the performance of the meditation group and the relaxation group in any of the seven tests. 

Summary:

The practice of meditation is said to improve concentration, reduce the meditator's vulnerability to distractions, and open their mind by relinquishing expectations and preconceptions. The meditator should minimize goal directed mental activity and increase non-judgmental reasoning. The authors reflect on the literature that posits physiological reactions to meditation that may alter cognitive functions, such as increased activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. 

The pre- and post-tests attempted to measure the participants' general intelligence, verbal fluency, spatial reasoning, spatial memory, verbal memory, verbal short term memory, and spatial short term memory. Between the pre- and post-tests, the meditation group participated in mindful meditation for twenty minutes while the other group relaxed in a quiet setting. The meditating group was instructed to attempt the deepest meditation mindset they could within this time frame while the relaxation group was instructed to match the meditation group's physical stature, sitting upright with their eyes closed, but to resist falling asleep. This occurred at their respective testing desks. All participants took the post-tests in the same order as they had taken the pre-test and results were calculated in the same way. 

Pre-test results show that the two groups were well-matched on abilities from the start. Post-test results showed almost parallel changes in performance between the two groups, both by individual test and multivariate analysis. Interestingly, some post-test results showed a decline in performance, albeit small. Finally, the research found a negative correlation between the amount of experience the meditators had with their test results in two of the tests, though the authors proved a stronger negative correlation between results and age,  which is to be expected since cognitive functions are known to decline with age, suggesting this is what drove the scores down rather than increased experience meditating. Overall neither technique, meditation or relaxation, had a significant effect on cognitive performance, except for in two tests, the spatial reasoning and spatial short term memory tests.

Critique:

The authors carefully detail their testing measurements and their efforts to mitigate biases or false results. Beyond explaining the tests themselves, they explain how they administered the test, making their research more easily replicated. Still, the authors admit that the way they split test questions for pre- and post-test use may have made an uneven distribution in terms of difficulty, skewing the performance results. Because both groups took the same tests in the same order, this would not effect the comparative results.

The authors posit three potential reasons the meditation group did not display better cognitive performance in the study: 1. the group did not achieve a similar altered state to those in previous research, 2. the test measures were insensitive to the type of change meditation induces, and 3. the tests were unable to capture the rapidly diminishing effects of short term meditation. Some members of the meditating group did report being unable to reach their normal "depth" of meditation, though this is subjective and difficult if not impossible to compare across the group. No matter what the cause, the results show little promise for the intelligence community as it is unlikely meditation could be successfully used to improve analysis if the setting of meditation so easily disturbs results, the effects are limited to very narrow cognitive functions, or the effects last such a short amount of time. 

Source: 

King, G. and Coney, J. (2006). Short term effects of meditation versus relaxation on cognitive functioning. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 38(2), 200-215. 

Summary of Findings (Green Team): Brain Training (2.5 out of 5 stars)

Brain Training

Green Team

Rating (2.5 out of 5 Stars)

Note: This post represents the synthesis of the thoughts, procedures and experiences of others as represented in the 8 articles read in advance (see previous posts) and the discussion among the students and instructor during the Advanced Analytic Techniques class at Mercyhurst University in May 2013 regarding Brain Training specifically. This technique was evaluated based on its overall validity, simplicity, flexibility and its ability to effectively use unstructured data.

Description:

Brain training is an analytic modifier that seeks to improve memory, logic, pattern recognition, and other cognitive functions by having participants play games related to these fields. It is currently unknown how well brain training transfers to intelligence analysis, as well as the effect size and the longevity of the effects.   

Strengths:

• Test results may improve with repetition
• Brain training may lead to other habits and interactions that increase cognitive function
• Transferability of learned cognitive functions has been shown across similar tasks
• Can be incorporated into games that appeal to a wide range of people

Weaknesses:

• Transference of skills to dissimilar tasks has not been adequately demonstrated
• Difficult to measure the effectiveness of the training on tasks completed in the workplace or general interactions
• Improvement may be correlated to the interest in the activity rather than cognitive improvement
  

How-To:

1. Create a test, survey, etc. whereby participants will take the test multiple times in order to monitor any changes between tests
2. Establish a baseline intelligence performance (for example, take a survey or run a test the first time through)
3. Conduct the test as many times as planned while measuring results
4. Examine differences between performances both within the test subjects and between the test subjects
5. Report any significant or insignificant changes over time, or in comparison to previous studies

Personal Application of Technique:

The class was tasked individually to complete a brain training exercise on the site FitBrains.com that tested the areas of memory, visual-spatial, concentration, logic, and executive functions. The class participated in the same game twice, recording the overall scores both times, in addition to their best and worst categories in each game. The results were mixed across the class. One participant doubled his scores, while another’s score improved in two areas and declined in another two.

The participants suggested reasons for their increased scores that were unrelated to the actual cognitive improvement brain training purports to provide. For instances, better understanding the instructions of the activities or knowing what to expect likely greatly affected the results. Additionally, participants suggested they changed their methods of completing the activities strategically during the second execution.

Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Summary of Findings (White Team): Brain Training (2.5 out of 5 Stars)

Note: This post represents the synthesis of the thoughts, procedures and experiences of others as represented in the 8 articles read in advance (see previous posts) and the discussion among the students and instructor during the Advanced Analytic Techniques class at Mercyhurst University in May 2013 regarding Brain Training specifically. This technique was evaluated based on its overall validity, simplicity, flexibility and its ability to effectively use unstructured data.


Description:
Brain training is an analytic modifier that is used to improve cognitive functions through the repetition of computerized tests. It is intended to improve an individual's cognitive functions throughout their daily activities. The literature conducted so far on brain training is inconclusive in demonstrating that brain training improves cognitive functioning abilities.

Strengths:
1. Ability to improve cognitive functioning.
2. Improves your performance with practice within the specific activity.
3. The games used in brain training are widely accessible and relatively inexpensive.
4. Has the ability to test different areas of cognitive functioning.

Weaknesses:
1. Difficult to measure its effects.
2. Have to conduct brain training on a daily basis for a long period of time in order for it to demonstrate effectiveness.
3. Brain training utilizes games to conduct tests so it is difficult to create a game that appeals to every participant's interests.
4. Difficult to implement in a work setting based on the level of interest and effort that will be applied to brain training activities.

Step by Step Action:
Choose a brain training exercise.
Conduct the exercise multiple times, over a period of time.
Participate in the brain training exercise on a regular basis during a specific time of the day.
Determine whether your score improves overtime.
Determine whether this exercise is transferable to other relevant activities.
Measure the improvements by comparing the accuracy of estimates before and after the exercises.

Exercise:
The class was direct to go to www.fitbrains.com and to the specific game called “Uber Brain.” “Uber Brain” consisted of five games that were a total of one minute in length and repeated consecutively. Each game measured a different aspect of cognitive functioning. At the end of the activity results were recorded and each participant was given an area that they scored the highest in and an area that they needed to improve. The game was completed a second time to see if scores improved.

As a class it was interesting to see how some participants scores improved significantly and how some participants’ scores only improved minorly. Questions that were brought up at the end of the activity focused on if the improvement in scores was a result of improving cognitive functioning ability or if the improvement was a result of becoming more familiarized with the gameplay of “Uber Brain”. It was also discussed if conducting the game at a certain time of the day would improve scores among the participants.

The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control

Summary:
The article seeks to compare expert video game players to non-players in order to see if there are any significant differences between how the two groups perform in attention, memory, and executive control skills.  The three games used were Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (from 2002), Tetris (from 2004), and Rise of Nations (from 2003).  Medal of Honor represented a first-person shooter (FPS), Tetris represented a puzzle game, and Rise of Nations represented a strategy game.  In each group there were males who were both expert gamers (played 7+ hours a week) and non-gamers (less than an hour a week), along with a control group who did not participate in any of the games.  Each person within the longitudinal group of the study practiced in 15 game sessions (1.5 hours per session) in their assigned game over 4-5 weeks.  The control group were tested without playing one of the games.

All participants took tests related to visual and attentional tasks, spatial processing and memory tasks, and executive control tasks.  Three of the five visual and attentional tasks included spotting a triangle within a circle when briefly exposed to an image and then correctly choosing the location of the shape, spotting a white letter and if an X followed when exposed to 16 or 22 letters rapidly on a screen, and count the number of dots when briefly exposed to an image of 1 to 8 dots.  Two of the three spatial processing and memory tasks include selecting the pattern of grey blocks that lit up white in the order they flashed and discerning whether two shapes were actually the same shape when presented.  Two of the four executive control tasks included memorizing sets of words while doing math problems with tasked recollection of the terms and a disc switching game involving discs, pegs, and the ability to move one disc at a time in order to match a pattern.

The comparison of expert video games versus non-gamers lead to several conclusions.  First, expert video game players outperformed non-gamers in many of the categories.  The experts were able to better track objects that were moving at great speed, outperform the non-gamers in visual short-term memory tests, alternate between tasks faster, and more accurately perceive and report shapes which had been rotated.  Non-gamers were found to not have achieved much improvement in their overall skills from the tests after playing their assigned video games for 21 hours.  For the rest of the tests, the non-gamers did not perform significantly better in any of the tasks save for the mental rotation of the similar shapes.    

Critique:
Although this article does not specifically mention, 'brain training' it is clear that this study investigates just that.  The researchers want to answer the question if 21 hours of brain training can lead to improved results in various cognitive tests.  The authors made sure to use several different gaming categories including a FPS, strategy game, and puzzle game.  This makes sense as each interacts with the player in very different ways.  The authors set up control groups, and made sure the test subjects were clearly classified as either expert gamer or non-gamer.  Unfortunately, 21 hours was not found to really be significant time for non-gamers to really gain skills in the visual and attentional tasks, spatial processing and memory tasks, and executive control tasks.  However, the research did prove that expert gamers performed better in the four listed tasks mentioned earlier, potentially due to an already established experience with games.

I like how the authors selected their games and feel they would be some of the best options the authors could have chosen to represent the categories they were examining.  I was a little put-off that the authors excluded females from parts of the study, but I understand that it was important to keep the variables as similar as possible.  I think it would be interesting to run these same tests exclusively with female expert gamers and non-gamers.  Additionally, although it might be cumbersome to have participants play these video games for a longer period of time, I feel that the results of non-gamers gaining extended experience from game play could increase their performance on the cognitive tests.

Although not universally applicable to the intelligence field, this study does have some small contributions to the field.  One of these is that the study shows that a relatively short amount of time to train people in games is not significant enough to improve results.  This could be applied with intelligence analyst work in general- the repeated practice improves analytic products over time.  Personally, I feel that much like sports or any activity that requires practice, great improvement would never be expected over a month but would instead take many years to show significant improvement.  Overall, I feel the article was very thoughtful and made sure to keep the variables as separate as possible for optimal results.  

Source:

Boot, W.R., Kramer, A.F., Simons, D.J., Fabiana, M., & Gratton, G. (2008).  The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta Psychologica, 3(129). 387-398. Retrieved from  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691808001200

Extending Brain-Training to the Affective Domain: Increasing Cognitive and Affective Executive Control through Emotional Working Memory Training

Schewizer, Hampshire, and Dalgleish (2011) conducted a study investigating whether brain-training, specifically working memory (WM) training, improves cognitive functions beyond the training task. Their focus was on emotional material, arguing that it constitutes much of the information we process on a daily basis. The research suggests WM training improves performance in other WM tasks and in fluid intelligence, but only WM training involving emotional material improves affective information on an emotional Stroop task.

Summary: 

The authors began by differentiating between the areas of cognitive ability brain-training claims to improve, namely working memory (the capacity to actively maintain bits of information in the presence of distractions), fluid intelligence (abstract reasoning and problem-solving abilities), and control over emotional or personal material you want to disengage or engage with. They asserted that for any brain-training methodology to have a wide impact on real-world cognitive functions, there needs to be a transfer across training content. Their main question of interest  was can cognitive training with only neutral information have transferable benefits to cognitive processing of personally relevant material.

Forty-five participants received WM training using either emotional or neutral material, or an undemanding control task. The authors used already established and validated tasks to test transfer effects by modifying the dual n-back task to examine WM and fluid intelligence. They used three versions, one with neutral words and faces, the second with highly emotional words and negative facial expressions (an emotional Stroop task), and a third non-WM-dependent feature that matched the control group's "training". Both groups receiving training showed linear improvement significantly greater than the control group in terms of completion time. Training performance and cognitive transfer affect between the two trained groups did not vary significantly in the digit span task but did in terms of affective transfer effects where the affective training group showed significant pre- to post-training improvements in emotional Stroop performance. Neither the neutral training group or the control group demonstrated affective training effects.

Critique:

The study was well done in terms of providing adequate background research in addition to explaining their process and results clearly. They took care for controlling mitigating factors that could affect the results, subjecting all three groups of participants to pre-testing to ensure the mean of each group was on the same level. The authors used already validated tasks for testing which strengthened their results. As the emotional Stroop test only looks at the cognitive reaction effects of words with negative connotations, I would be interested in seeing if there is similar affective transfer effects for positively emotionally charged words.

The findings related to better controlling cognitive abilities despite the presence of distractions, particularly in relation to emotional information, relevant or distracting to the task, is of utmost importance to members of the intelligence community. This study suggests that appropriate brain-training can improve decision making in situations that would require the manipulation of emotional material, something analysts commonly have to do.

Source: 

Schweizer S, Hampshire A, Dalgleish T (2011) Extending brain-training to the affective domain: Increasing cognitive and affective executive control through emotional working memory training. PLoS ONE 6(9): e24372. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024372

Brain Training Game Improves Executive Functions and Processing Speed in the Elderly: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Summary:
The authors conducted a study involving 32 participants, all of whom were elderly individuals that volunteered to participate in the study.  This study took place in Miyagi prefecture, Japan from March to April 2010.  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of brain training, particularly video games, on the elderly through a double blind experiment.

The participants were split into to different groups, which played a different game (Brain Age or Tetris).  The games were played for five days a week, for four weeks.  Each of the five weekdays, the participants played for 15 minutes; the Brain Age participants recorded both their title and the score they received while the Tetris group recorded just their score.  Participants in the Brain Age groups participated in a number of games that were both simple to preform as well as activated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.  The Tetris groups was used as a control group, which looked largely at the positive effect that playing a game had compared to a game that used and stimulated various parts of the brain.

The four cognitive functions that were measured fell under four different categories; global cognitive status, executive function, attention, and processing speed.  A number of cognitive tests were applied to the participants to measure the various levels of cognition both prior and following the four weeks of engaging in activities.

The study found that the scores for the games improved from the initial test to the final test in both groups.  The results of this study further support previous research that indicates the application of games increases the cognitive abilities of elderly individuals.  Therefore, there is a positive correlation between the playing of brain games and the cognitive function of elderly individuals.

Critique:
This study demonstrates the effectiveness of brain training. particularly in elderly individuals.  The study was effective in the sense that a number of individuals were sampled, and they were randomly placed into two different groups, one of which was a control group.  This provided a base of information in which data from playing mind games and just playing electronic video games and allowed the researchers to compare the two elements.

This is relevant to the intelligence community because it presents a different mindset for increasing cognition level, which potentially provides a different perspective on techniques and tools to use in the workplace to increase cognition levels.

Source:
Nouchi, R., Taki, Y., Takeuchi, H., Hashizume, H., Akitsuki, Y., Shigemune, Y., Sekiguchi, A., Kotozaki, Y., Tsukiura, T., Yomogida, Y., & Kawashima, R. (2012). Brain training game improves executive functions and processing speed in the elderly: A randomized controlled trial. PLoS ONE, 7(1), 1-9. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f895ac4a-8a3c-4692-9582-bed455513110%40sessionmgr104&vid=1&hid=101

Brain Training for Silver Gamers: Effects of Age and Game Form on Effectiveness, Efficiency, Self-Assessment, and Gameplay Experience,

Summary:

Brain training games have caught the attention of western society and have especially caught the attention of the aging demographic.  To analyze the effectiveness of brain training on different age demographics, Nacke et. al (2009) utilized a 2x2 mixed factorial design, which included an age group (young and old) and game form (paper and Nintendo DS game console device).   Nacke et. al (2009) sought to analyze the  effect of age and game form on usability, self-assessment, and gameplay experience.  The results of the experiment were measured in three manners: effectiveness( completion time, error rate), self-assessment measures (arousal, pleasure, dominance) and game experience (challenge, flow, competence, tension, and positive/negative affect) (Nacke et. al, 2009).   The authors had four hypotheses: (1) Younger individuals will finish the test faster on a game-console, while older demographics will finish the test faster with paper and pen form. (2) Younger individuals will complete the task with less errors on a game console, as the older demographics will perform with less errors by completing the test on paper form. (3) Playing on paper will emit less arousal and flow as compared to taking the test on a game console. (4) The challenge level for the test will be much hard on the game console as compared to taking the test with paper and pen form ( Nacke et al., 2009).

The age range for the younger demographic was 18-25 and the age range for the older demographic was 65 and older.  All participants in the study were familiar with physical board and card games.  The game that was utilized for the experiment was Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training, most specifically its game called 20 equations calculation game.  This game requires the user to calculate 20 different random equations using mathematical operations of addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication in the shortest time possible.  A similar test was created for individuals to complete using only pen and paper.   Each of the participants took both sets of tests (Nacke et. al, 2009).

Results of the experiment as listed above found that no matter the participants age, taking the test with pen and paper form was far more effective as compared to taking the test on the gaming console.  The paper and pen form also resulted in less errors.  The authors found that taking the test utilizing the game console intrigued participants more and increased their interests in partaking in the test across both age demographics.  Moreover, it was found that the logic problem solving challenges that were presented with the game console test demonstrated that the elderly population conveyed positive feelings to the game, while the younger population conveyed negative feelings.  The authors concluded that digital logic training games provide a positive experience for the elderly population ( Nacke, 2009).  Additionally, it was found that taking the test on the game console took longer to complete for both demographics and resulted in more errors ( Nacke, 2009).

Critique:

I found it interesting that the pen and paper method resulted in less errors from both the elderly and young populations even though the pen and paper method questions were answered quicker by both demographics.  Before reading this study I thought that the younger population would have performed less errors taking the test with the game console based on how technologically driven our age demographic has become.   One aspect of this study that the authors did not talk about was accounting for the learning processes of each respondent.  The authors did not determine if the respondents were better visual learners, or would complete the tests more efficiently using pen and paper methods.   Moreover, the Brain Training game console game was designed with an older demographic in mind as its target audience, so it is no surprise that the results of the experiment conveyed that the older demographic had more positive experiences with the game than the younger demographic participants.   I think that this study conveys the success of brain training games that would show positive results for the older and children age demographics, but does not efficiently test the cognitive abilities of young adults and middle age individuals.  I think that it would be necessary to conduct a study of a brain training game that would stimulate the mind more than doing simple mathematical problems.

Source:

Nacke, L.E., Ing, D., Nacke, A., & Lindley, C.A. (2009). Brain training for  silver gamers: effects of age and game form on effectiveness, efficiency, self-assessment, and gameplay experience. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 12(5), 493-499.  Retrieved from http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cpb.2009.0013. 

Short- and Long-term Benefits of Cognitive Training

Summary:

According to the article scientific evidence showing the increase in brain capacity due to training interventions is rare. However, some evidence suggests that specific cognitive intervention can improve brain capacity. Most cognitive training studies focus on the effect on fluid intelligence, the ability to reason abstractly. In turn, effect on fluid intelligence is predictive of educational or professional success. Often these experiment tasks target the working memory, which allows an individual to store a limited amount of information for a period of time.

The authors conducted an experiment using elementary and middle school children by assigning them with video game like tasks. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether working memory tasks will improve untrained fluid intelligence (Gf) tasks. 62 children were trained over a one month period. The test group was presented with a series of stimuli from different locations on the computer screen. This group was tasked with deciding whether a certain stimulus has appeared more than once at the same location. The participants of the control group were tasked with answering general knowledge questions along with vocabulary questions. The tasks for both groups include video game like learning and graphic visuals. Pre- and post-training as well as training after three months, the participants’ performance was assessed using a two matrix reasoning tasks.

The results indicated that the experimental group showed an increased performance in untrained fluid-intelligence tasks. Hence, they were most successful at fluid intelligence transfer. The control group who was tasked with knowledge-based tasks did not show much improvement. The post hoc tests after three months revealed the same results. The participants with most training showed high significance in performance. No significant differences were observed in terms of sex, age, grade, number of training sessions, and initial working memory performance. Based on the results, the authors argued that the transfer of fluid intelligence depends on the amount of participant improvement on working memory tasks. Some students’ lack of improvement was associated with the lack of interest in the activities and difficulties of coping with the challenges. Finally, the study concluded that individuals may gain long-term benefits from cognitive training. No group difference in performance was seen with in the first three weeks of training. However, differences in performance emerged over time.    

Critique:

The authors successfully conducted an experiment which lead to answering a question of interest. Through experimentation they found tangible evidence that cognitive training have a significant effect on working memory and long-term memory in children. These results can be confirmed by other research conducted on aging populations. However, the methodology section of the article needs to be explained better because it does not provide enough information to replicate the study. Since the participants of the experiment were elementary and middle school children, this study is not generalizable to the rest of the population. One of the important aspects of this article is that the authors mentioned the limitation of this study and proposed recommendation for future research. Rather than studying whether cognitive training is effective, future research should focus on studying conditions that best transfer effects, underlying cognitive mechanisms, and for whom cognitive exercises is most useful.   
       

I’m not sure how relevant cognitive exercises are to the intelligence community. Although cognitive training improves working memory/fluid intelligence and intelligence analysts may benefit from it, it may not be very practical in the implementation.                  

 

Source:

Jaeggi, S., Buschkuehl, M., Jonides, J., & Shah, P. (2011). Short- and long-term benefits of cognitive training. Retrieved from http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/06/03/11032281083/1103228108.