title: A simultaneous examination of two forms of working memory training: Evidence for near transfer only.
abstract: The efficacy of working-memory training is a topic of considerable debate, with some studies showing transfer to measures such as fluid intelligence while others have not. We report the results of a study designed to examine two forms of working-memory training, one using a spatial n-back and the other a verbal complex span. Thirty-one undergraduates completed 4 weeks of n-back training and 32 completed 4 weeks of verbal complex span training. We also included two active control groups. One group trained on a non-adaptive version of n-back and the other trained on a real-time strategy video game. All participants completed pre- and post-training measures of a large battery of transfer tasks used to create composite measures of short-term and working memory in both verbal and visuo-spatial domains as well as verbal reasoning and fluid intelligence. We only found clear evidence for near transfer from the spatial n-back training to new forms of n-back, and this was the case for both adaptive and non-adaptive n-back.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA. mereditheminear@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minear
authors.affiliation: The College of Idaho, Caldwell, ID, USA.
authors.forename: Faith
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brasher
authors.affiliation: The College of Idaho, Caldwell, ID, USA.
authors.forename: Claudia Brandt
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Guerrero
authors.affiliation: The College of Idaho, Caldwell, ID, USA.
authors.forename: Mandy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brasher
authors.affiliation: The College of Idaho, Caldwell, ID, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: The College of Idaho, Caldwell, ID, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sukeena
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D014163:Transfer, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Working memory