Training working memory: Limits of transfer

• Published in: Intelligence (Norwood) Vol. 41; no. 5; pp. 638 - 663
• Main Authors: Sprenger, Amber M., Atkins, Sharona M., Bolger, Donald J., Harbison, J. Isaiah, Novick, Jared M., Chrabaszcz, Jeffrey S., Weems, Scott A., Smith, Vanessa, Bobb, Steven, Bunting, Michael F., Dougherty, Michael R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01-09-2013; Elsevier; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Adults; Biological and medical sciences; Cognitive ability; Discriminant analysis; Fluid intelligence; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Hypotheses; Inhibition; Intelligence; Learning. Memory; Memory; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Training; Verbal abilities; Working memory training; Inhibition; Working memory training; Verbal abilities; Fluid intelligence; Human; Verbal ability; Language; Transfer; Cognition; Fluent intelligence; Working memory; Psychological training
• ISSN: 0160-2896; 1873-7935
• DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2013.07.013

In two experiments (totaling 253 adult participants), we examined the extent to which intensive working memory training led to improvements on untrained measures of cognitive ability. Although participants showed improvement on the trained task and on tasks that either shared task characteristics or stimuli, we found no evidence that training led to general improvements in working memory. Using Bayes Factor analysis, we show that the data generally support the hypothesis that working memory training was ineffective at improving general cognitive ability. This conclusion held even after controlling for a number of individual differences, including need for cognition, beliefs in the malleability of intelligence, and age.
•Efficacy of working memory training was evaluated in two experiments (N=253).•Training improved performance on tasks with shared characteristics and stimuli.•Training did not yield generalizable results outside the working memory domain.•Null hypothesis testing and Bayes Factor analysis yielded similar conclusions.•Results held after controlling for beliefs, age, and other individual differences.