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Does working memory training have to be adaptive?

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Abstract

This study tested the common assumption that, to be most effective, working memory (WM) training should be adaptive (i.e., task difficulty is adjusted to individual performance). Indirect evidence for this assumption stems from studies comparing adaptive training to a condition in which tasks are practiced on the easiest level of difficulty only [cf. Klingberg (Trends Cogn Sci 14:317–324, 2010)], thereby, however, confounding adaptivity and exposure to varying task difficulty. For a more direct test of this hypothesis, we randomly assigned 130 young adults to one of the three WM training procedures (adaptive, randomized, or self-selected change in training task difficulty) or to an active control group. Despite large performance increases in the trained WM tasks, we observed neither transfer to untrained structurally dissimilar WM tasks nor far transfer to reasoning. Surprisingly, neither training nor transfer effects were modulated by training procedure, indicating that exposure to varying levels of task difficulty is sufficient for inducing training gains.

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Notes

  1. The number of stars corresponded to the proportion of correct responses: 5 stars for at least 80 % correct, 4 stars for more than 70 % correct, 3 stars for more than 60 % correct, and 2 stars for less than 60 % correct. In WM training, 1 star was given if recall performance was less than 60 % or performance in the processing task was below 80 % (having at least 80 % correct in the processing task was a prerequisite to receive any higher number of stars). In the active control condition, participants received 1 star if performance was below 50 %.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant to the first author from the Suzanne and Hans Biäsch Foundation for Applied Psychology. We thank Borhan Bas, Linda Horvath, Lukas Lehmann, Cristina Licini, and Rahel Rodenkirch for their assistance with collecting the data. We also thank Esther Haeller, Esther Spirig, and Anja Waldmeier for their help in creating study materials.

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  1. Claudia C. von Bastian

    Present address: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, UCB 345, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University Research Priority Program “Dynamics of Healthy Aging”, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Claudia C. von Bastian

  2. Department of Psychology, International Normal Aging and Plasticity Imaging Center (INAPIC), University Research Priority Program “Dynamics of Healthy Aging”, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Anne Eschen

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von Bastian, C.C., Eschen, A. Does working memory training have to be adaptive?. Psychological Research 80, 181–194 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-015-0655-z

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