Abstract
Many studies have examined transfer of working memory (WM) training improvements to non-trained cognitive tasks, with largely disappointing results. Interference control has been suggested to be a central feature of WM. However, studies examining transfer effects of a training program exclusively and directly targeting interference control are lacking. Forty-one 10‒12 year-old children and 47 19‒24 year-old adults were assigned to an adaptive interference control training or active control condition. Transfer of training effects to tasks measuring interference control, response inhibition, WM updating, task-switching, and non-verbal fluid intelligence were assessed during a 3-month follow-up session and/or an immediate post-training session. Substantial evidence of training improvements and a positive transfer effect to a non-trained interference control task were observed for both age groups. Marginal evidence for beneficial transfer of training effects for the trained compared to non-trained participants was found for a WM task for both age groups, and for the children for another interference control task and a response inhibition task. However, these transfer effects were absent during the 3-month follow-up measurement. These results suggest some potential for interference control training programs to enhance aspects of cognitive functioning, with some evidence for a more wide-spread, but short-lived, transfer for children compared to adults.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Joseph H.R. Maes for the help with analysis and for feedback on the manuscript. This work was supported by Grants to XZ by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31560283).
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Author Xin Zhao declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Lina Jia declares that she has no conflict of interest.
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This study was funded by 31560283. The manuscript does not contain clinical studies or patient data. Studies were approved by the local ethics committee and all experimental manipulations were performed in accordance with the approved guidelines.
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All human participants had signed an informed consent form. The school was contacted via the Education Bureau of Lanzhou city and the children had their primary caretakers sign informed consent forms.
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Zhao, X., Jia, L. Training and transfer effects of interference control training in children and young adults. Psychological Research 83, 1519–1530 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1007-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1007-6