Reliable gains? Evidence for substantially underpowered designs in studies of working memory training transfer to fluid intelligence.

ABSTRACT: In recent years, cognitive scientists and commercial interests (e.g., Fit Brains, Lumosity) have focused research attention and financial resources on cognitive tasks, especially working memory tasks, to explore and exploit possible transfer effects to general cognitive abilities, such as fluid intelligence. The increased research attention has produced mixed findings, as well as contention about the disposition of the evidence base. To address this contention, Au et al. (2014) recently conducted a meta-analysis of extant controlled experimental studies of n-back task training transfer effects on measures of fluid intelligence in healthy adults; the results of which showed a small training transfer effect. Using several approaches, the current review evaluated and re-analyzed the meta-anal

SUBMITTER: Bogg T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4302828 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature