Putting brain training to the test

By Adrian M. Owen, A. Hampshire, Jessica A. Grahn, Robert Stenton, S. Dajani, A. Burns, Robert J. Howard, C. Ballard. Nature, 2010

1,126 citations recorded by the source corpus.

‘Brain training’, or the goal of improved cognitive function through the regular use of computerized tests, is a multimillion-pound industry, yet in our view scientific evidence to support its efficacy is lacking. Modest effects have been reported in some studies of older individuals and preschool children, and video-game players outperform non-players on some tests of visual attention. However, the widely held belief that commercially available computerized brain-training programs improve general cognitive function in the wider population in our opinion lacks empirical support. The central question is not whether performance on cognitive tests can be improved by training, but rather, whether those benefits transfer to other untrained tasks or lead to any general improvement in the level of cognitive functioning. Here we report the results of a six-week online study in which 11,430 participants trained several times each week on cognitive tasks designed to improve reasoning, memory, planning, visuospatial skills and attention. Although improvements were observed in every one of the cognitive tasks that were trained, no evidence was found for transfer effects to untrained tasks, even when those tasks were cognitively closely related.

Subfields: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Genetics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e661f8227960ad8c75cb033b3a0db7c76d86ebe7

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In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Are bilingual advantages dependent upon specific tasks or specific bilingual experiences? (2014, background): “assumption that the null is true and that there is a bias on the part of researchers and reviewers to prefer positive results over null results as argued by Pashler and Harris (2012) and Paap (2014).”
Distinct transfer effects of training different facets of working memory capacity (2013, background): “A plausible reason for the absence of transfer effects in the study by Owen et al. (2010) is the uncontrolled and anonymous setting of the training regimen.”
Training attentional control and working memory - Is younger, better? (2012, methodology): “For Owen et al. (2010) and Willis et al. (2006) these have not been drawn to scale to promote legibility.”
Domain Specificity and the Limits of Creativity Theory (2012, background): “(Owen et al., 2010, p. 775) The Owens et al. study is especially interesting because the skills taught––reasoning, memory, planning, visuospatial skills, and attention––are all part of what we normally think of as general intelligence, and there is rather convincing evidence that there is…”
Short- and long-term benefits of cognitive training (2011, background): “Although the existence of transfer in the physical domain is not surprising to anyone, demonstrating transfer from cognitive training has been difficult (2, 3), but there is accumulating evidence that certain cognitive interventions yield transfer (4–6).”