Working Memory Interventions

In this world, media have taken over our lives. People tend to believe everything that they see on social media. Scientists believe there are ways people can strengthen their brains. The science article is called Exercise, cognition, and the aging, brain; by Arthur F. Kramer, Kirk I. Erickson and Stanley J. Colcombe. The media article is called Can You Build a Better Brain? It was written by Sharon Begley and Ian Yarett. The media article does not do a good job of evaluating the important scientific information; the media article never mentions a majority of what it should have. This paper will show the public that there might be some things that the media articles are not telling us.

Human cognition declines overtime as a part of the aging process. The elderly may experience a decline in a number of cognitive functions such as a decline in processing speed, memory, attention, and executive functions. This is referred to as a transfer effect. A transfer effect is that training has effects on trained and untrained skills. Decline in cognition has proven to be difficult for the elderly when doing basic activities. The study believes that if the elderlies play video games, they could improve executive function, processing speed, memory, and attention. This study created a double blind experiment, where participants and even the testers were kept blinded to the experimental hypothesis, so that there were no bias. Participants in both the “Brain Age” and the “Tetris” groups played each an average of fifteen minutes a day, at least five days per week, for a total of four weeks. (Rui, Taki and Takeuchi) Cognitive functions were measured by global executive functions, attention and processing speed, and cognitive statuses. A total of 32 participants participated in this research study. The participants were all non-gamers and playing less than one hour of video games a week for the last 2 years. Participants played a video game for about fifteen minutes a day. Both the executive functions and processing speed, showed a transfer effect by the brain training game in

Research has proven that physical activity improves cognitive function and can also improve brain function throughout a lifespan. Moreover, staying physically active has so many benefits as well. For example, doing exercise and fitness activities help build cells and natural pathways to help reduce changes in memory loss or dementia. Also, it has so many health benefits including long-term improvements to the cognitive function as the young adult reaching mid

The participants will be given The Working Memory Test Battery for Children (WMTB-C) devised by Gathercole and Pickering (2001). This test consists of four tasks which include

to review the concept of working memory. Raven’s Matrices is been based on a correlational analysis of

Humans have been seeking many different ways to improve their cognitive ability for thousands of years. For example, education has been used in order to learn and improve on cognitive ability and to improve our understanding of the world (Bostrom and Sandberg, 2009). With the advance of technology, resources and medicine, humans have managed to develop cognitive enhancing drugs that improve our cognitive ability by improving the attention, motivation and working memory.

The authors first examine these interventions and then discuss techniques for older students. When summarizing the literature on cognitive and behavioral interventions for ADHD, the author is able to contrast the deficits that appear to underlie the disorder, such as deficits in executive functioning and poor short-term memory, against the demands created by the proposed interventions.

It is then presumed that assessment-based interventions are to be more effective as well as time efficient than trying strategies on a trial and error basis (DuPaul et al, 2011). It was determined that more research is needed in regards to the functioning of secondary students with ADHD.

Furthermore it is important to prevent sexual problems by paying attention to the emotional reactions, such as anger, shame, and guilt feelings. The issue of sexuality needs to be addressed during both the acute and long-term rehabilitation processes. Cognitive intervention may help to overcome these feelings and may minimize the risk of chronic

Attention was tested using the “D2 attention test” (Brickencamp 2002) and working memory was tested using the “sentences working memory test” (Siegel and Ryan 1989). The authors state that although there is a statistically significant improvement in verbal working memory in ADHD subjects when compared to themselves and control groups after a single dose, it is not enough to significantly improve the “executive variable” because there were no differences between experimental and control groups after one month of

In 2012, Nouchi et al. conducted a study in which older adults had to play either a Nintendo brain training game called Brain Age or Tetris. The participants had to play their assigned game for 4 weeks 15 minutes per day. The aim of the study was to investigate the possible effects of a brain training game on the cognitive functioning of older adults. As expected, the results showed that both groups performed significantly better at playing their game during the last time playing compared to the first time playing. However, did the participants only get better at playing their game or was there more at play?

Mcauley explains that the behavioral regulation index and the metacognition index were very strongly associated with the parent and teacher ratings of attention problems in youth and with behavioral or emotional problems in everyday settings. He states that the test is specifically helpful in the instance of children with ADHD, explaining that children with ADHD have held higher scores on the BRIEF2 when compared to their peers. The working memory scale stands out as a scale that is particularly sensitive to ADHD children. That being said there appears to be “no significant associations between the Behavioral Regulation Index or the Metacognition Index and youth’s scores on measures of inhibition, performance monitoring, and working memory.” (Mcauley,2010). Likewise other studies have found similar results when using different performance-based tasks to examine executive function. This article praises the BRIEF2 but only in conjunction with other tools to determine the nature of the problems that the child is having and the proper course of action in dealing with

One of the largest arguments against brain training is that the benefits of training are not applied to real life. Essentially, opponents to brain training are arguing that brain training is like teaching to the test. Participants do well on the “exams” because that was what they were trained for. Conversely, once participants are sent out into the real world, they are unable to apply what they learned to tasks that differ from those on the test. While intimal brain training studies failed to demonstrate real world application, more recent studies have proven

There is a widely held belief that commercially available computerized brain-training programs improve cognitive function. 2 Although society has accepted this correlation of “brain games” and increased cognitive ability, it has yet to be proven.1 Regardless of this, there has been a recent spawn of enterprises dedicated to creating these games. Of these enterprises, the most well-known companies are Lumosity and Brain Age.1 These companies even argue that brain training is as good as physical training.4 Websites like

The articles by Erikson et al., Gatz, Korol et al., and Draganski et al. explore the concept of increased physical activity and/or mental activity having effects on the cognitive function and development or deterioration of the brain as we age. Although I agree that physical exercise is critical in increasing cognitive function because of the health benefits it provides, as well as the increased blood flow and circulation throughout the body, I ultimately believe that a healthy brain is not achieved solely by physical exercise or mental exercise, but both. I think there is a link between physical and mental exercise, and that the combination of these two activities creates higher cognitive functioning of the mind as well as the body. The mind and body come together and meet to make an overall healthy individual.