Novick, Bunting, Dougherty, and Engle query an interdisciplinary group of distinguished researchers in cognitive science about the efficacy of cognitive and working memory training using a combination of behavioral, neuroimaging, meta-analytic, and computational modeling methods. This edited volume is a defining resource for the field of cognitive training research generally. Importantly, one focus of the book is on the notion of transfer--namely, the extent to which cognitive training generalizes to learning and performance measures that were decidedly not part of the training regimen.
Cognitive and Working Memory Training assembles an interdisciplinary group of distinguished authors--all experts in the field--who have been testing the efficacy of cognitive and working memory training using a combination of behavioral, neuroimaging, meta-analytic, and computational modelling methods. This edited volume is a defining resource on the practicality and utility of the field of cognitive training research in general, and working memory training in particular. Importantly, one focus of the book is on the notion of transfer--namely, the extent to which cognitive training--be it through music, video-game play, or working memory demanding interventions at school--generalizes to learning and performance measures that were decidedly not part of the training regimen. As most cognitive scientists (and perhaps many casual observers) recognize, the notions of cognitive training and transfer have been widely controversial for many reasons, including disagreement over the reliability of outcomes and consensus on methodological "best practices," and even the ecological validity of laboratory-based tests. This collection does not resolve these debates of course; but its contribution is to address them directly by creating an exchange in a single compendium among scientists who, in separate research publications, do not always reach the same conclusions. The book is organized around comprehensive overview chapters from different disciplinary perspectives--Cognitive Psychology (by Hicks and Engle), Neuroscience (by Kuchinsky and Haarmann), and Development (by Ling and Diamond)--that define major issues, terms, and themes in the field, with a pointed set of challenge questions to which other scientists respond in subsequent chapters. The goal of this volume is to educate. It is designed for students and researchers, and perhaps the armchair psychologist. Crucially, the contributors recognize that it is good for science to persistently confront our understanding of an area: Debate and alternative viewpoints, backed by theory, data, and inferences drawn from the evidence, is what advances scientific knowledge. This book probes established paradigms in cognitive training research, and the long-form of these chapters (not found in scientific journals) allows detailed exploration of the current state of the science. Such breadth intends to invite novel ways of thinking about the nature of cognitive and perceptual plasticity, which may enlighten either new efforts at training, new inferences about prior results, or both.
This book brings together a cutting edge international team of contributors to critically review the current knowledge regarding the effectiveness of training interventions designed to improve cognitive functions in different target populations. There is substantial evidence that cognitive and physical training can improve cognitive performance, but these benefits seem to vary as a function of the type and the intensity of interventions and the way training-induced gains are measured and analyzed. This book further fulfills the need for clarification of the mechanisms underlying cognitive and neural changes occurring after training. This book offers a comprehensive overview of empirical findings and methodological approaches of cognitive training research in different cognitive domains (memory, executive functions, etc.), types of training (working memory training, video game training, physical training, etc.), age groups (from children to young and older adults), target populations (children with developmental disorders, aging workers, MCI patients etc.), settings (laboratory-based studies, applied studies in clinical and educational settings), and methodological approaches (behavioral studies, neuroscientific studies). Chapters feature theoretical models that describe the mechanisms underlying training-induced cognitive and neural changes. Cognitive Training: An Overview of Features and Applications will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, students, and professors in the fields of psychology and neuroscience.
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed proceedings of the First International Conference on Brain Function Assessment in Learning, BFAL 2017, held in Patras, Greece, in September 2017. The 16 revised full papers presented together with 2 invited talks and 6 posters were carefully selected from 28 submissions. The BFAL conference aims to regroup research in multidisciplinary domains such as neuroscience, health, computer science, artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, education and social interaction on the theme of Brain Function Assessment in Learning.
The idea of one's memory "filling up" is a humorous misconception of how memory in general is thought to work; it actually has no capacity limit. However, the idea of a "full brain" makes more sense with reference to working memory, which is the limited amount of information a person can hold temporarily in an especially accessible form for use in the completion of almost any challenging cognitive task. This groundbreaking book explains the evidence supporting Cowan's theoretical proposal about working memory capacity, and compares it to competing perspectives. Cognitive psychologists profoundly disagree on how working memory is limited: whether by the number of units that can be retained (and, if so, what kind of units and how many), the types of interfering material, the time that has elapsed, some combination of these mechanisms, or none of them. The book assesses these hypotheses and examines explanations of why capacity limits occur, including vivid biological, cognitive, and evolutionary accounts. The book concludes with a discussion of the practical importance of capacity limits in daily life. This 10th anniversary Classic Edition will continue to be accessible to a wide range of readers and serve as an invaluable reference for all memory researchers.
A bigger asset than IQ: The first book to introduce the newly discovered—and vitally important—mental skill known as working memory, showing how it is crucial to our success in work and life and how to strengthen it. Working memory—your ability to work with information—influences nearly everything you do. What if you could find a way to better handle a crazy schedule or expertly manage risks? What if you could gain an advantage in climbing the career ladder or in school or sports? What if there were a way to improve your outlook on life, to face each day with more optimism and confidence? Tracy and Ross Alloway, leading experts in the field, show how working memory is the key to all that and more. They present important recent findings, including research on how Facebook can help with working memory, how working memory can improve your kids’ grades, how it changes as you age, and how working memory is linked with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and Alzheimer’s. The Alloways describe their Jungle Memory program, which Ross created to help children improve their working memories, and is rapidly being embraced by the education community. Most importantly, they share the best news: you can improve your memory! Their book provides three tests to find out how good your working memory is—and more than fifty targeted exercises designed to help readers both process and memorize the information to maximize effectiveness. The Working Memory Advantage offers unprecedented insight into one of the most important cognitive breakthroughs in recent years—a vital new approach to making your brain stronger, smarter, and faster.
Cognitive Rehabilitation of Memory: A Clinical-Neuropsychological Introduction comprehensively reviews evidence-based research for each clinical tool, defining guidelines on how to assess patients and set treatment goals and best practices for creating individualized rehabilitation programs. The book also provides essential background knowledge on the nature and causes of memory impairment. Dr. Helmut Hildebrandt describes a wide range of interventions, including memory aids, learning strategies and non-cognitive treatment options - Outlines guidelines for treating patients with memory disorder - Reviews rehabilitation programs to improve memory function - Examines non-cognitive approaches for improving memory impairments
Despite all our highly publicized efforts to improve our schools, the United States is still falling behind. We recently ranked 15th in the world in reading, math, and science. Clearly, more needs to be done. In The Learning Brain, Torkel Klingberg urges us to use the insights of neuroscience to improve the education of our children. The key to improving education lies in understanding how the brain works: that is where learning takes place, after all. The book focuses in particular on working memory--our ability to concentrate and to keep relevant information in our head while ignoring distractions (a topic the author covered in The Overflowing Brain). Research shows enormous variation in working memory among children, with some ten-year-olds performing at the level of a fourteen-year old, others at that of a six-year old. More important, children with high working memory have better math and reading skills, while children with poor working memory consistently underperform. Interestingly, teachers tend to perceive children with poor working memory as dreamy or unfocused, not recognizing that these children have a memory problem. But what can we do for these children? For one, we can train working memory. The Learning Brain provides a variety of different techniques and scientific insights that may just teach us how to improve our children's working memory. Klingberg also discusses how stress can impair working memory (skydivers tested just before a jump showed a 30% drop in working memory) and how aerobic exercise can actually modify the brain's nerve cells and improve classroom performance. Torkel Klingberg is one of the world's leading cognitive neuroscientists, but in this book he wears his erudition lightly, writing with simplicity and good humor as he shows us how to give our children the best chance to learn and grow.
The Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, Seventh Edition, provides a basic reference source on the behavioral processes of aging for researchers, graduate students, and professionals. It also provides perspectives on the behavioral science of aging for researchers and professionals from other disciplines. The book is organized into four parts. Part 1 reviews key methodological and analytical issues in aging research. It examines some of the major historical influences that might provide explanatory mechanisms for a better understanding of cohort and period differences in psychological aging processes. Part 2 includes chapters that discuss the basics and nuances of executive function; the history of the morphometric research on normal brain aging; and the neural changes that occur in the brain with aging. Part 3 deals with the social and health aspects of aging. It covers the beliefs that individuals have about how much they can control various outcomes in their life; the impact of stress on health and aging; and the interrelationships between health disparities, social class, and aging. Part 4 discusses the emotional aspects of aging; family caregiving; and mental disorders and legal capacities in older adults. - Contains all the main areas of psychological gerontological research in one volume - Entire section on neuroscience and aging - Begins with a section on theory and methods - Edited by one of the father of gerontology (Schaie) and contributors represent top scholars in gerontology
"Working memory" is a term used to refer to the systems responsible for the temporary storage of information during the performance of cognitive tasks. The efficiency of working memory skills in children may place limitations on the learning and performance of educationally important skills such as reading, language comprehension and arithmetic. Originally published in 1992, this monograph considers the development of working memory skills in children with severe learning difficulties. These children have marked difficulties with a wide range of cognitive tasks. The studies reported show that they also experience profound difficulties in verbal working memory tasks. These memory problems are associated with a failure to rehearse information within an articulatory loop. Training the children to rehearse material is shown to help alleviate these problems. The implications of these studies for understanding normal memory development, and for models of the structure of working memory and its development are discussed. It is argued that the working memory deficits seen in people with severe learning difficulties may contribute to their difficulties on other cognitive tasks.
