Testing for Near and Far Transfer Effects with a Short, Face-to-Face Adaptive Working Memory Training Intervention in Typical Children

A relatively quick, face-to-face, adaptive working memory training intervention was assessed in 5- to 8-year-old typically developing children, randomly allocated to a six-week intervention condition, or an active control condition. All children received 18 sessions of 10 minutes, three times/week for six weeks. Assessments of six working memory skills, word reading and mathematics were administered at pre-test, post-test, and six month follow-up. Additional measures of word reading, mathematics, spelling and reading comprehension were given at a 12 month follow-up. At post-test, the trained group showed significantly larger gains than the control group on the two trained executive-loaded working memory tasks (Listening Recall, Odd One Out Span) and on two untrained working memory tasks (Word Recall, Counting Recall). These "near transfer" effects were still apparent at six month follow-up. "Far transfer" effects were less evident: there was no difference between the groups in their gains on single word reading and mathematics over 12 months, and spelling skills did not differ at 12 month follow-up. However, the trained group showed significantly higher reading comprehension scores than the control group at 12 month follow-up. Thus, improving the ability to divide attention between processing and storage may have had specific benefits for reading comprehension

A Short Executive Function Training Program Improves Preschoolers’ Working Memory

Cognitive training has been shown to improve executive functions (EFs) in middle childhood and adulthood. However, fewer studies have targeted the preschool years—a time when EFs undergo rapid development. The present study tested the effects of a short four session EF training program in 54 four-year-olds. The training group significantly improved their working memory from pre-training relative to an active control group. Notably, this effect extended to a task sharing few surface features with the trained tasks, and continued to be apparent 3 months later. In addition, the benefits of training extended to a measure of mathematical reasoning 3 months later, indicating that training EFs during the preschool years has the potential to convey benefits that are both long-lasting and wide-ranging

Evaluation and training of Executive Functions in genocide survivors. The case of Yazidi children

Executive Functions (EFs) development is critically affected by stress and trauma, as well as the socio-economic context in which children grow up (Welsh, Nix, Blair, Bierman, & Nelson, 2010). Research in this field is surprisingly lacking in relation to war contexts. This study represents a \ufb01rst attempt at addressing this topic by evaluating EFs in Yazidi children. The Yazidi community is an ethnic and religious minority living in Iraq. From August 2014 onwards, the Yazidi community has been the target of several atrocities perpetrated by ISIS and described as genocide by the international community at large. The University of Trieste, thanks to a program financed by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, developed a study aimed at (a) evaluating hot and cool EFs in children living in a war context and (b) developing a specific training method to enhance hot and cool EFs in Yazidi children of preschool age (N= 53). Data related to this group of children were compared with a sample of typically developing Italian children randomly assigned to either an EFs training group (N=55) or a passive control group (N= 51). Results indicate different baselines in hot EFs in Yazidi and Italian samples and a significant effect of the program on both trained groups, especially in tasks measuring hot EFs. Data are discussed in terms of hot and cool EFs in children growing in adverse environments, as well as the evaluation of educational and developmental opportunities to prevent children who survived genocide from becoming a "lost generation"

Enhancing preschoolers' executive functions through embedding cognitive activities in shared book reading

Given evidence that early executive functioning sets the stage for a broad range of subsequent outcomes, researchers have sought to identify ways to foster these cognitive capacities. An increasingly common approach involves computerized ‘brain training’ programs, yet there are questions about whether these are well suited for fostering the early development of executive functions (EFs). The current series of studies sought to design, develop, and provide evidence for the efficacy of embedding cognitive activities in a commonplace activity – shared reading of a children’s book. The book, Quincey Quokka’s Quest, required children to control their thinking and behaviour to help the story’s main character through a series of obstacles. The first study investigated effects of reading with embedded cognitive activities in individual and group contexts on young children’s executive functions (EFs). The second study compared reading with embedded cognitive activities against a more-active control condition (dialogic reading) that similarly engaged children in the reading process yet lacked clear engagement of EFs. The third study sought to investigate whether the effect of reading the story with embedded EF activities changed across differing doses of the intervention and whether effects persisted 2 months post-intervention. Findings provide converging evidence of intervention effects on working memory and shifting in as little as 3 weeks (compared to more traditional reading) and maintenance of these gains 2 months later. This suggests the efficacy of embedding cognitive activities in the context of everyday activities, thereby extending the range of users and contexts in which this approach can be used

Was ist "Populäre Musik"? : Überlegungen in eigener Sache

Many common disorders across the lifespan feature impaired working memory (WM). Reported benefits of a WM training program include improving inattention in daily life, but this has not been evaluated in a meta-analysis. This study aimed to evaluate whether one WM training method has benefits for inattention in daily life by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis.We searched Medline and PsycINFO, relevant journals and contacted authors for studies with an intervention and control group reporting post-training estimates of inattention in daily life. To reduce the influence of different WM training methods on the findings, the review was restricted to trials evaluating the Cogmed method. A meta-analysis calculated the pooled standardised difference in means (SMD) between intervention and control groups.A total of 622 studies were identified and 12 studies with 13 group comparisons met inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis showed a significant training effect on inattention in daily life, SMD=-0.47, 95% CI -0.65, -0.29, p<.00001. Subgroup analyses showed this significant effect was observed in groups of children and adults as well as users with and without ADHD, and in studies using control groups that were active and non-adaptive, wait-list and passive as well as studies using specific or general measures. Seven of the studies reported follow-up assessment and a meta-analysis showed persisting training benefits for inattention in daily life, SMD=-0.33, 95% CI -0.57 -0.09, p=.006. Additional meta-analyses confirmed improvements after training on visuospatial WM, SMD=0.66, 95% CI 0.43, 0.89, p<.00001, and verbal WM tasks, SMD=0.40, 95% CI 0.18, 0.62, p=.0004.Benefits of a WM training program generalise to improvements in everyday functioning. Initial evidence shows that the Cogmed method has significant benefits for inattention in daily life with a clinically relevant effect size

Development of abstract thinking during childhood and adolescence: the role of rostrolateral prefrontal cortex

Rostral prefrontal cortex (RPFC) has increased in size and changed in terms of its cellular organisation during primate evolution. In parallel emerged the ability to detach oneself from the immediate environment to process abstract thoughts and solve problems and to understand other individuals’ thoughts and intentions. Rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC) is thought to play an important role in supporting the integration of abstract, often self-generated, thoughts. Thoughts can be temporally abstract and relate to long term goals, or past or future events, or relationally abstract and focus on the relationships between representations rather than simple stimulus features. Behavioural studies have provided evidence of a prolonged development of the cognitive functions associated with RLPFC, in particular logical and relational reasoning, but also episodic memory retrieval and prospective memory. Functional and structural neuroimaging studies provide further support for a prolonged development of RLPFC during adolescence, with some evidence of increased specialisation of RLPFC activation for relational integration and aspects of episodic memory retrieval. Topics for future research will be discussed, such as the role of medial RPFC in processing abstract thoughts in the social domain, the possibility of training abstract thinking in the domain of reasoning, and links to education

Selectively Enhanced Development of Working Memory in Musically Trained Children and Adolescents

In the current longitudinal study, we investigated the development of working memory in musically trained and nontrained children and adolescents, aged 9–20. We measured working memory with the Digit Span (DS) forwards and backwards tests (N = 106) and the Trail-Making A and B (TMT-A and B; N = 104) tests three times, in 2011, 2013, and 2016. We expected that musically trained participants would outperform peers with no musical training. Indeed, we found that the younger musically trained participants, in particular, outperformed their nontrained peers in the TMT-A, TMT-B and DS forwards tests. These tests all primarily require active maintenance of a rule in memory or immediate recall. In contrast, we found no group differences in the backwards test that requires manipulation and updating of information in working memory. These results suggest that musical training is more strongly associated with heightened working memory capacity and maintenance than enhanced working memory updating, especially in late childhood and early adolescence.Peer reviewe