Daily Dynamics in Working Memory Training: The Role of Daily Affect, Motivation, Stress, and Nightly Sleep for Training Success in Elementary School Children
Final Report Abstract
Working memory (WM) is a limited capacity system which is responsible for simultaneously maintaining and processing information. Reliable interindividual differences in this capacity place limiting constraints for performing other cognitive activities. Research on WM training provided mixed evidence for training-related changes. Most studies demonstrated performance improvements on trained WM tasks but transfer to non-trained cognitive tasks is discussed. Investigating interindividual differences between participants and intraindividual variation within participants during training may contribute to understanding possible mechanisms underlying training-related changes. In this study, 97 elementary school children (mean age = 8.6, standard deviation = 0.6) were randomly assigned to either an adaptive or non-adaptive WM training (i.e. training or active control group) of 16 sessions over six weeks in a pretest – posttest – follow-up design. Statistical analyses revealed a significant training effect (i.e. higher WM performance) in the training group compared to the active control group, which was still reliable after three months. Transfer effects to one out of two untrained WM tasks and one out of two untrained flexibility tasks provided evidence for both domainspecific and domain-general improvements. These findings are in line with enhanced efficiency of WM processing and the development of new transferable cognitive routines as suggested by theoretical frameworks (the Capacity–Efficiency Model and the Cognitive Routine Framework). Analyses of interindividual differences between participants revealed larger training gains in children with lower baseline WM performance, which is a so-called compensation effect. Analyses of intraindividual variation across time (in the training group) revealed a relation of children’s daily WM performance and well-being. On days on which parents reported higher negative mood of their children or mild parent-child conflict (i.e. being impatient with the child), their children’s WM performance was slightly lower during training. This correlative finding sheds a light of possible context effects in daily life modulating training effectivity. Overall, the results indicate task- or process-specific transfer effects as well as compensatory effects and context effects of WM training. This, along with other studies, is an indication that cognitive training is not generally effective or ineffective, but that adaptivity is decisive. The crucial research question is not whether training works on average, but for whom and in which context.
Publications
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. No stress, please! Investigating the effect of stress on training and transfer effects of a working memory training with elementary school children. Poster presented at the 21st Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP), Tenerife, Spain. (2019, September)
Elibol, N., Karbach, J. & Könen, T.
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Analyzing Individual Differences in Intervention-Related Changes. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 4(1).
Könen, Tanja & Karbach, Julia
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Working-memory training in elementary school children: Effects on executive functioning. Talk at the 22nd Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP), Lille, France. (2022, September)
Könen, T. & Karbach, J.
