Executive process training in young and old adults.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human Development

Background:

• Executive functions are modifiable across the lifespan.
• Previous research shows training benefits but limited transfer, particularly in older adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if a theoretically derived executive function intervention induces transfer effects in early and late adulthood.
• To examine age-related differences in the generalization of trained executive skills.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-nine healthy adults (29 young, 30 older) were randomized into training or control groups.
• Training involved 15 sessions over 5 weeks, targeting updating, shifting, and inhibition.
• A test battery assessed criterion tasks and near, intermediate, and far transfer tasks pre- and post-training.

Main Results:

• Both young and older adults showed age-equivalent gains on trained executive tasks.
• Near transfer was observed for non-trained updating and inhibition tasks in both age groups.
• Only young adults demonstrated intermediate transfer to complex working memory tasks; no far transfer was found in either group.

Conclusions:

• Training executive functions yields age-equivalent gains but limited transfer, especially in older adults.
• Age-related constraints hinder the generalization of acquired executive skills.
• Training multiple executive processes is insufficient to promote transfer beyond the near-transfer level in older adults.