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Related Experiment Video

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Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
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Placebo effects in cognitive training.

Cyrus K Foroughi1, Samuel S Monfort2, Martin Paczynski2

  • 1Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030 cyrus.foroughi@gmail.com.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|June 22, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cognitive training may not improve fluid intelligence; placebo effects, induced by suggestive recruitment, can inflate results. Future studies must control for these confounds.

Keywords:
brain trainingcognitive trainingfluid intelligenceplacebo effects

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychometrics

Background:

  • General cognitive ability is largely heritable and stable in young adults.
  • Recent studies suggest fluid intelligence can be enhanced through cognitive training.
  • Methodological concerns, particularly placebo effects, challenge these training-based improvements.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the role of placebo effects in fluid intelligence gains from cognitive training.
  • To design a procedure that intentionally induces placebo effects through overt recruitment.
  • To differentiate genuine cognitive gains from expectancy-driven improvements.

Main Methods:

  • Participants were recruited via suggestive or nonsuggestive flyers to create placebo and control groups.
  • Both groups underwent a single, 1-hour cognitive training session.
  • Fluid intelligence was assessed before and after the training intervention.

Main Results:

  • Individuals in the placebo group showed significant fluid intelligence improvements (5-10 IQ points) after training.
  • The control group, recruited with neutral information, exhibited no significant improvements.
  • These results indicate a substantial placebo effect influencing fluid intelligence measures.

Conclusions:

  • Placebo effects, driven by recruitment methods, offer an alternative explanation for cognitive training gains.
  • The findings highlight the need to rigorously control for expectancy and placebo effects in cognitive training research.
  • This has significant implications for the interpretation of results in the brain-training industry and cognitive enhancement literature.