Intra-individual variability in task performance after cognitive training is associated with long-term outcomes in...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Working memory training (WMT) in children is debated.
• Understanding WMT's mechanisms and long-term effects is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the effects of school-based adaptive WMT on children's cognitive functions.
• Determine the mechanistic underpinnings of WMT benefits.
• Assess the predictive value of different outcome measures for long-term academic and well-being outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Five-week school-based adaptive WMT intervention.
• Neuroimaging to assess brain activity in prefrontal and striatal regions.
• Sequential sampling decision model to analyze response times and accuracy.
• Comparison between trained children and a control group.

Main Results:

• WMT increased activity in prefrontal and striatal regions.
• Reduced intra-individual variability in response times was observed.
• Changes in evidence accumulation rates and thresholds explained variability reduction.
• Reduced intra-individual variability predicted academic skills and well-being 6-12 months post-training.

Conclusions:

• Attention control is an initial mechanism driving long-term benefits of adaptive WMT.
• Selective and sustained attention may scaffold higher cognitive processes, academic skills, and well-being.
• Intra-individual variability is a sensitive measure for detecting training efficacy and tailoring interventions.