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Updated: Jan 17, 2026
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Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
Published on: September 20, 2020
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General knowledge and detailed memory benefit from different training sequences
Sharon M Noh1, Robert A Bjork2, Alison R Preston3
1University of California, Irvine.
Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
|September 19, 2025
Summary
Learning how to generalize categories versus remembering specific events depends on training. Interleaving training improves generalization, while blocked training enhances memory for specific details.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Learning Sciences
Background:
- Real-world decision-making relies on both understanding general patterns and recalling specific instances.
- Distinguishing between general categories and specific events necessitates processing information at varying levels of detail.
- Different representational systems may underlie the processing of generalities and specifics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether different training methods, specifically blocked versus interleaved learning, differentially impact the representation of generalities and specifics.
- To determine if training protocols influence category generalization and source memory.
- To examine the long-term stability of category knowledge versus episodic details.
Main Methods:
- A within-participant design was employed to compare blocked and interleaved training protocols.
- Participants learned to associate paintings with artists and unique locations.
- Category generalization and source memory were assessed immediately and after a one-week delay.
Main Results:
- Interleaved training significantly enhanced category generalization compared to blocked training.
- Blocked training led to better incidental learning of specific episodic details (locations).
- Category knowledge demonstrated stability over the one-week period, whereas episodic details showed a decline.
Conclusions:
- Training protocols like interleaving and blocking have dissociable effects on learning general categories versus specific events.
- Interleaving optimizes the ability to infer generalities, while blocking enhances memory for specific details.
- These findings suggest distinct neural mechanisms for representing and retrieving general versus specific information.
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