Posted: Feb 13, 2011 4:43 pm
Being a student, I have for some time been interested in ways to improve my memory and various reasoning skills. I often use brain training programs, as well as play instruments, games such as shogi (Japanese Chess), and do sudoku puzzles. However, the other day I saw an article which detailed that "brain training" programs were shown to be ineffective, having no transfer effects on any specific tasks regarding intelligence1.
This leaves me in a bit of a quandary, as I would like to improve my mental abilities as much as possible, however there seems to be rather scant information on the best way to do so. The most I've found were a few papers in which n-back related tasks were related to a transfer in fluid intelligence 2-4. Other articles I've read were dealing with elder age groups looking to minimize or eliminate decline. I'm wondering if there is anything evidenced to improve upon normal.
I figured that it would be best to ask the members of the forum, since there seems to be so many half-truths and pseudo-science dealing with brain improvement. So, as in my topic description, does anyone know of evidenced-based ways to improve things such as spatial reasoning, memory, and general intelligence?
Source:
1. (Abstract Only) http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v465/n7299/full/nature09042.html
2. (PDF) http://bungelab.berkeley.edu/News/jaeggi_2008_PNAS.pdf
3. (PDF) http://www.psy.unibe.ch/unibe/philhuman/psy/apn/content/e5616/e5621/e7504/e7774/files7775/Download_ger.pdf
4. (PDF) http://www.gwern.net/docs/qiu2009.pdf
Edit: Additional citation.
This leaves me in a bit of a quandary, as I would like to improve my mental abilities as much as possible, however there seems to be rather scant information on the best way to do so. The most I've found were a few papers in which n-back related tasks were related to a transfer in fluid intelligence 2-4. Other articles I've read were dealing with elder age groups looking to minimize or eliminate decline. I'm wondering if there is anything evidenced to improve upon normal.
I figured that it would be best to ask the members of the forum, since there seems to be so many half-truths and pseudo-science dealing with brain improvement. So, as in my topic description, does anyone know of evidenced-based ways to improve things such as spatial reasoning, memory, and general intelligence?
Source:
1. (Abstract Only) http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v465/n7299/full/nature09042.html
2. (PDF) http://bungelab.berkeley.edu/News/jaeggi_2008_PNAS.pdf
3. (PDF) http://www.psy.unibe.ch/unibe/philhuman/psy/apn/content/e5616/e5621/e7504/e7774/files7775/Download_ger.pdf
4. (PDF) http://www.gwern.net/docs/qiu2009.pdf
Edit: Additional citation.