Group comparisons revealed cognitive as well as affective humour processing deficits of alcoholics in comparison with HC. The observed impairments were related to theory of mind and executive functions. The deficits may contribute to interpersonal problems and are thus of relevance to rehabilitation.

No abstract

Working memory capacity is thought to play an important role for a wide range of cognitive and noncognitive skills such as fluid intelligence, math, reading, the inhibition of pre-potent impulses or more general self-regulation abilities. Because these abilities substantially affect individuals' life trajectories in terms of health, education, and earnings, the question of whether working memory (WM) training can improve them is of considerable importance. However, whether WM training leads to improvements in these far-transfer skills is contested. Here, we examine the causal impact of WM training embedded in regular school teaching by a randomized educational intervention involving a sample of 6-7 years old first graders. We find substantial immediate and lasting gains in working memory capacity. In addition, we document relatively large positive effects on geometry skills, reading skills, Raven's fluid IQ measure, the ability to inhibit pre-potent impulses and self-regulation abilities. Moreover, these far-transfer effects emerge over time and only become fully visible after 12-13 months. Finally, we document that 3-4 years after the intervention, the children who received training have a roughly 16 percentage points higher probability of entering the academic track in secondary school.

Working memory capacity is thought to play an important role for a wide range of cognitive and noncognitive skills such as fluid intelligence, math, reading, the inhibition of pre-potent impulses or more general self-regulation abilities. Because these abilities substantially affect individuals' life trajectories in terms of health, education, and earnings, the question of whether working memory (WM) training can improve them is of considerable importance. However, whether WM training leads to improvements in these far-transfer skills is contested. Here, we examine the causal impact of WM training embedded in regular school teaching by a randomized educational intervention involving a sample of 6-7 years old first graders. We find substantial immediate and lasting gains in working memory capacity. In addition, we document relatively large positive effects on geometry skills, reading skills, Raven's fluid IQ measure, the ability to inhibit pre-potent impulses and self-regulation abilities. Moreover, these far-transfer effects emerge over time and only become fully visible after 12-13 months. Finally, we document that 3-4 years after the intervention, the children who received training have a roughly 16 percentage points higher probability of entering the academic track in secondary school.

The potential benefits and mechanistic effects of working memory training (WMT) in children are the subject of much research and debate. We show that after five weeks of school‐based, adaptive WMT 6–9 year‐old primary school children had greater activity in prefrontal and striatal brain regions, higher task accuracy, and reduced intra‐individual variability in response times compared to controls. Using a sequential sampling decision model, we demonstrate that this reduction in intra‐individual variability can be explained by changes to the evidence accumulation rates and thresholds. Critically, intra‐individual variability is useful in quantifying the immediate impact of cognitive training interventions, being a better predictor of academic skills and well‐being 6–12 months after the end of training than task accuracy. Taken together, our results suggest that attention control is the initial mechanism that leads to the long‐run benefits from adaptive WMT. Selective and sustained attention abilities may serve as a scaffold for subsequent changes in higher cognitive processes, academic skills, and general well‐being. Furthermore, these results highlight that the selection of outcome measures and the timing of the assessments play a crucial role in detecting training efficacy. Thus, evaluating intra‐individual variability, during or directly after training could allow for the early tailoring of training interventions in terms of duration or content to maximise their impact.