Relative effectiveness of general versus specific cognitive training for aging adults.

Abstract

In the present study, we examined three experimental cognitive interventions, two targeted at training general cognitive abilities and one targeted at training specific instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) abilities, along with one active control group to compare benefits of these interventions beyond expectation effects, in a group of older adults (N = 230). Those engaged in general training did so with either the web-based brain game suite BrainHQ or the strategy video game Rise of Nations, while those trained on IADL skills completed instructional programs on driving and fraud awareness. Active control participants completed sets of puzzles. Comparing baseline and postintervention data across conditions, none of the preregistered primary outcome measures demonstrated a significant interaction between session and intervention condition, indicating no differential benefits. Analysis of expectation effects showed differences between intervention groups consistent with the type of training. Those in the IADL training condition did demonstrate superior knowledge for specific trained information (driving and finances). Twelve months after training, significant interactions between session and intervention were present in the primary measure of fraud detection, as well as the secondary measures of the letter sets task and Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test. However, the specific source of these interactions was difficult to discern. At 1-year follow-up those in the IADL condition did not maintain superior knowledge of driving and finances gained through training, as was present immediately postintervention. Hence, the interventions, when compared to an active control condition, failed to show general or specific transfer in a meaningful or consistent way.

Individualistic Versus Collaborative Learning in an eHealth Literacy Intervention for Older Adults: Quasi-Experimental Study

“…However, it is possible that a worse long-term impact might have been observed overall if a longer follow-up was used, such as 1 year. A recent study assessing cognitive training for older adults found that little or no benefit remained 1 year after intensive initial training [63]. This study's findings suggest a need for resources to provide continuous training or periodic boosting given that benefits gained from pre-to posttest measurement dropped after 6 months.…”

Outcomes of Cognitive-Communication Intervention in Traumatic Brain Injury: a Case Study

“…The interventions mainly aim at re-establishing or reinforcing the previously learned skills which include repeated exercise of tasks, increasing in complexity, and those targeting certain cognitive domains, developing compensatory strategies for cognitive deficits such as use of electronic memory devices, calendars and alarms, and/or facilitating adaptation to irremediable cognitive impairments (Koehler et al, 2012).Cognitive communication rehabilitation includes the parameters of general interventions which target a range of cognitive processes, and cognitive specific interventions which target a specific cognitive process such as memory or attention (Sanjuán et al, 2020;Gray et al, 2022). Much remains to be learned about the kinds of training programmes that provide meaningful changes beyond the specific skills trained.…”

Effectiveness of Different Neurocognitive Intervention Approaches on Functionality in Healthy Older Adults: A Systematic Review

“…Timed Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (TIADL) [13,[34][35][36], The Everyday Problem Test (EPT) [13,35,37], The Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (ADL) [31], the Chinese version of the Observed Task of Daily Living (OTDL-C) [38], and the Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB) [32] are all commonly used in assessing cognitive function in older adults. The IADL scale [31,[39][40][41][42][43], ECB test [26,27], Barthel Index [42], OTDL tasks [37], Chula ADL index [44], EPCCE [25], and DAFS [25] were utilized. The most employed were the IADL scale and its timed version, the TIADL.…”