Training-induced improvement in working memory tasks results from switching to efficient strategies

Malinovitch, Tamar; Jakoby, Hilla; Ahissar, Merav

doi:10.3758/s13423-020-01824-6

Cited by 15 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…In the nback case, it is the implicit understanding that rather than shifting item position in WM—the attended position in WM should be shifted—reducing the number of manipulations to 1 regardless of the formal load of n . As in the TRO task, not all participants show this huge improvement, but all those that do, discovered the efficient strategy ( Malinovitch et al. 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Training allows switching from limited-capacity manipulations to large-capacity perceptual processing

et al. 2022

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In contrast to perceptual tasks, which enable concurrent processing of many stimuli, working memory (WM) tasks have a very small capacity, limiting cognitive skills. Training on WM tasks often yields substantial improvement, suggesting that training might increase the general WM capacity. To understand the underlying processes, we trained a test group with a newly designed tone manipulation WM task and a control group with a challenging perceptual task of pitch pattern discrimination. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans confirmed that pretraining, manipulation was associated with a dorsal fronto-parietal WM network, while pitch comparison was associated with activation of ventral auditory regions. Training induced improvement in each group, which was limited to the trained task. Analyzing the behavior of the group trained with tone manipulation revealed that participants learned to replace active manipulation with a perceptual verification of the position of a single salient tone in the sequence presented as a tentative reply. Posttraining fMRI scans revealed modifications in ventral activation of both groups. Successful WMtrained participants learned to utilize auditory regions for the trained task. These observations suggest that the huge task-specific enhancement of WM capacity stems from a task-specific switch to perceptual routines, implemented in perceptual regions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…It would be interesting to see in the future the extent to which the TRO task is representative of other WM tasks in this aspect. We believe that reducing WM demands is a necessary part of forming efficient task-specific strategies for WM training tasks even though it can be only a part of it (see, e.g., Malinovitch et al. 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Training allows switching from limited-capacity manipulations to large-capacity perceptual processing

et al. 2022

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“…The authors argued that task‐specific working memory training improvement can only enhance performance on tasks with a similar structure where the same strategies can be successfully employed. Such strategy mediation effects have been more directly examined and observed in adults, where strategy instruction on working memory tasks significantly improved performance on the same and similarly structured working memory tasks compared to working memory training without strategies instruction (Forsberg et al, 2020; Malinovitch, Jakoby, & Ahissar, 2021). These findings, taken together, suggest that the transfer of working memory training to structurally similar non‐trained tasks may be due in part to the use of the same strategy in both training and non‐trained tasks and to the efficiency of such strategy use in working memory‐demanding conditions (e.g., Bailey, Dunlosky, & Kane, 2008; Fellman et al, 2020; von Bastian & Oberauer, 2013).…”

Section: Domain‐specific Approach Of Working Memory Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Executive Function in Reading Development and Reading Intervention

Peng

2023

Mind Brain and Education

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The current review of the role of executive function (EF) in reading provides a brief summary of analyses with a large‐scale longitudinal dataset and a meta‐analysis, along with proposing a framework for designing EF training studies. The 1st study, based on latent growth models with structured residuals, demonstrated a longitudinal reciprocal relation between reading and EF in Grades 2–5, but only for high‐performing students and not for the general population sample or those with reading difficulties. The 2nd study, based on meta‐profiling analysis and meta‐analytical structural equation modeling of 378 studies, showed unique contributions of EF to reading difficulties after controlling for language skills and suggested a reading difficulty‐EF deficit vicious cycle with development. The 3rd component of this review describes a framework for a domain‐specific approach to intervention. Based on the findings of these studies, I propose that working memory training tasks should closely link the central executive (attentional control) with the use of long‐term memory through retrieval practice in a specific academic domain, and training tasks should promote strategy use that can be effectively applied (i.e., transferred) to different academic tasks.

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“…Strategy use is an important aspect of memory and learning that contributes to individual differences in performance [1,2]. Earlier studies have indicated that spontaneous strategy employment is associated with higher performance in different memory tasks [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. However, the within-task dynamics of memory strategy use remain largely unexplored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategy use and its evolvement in word list learning: a replication study

Laine,

Fellman,

Eräste

et al. 2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

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Spontaneous strategy employment is important for memory performance, but systematic research on strategy use and within-task evolvement is limited. This online study aimed to replicate three main findings by Waris and colleagues in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2021): in word-list learning, spontaneous strategy use (1) predicts better task performance, (2) stabilizes along the task, and (3) increases during the first two task blocks. We administered a shortened version of their original real-word list-learning task to 209 neurotypical adults. Their first finding was partly replicated: manipulation strategies (grouping, visualization, association, narrative, other strategy) but not maintenance strategies (rehearsal/repetition, selective focus) were associated with superior word recall. The second finding on the decrease in strategy changers over task blocks was replicated. The third finding turned out to be misguided: neither our nor the original study showed task-initial increase in strategy use in the real-word learning condition. Our results confirm the important role of spontaneous strategies in understanding memory performance and the existence of task-initial dynamics in strategy employment. They support the general conclusions by Waris and colleagues: task demands can trigger strategy use even in a familiar task like learning a list of common words, and evolution of strategy use during a memory task reflects cognitive skill learning.

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Training-induced improvement in working memory tasks results from switching to efficient strategies

Cited by 15 publications

References 57 publications

Training allows switching from limited-capacity manipulations to large-capacity perceptual processing

Training allows switching from limited-capacity manipulations to large-capacity perceptual processing

The Role of Executive Function in Reading Development and Reading Intervention

Strategy use and its evolvement in word list learning: a replication study

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