The main disadvantage of multi-domain trainings is that their complex nature makes it hard to determine which specific features of the training regime induced transfer. Multi-domain training interventions are usually more complex and engage multiple cognitive processes (e.g., game-based training), yielding broad but often small transfer effects (e.g., Basak et al., 2008). This type of memory strategy training often resulted in large and often long-lasting improvements on the training task, but induced only limited transfer (for meta-analyses, see Verhaeghen et al., 1992 Rebok et al., 2007). It has often been applied in memory training studies and typical examples include mnemonic techniques, such as the method of loci. In addition, it makes sense to differentiate different types of cognitive training interventions: strategy-based training refers to interventions involving the training of task-specific approaches designed to support the execution of certain tasks. Thus, the comparability of previous results is often very limited. The inconsistent pattern of results may be explained by the large differences in terms of the type, intensity, and duration of the training regimes and the fact that different methodologies haven been adopted across studies.
Moreover, they oftentimes also revealed near transfer to tasks that were not explicitly trained but measured the same construct as the training task, and sometimes even far transfer to tasks measuring a different construct.ĭespite these encouraging findings, the literature clearly shows that these transfer effects were not consistent across studies, a fact that has inspired intense recent debates regarding the transferability of training-induced performance gains (e.g., Shipstead et al., 2012 Melby-Lervåg and Hulme, 2013 Redick et al., 2013). These studies usually showed significant performance improvements on the trained tasks. The many studies investigating the benefits of cognitive training interventions showed that cognitive plasticity is considerable not only in children and adolescents, but also up to old age (for recent reviews, see Buitenweg et al., 2012 Diamond, 2012 Karbach and Schubert, 2013 Kray and Ferdinand, 2013 Strobach et al., 2014 Titz and Karbach, 2014 Verhaeghen, 2014). Over the last decade, the scientific interest in cognitive interventions designed to improve cognitive functions in childhood and adolescence has been rapidly increasing. Based on recent findings, we consider how transfer of process-based executive control trainings may be supported and how interventions may be tailored to the needs of specific age groups or populations.
In this review, we provide a selective overview of the developmental literature on process-based cognitive interventions by discussing (1) the concept and the development of EFs and their neural underpinnings, (2) the effects of different types of executive control training in normally developing children and adolescents, (3) individual differences in training-related performance gains as well as (4) the potential of cognitive training interventions for the application in clinical and educational contexts. Despite the increasing popularity of these trainings, their results are neither robust nor consistent, and the transferability of training-induced performance improvements to untrained tasks seems to be limited. Given that executive control is a strong predictor for various life outcomes, such as academic achievement, socioeconomic status, and physical health, numerous training interventions have been designed to improve executive functioning across the lifespan, many of them targeting children and adolescents. These control functions are supported by the prefrontal cortex and therefore develop rapidly across childhood and mature well into late adolescence. 2Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USAĮxecutive functions (EFs) include a number of higher-level cognitive control abilities, such as cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and working memory, which are instrumental in supporting action control and the flexible adaptation changing environments.1Department of Educational Science, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
0 kommentar(er)
