Edith Cowan University Fluid intelligence and working memory
might be improved by training on a visual working memory n-back
task (Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Jonides & Perrig, 2008). Previous
honours projects at ECU have shown no improvement in fluid
intelligence due to n-back training, and a significant increase
in fluid intelligence associated with general knowledge and
vocabulary task training. One possibility may be that visual
recognition memory may mediate the improvement in fluid
intelligence (Jaeggi et al., 2008). The present study therefore
investigates whether n-back training can increase visual
recognition memory. A sample of 47 participants underwent 20
days of cognitive training on either the single n-back task (n =
26) or a combined general knowledge and vocabulary task (n =21).
Results showed that training using the single n-back task did
not significantly increase visual recognition memory scores when
compared with general knowledge and vocabulary training.
However, participants who had high scores o