How a group of researchers from the Universities of Bern and Michigan managed to significantly improve the fluid intelligence of people through a training regimen of - no less and no more - memory games
Some of us are smarter, some of us less so. This fact cannot be argued with, and it is perpetuated every year in the IQ tests. But most IQ tests try to measure two different types of intelligence. The first type is the 'crystalline' intelligence, which is built on the acquired skills, knowledge and past experience of the examinee. The second type reflects the examinee's ability to solve new problems and is called 'liquid intelligence'.
Because fluid intelligence is largely related to success at work and in school, for over forty years researchers and educators have been trying to find a way to increase it, without success. Until recently, fluid intelligence was considered to be mainly hereditary, and immune to the effects of education and culture.
In the last few days, a study was published in PNAS, which may give hope to many people. In the article, a group of researchers from the University of Bern and Michigan describe how they were able to significantly improve the fluid intelligence of people through a training regime of - no less and no more - memory games. Short-term memory is what we use to remember a phone number or email address for a short time. In addition, it allows us to manipulate information stored for a short time in the brain, even in the face of disturbances and distractions.
According to the researchers' assumption, fluid intelligence and short-term memory are jointly limited in their total capacity. We are limited in our ability to concentrate on various problems, among other things due to a 'lack of space' in the capacity of the active memory that stores the items of the problem.
The researchers recruited four groups of volunteers and put them through a short-term memory training program. Before the first training, the level of fluid intelligence of each of the participants in the experiment was tested. They trained for about half an hour a day for eight, 12, 17 or 19 days. At the end of each of the training periods, the achievements of the trainees were tested again in fluid intelligence tests. To make sure that they did not improve in the second test only from the training they received in the first test, the researchers also used control groups that did not undergo training but only did the first test.
The results were surprisingly clear. Although the control groups improved slightly in their scores, probably due to familiarity with the first test, the trained groups improved significantly more than the control groups. Furthermore, the longer the volunteers were trained, the more their scores improved.
"Our findings clearly show that training in certain memory tasks improves fluid intelligence," says Susanna Jaige, lead author of the paper. "We find that even people with low fluid intelligence scores can benefit from training."
The training system, as presented in the study, can therefore help people raise their fluid intelligence: solve problems faster and better, find connections between different factors and reach a better understanding of logical arguments. All of these are required, at a high level, to advance in many professions.
"The overall improvement amounts to 20%, but varies according to the training time. The group that trained for eight days improved by about two percent, while the group that trained for 19 days improved by 40%," says Jaigi Liden, but adds that, "It is important to note that we do not claim that we made people 40% smarter. These are just the number of additional problems solved in the final test, compared to the preliminary test. These are raw results and not IQ scores."
It is possible that when the technology advances and the understanding of the mechanisms behind it, applications will be developed to increase the intelligence of children with developmental difficulties and of the elderly who are losing their memories. It is still not possible to determine whether there is potential for technology in these channels as well, because the test results were based on the results of young and healthy students.
"We are indeed now starting a program for children (and we have trained children in the past)," Jaigi says in an interview with the science website, but adds that, "currently there is no data that we can share with the public - this is a work in progress."
Despite the great excitement in the brain and intelligence research community, there are still many questions that require answers. Is the improvement in intelligence maintained over time? Were the results obtained as a result of the particular memory game used by the researchers, or can any memory game be used?
Robert J. Sternberg, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University, points out in a parallel article that it is necessary to repeat the study with additional tests in order to properly gauge the improvement in fluid intelligence. The only questions that appeared in the test were of the type of geometric matrices. Matrix expressions are considered an excellent way to test fluid intelligence, but they require a high involvement of the short-term memory.
Sternberg points out that this criticism does not negate the importance of the results of the research by Jaigi and her colleagues, but indicates that their ground-breaking study will surely be the first in a long line of subsequent studies.
Jaigi concludes that, "There may be a type of memory training linked to intelligence, which actually helps. The saying 'use it or lose it' probably applies here.”
Anyone interested is invited to practice independently in the same way as the one used in the article, The attached link (on behalf of the University of Bern).
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This article was originally published in June 2008. It's January 2014 and as far as I know we haven't heard anything more about this team of researchers' “breakthrough”. Hence, unfortunately, there probably wasn't a breakthrough, or alternatively, I'm not up to date...
The point I wanted to highlight is:
The university is a body on behalf of the state.
A body on behalf of the state is responsible for taking care of the entire population.
The actual situation is exactly the opposite.
The university promotes the economically strong at the expense of the economically weak.
This is done regardless of the student's cognitive ability.
ב
A) True. Like everything….
b) Nothing indicates the individual. There are penniless geniuses and retarded rich. But that's not what we're talking about.
c) I agree with you here. One drags the other.
So it seems to me that we agree that there is a certain correlation between the two things. There is a difficult problem of cultural differences, which needs to be addressed. But Elia and Kotz Ba - remember the stolen generations in Australia, and the story in the land of the children of Yemen. It is dangerous to decide what is good for others…
Thanks!
Below are some pre-reading notes.
They may change after reading.
a) Wikipedia says that the book is controversial.
b) GDP does not indicate anything about the income level of a certain family in relation to the population.
c) Even if there is a correlation, it is not clear what the cause is. Does a high income cause a high result in an intelligence test or vice versa.
It is not for nothing that they talk about intelligence tests that do not depend on culture. In my opinion, to this day they have not succeeded in making them independent of culture.
Note that in a family with a high income there is also time and additional resources that are available for raising the level of intelligence. On the other hand, in a family with a low income there is no time and there are no other resources needed for this.
It is no coincidence that institutes for improving grades pop up like mushrooms after the rain. And it is no coincidence that they are located in areas with a relatively wealthy population.
ב
The studies have been carried out and the result is known.... You are welcome to read IQ and the Wealth of Nations.
I believe the result is unknown.
Right...and I think the result is known.
Miracles:
I assume you meant "what if" and not "what if" as you wrote.
Indeed, this is an interesting question and I think it is worth investigating.
ב
And what if the correlation between the level of intelligence of those families and their income?
I wonder which correlation is higher:
Correlation between the grades and the student's level of intelligence
או
Correlation between the grades and the economic level of the student's family.
Why are the results of research not published in this matter?
For a moment I thought this was an article from 2008 🙂
Oops, that's really true.
To an unidentified user, who asked about IQ improvement.
Basically, improving IQ is something that depends on childhood, and therefore it is a task of the parents.
But even adults can take steps to improve. Like any other muscle. There are articles on the subject, if I find something soon, I will bring it here.
A link to their software in English - and not as it is possible on the website, which is a link in German:
http://www.apn.psy.unibe.ch/lenya/apn/live/anwendung/braintwister-e.html
very interesting
All of you here are really crazy
Artello:
If this is what you claimed more than once, then you more than once claimed something wrong.
There is a difference between short-term memory (working memory) and just memory.
Working memory determines, among other things, the degree of complexity of the mental image you can store and process and therefore it determines the complexity of things you can even understand.
More than once I have claimed that there is no interest in the psychometric tests
is to define who has a better memory and who does not
Without truly reflecting the person's understanding
This is the problem of man in modern society
Don't read books
Do not activate the head
Just watching TV and reading short texts on the computer
So their thinking is already degenerating
I once heard that there are games that improve the IQ. Can anyone tell me which games improve the IQ?
This is a known trick that all the charlatan memory improvement companies use.
You trained in a certain DOMAIN - you improved in it, but only in it! (see sudoku case)
The effect on intelligence (processing capacity, ability to solve problems) in general - or on other DOMAINS, does not exist.
There is no substitute for constantly employing the mind: curiosity, thinking, storing knowledge.
You don't have to keep Bern away. There is Israeli software that does the job in the best way.
MindFit The brain gym of the CogniFit company from Yokneam.
The company was founded by Professor Shlomo Barzanitz, one of the world's leading psychologists in the field of cognition.
For anyone interested in more details *3757 or 1-700-500-232.
Successfully!
Ehud Shapira
Today, there are already software designed to improve memory. Does this mean it improves intelligence?
fibonacci,
The preparation institutes are based on the simple and well-known principle that training on a certain type of problems leads to an improvement in the ability to solve them. What no preparatory institute has been able to prove is that training on a certain type of problem leads to an improvement in the ability to solve problems of a completely different type. This is the breakthrough of the researchers in the current study.
Markets:
Where do you get this confidence from?
Do you really think you know what would have happened if?
IQ tests are problem solving tests. A person who solves problems better is more intelligent. People like to slander IQ tests, but I have yet to see anyone offer an alternative.
There is a very good correlation between success in these tests and success in studies.
giving:
I'm not sure I understand what you mean, but it reminds me a bit of what is called "emotional intelligence" and not "personal intelligence".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence
to markets
In addition to the intelligence that is tested, there is such a thing as personal intelligence, which from what I understand is the ability of a human being to communicate with people so that a person who is talking to you seems smart, not necessarily "intelligent" or vice versa of course
It turns out that they are a bit disconnected if they are not familiar with the various preparation institutes.
It is not clear how much it helps in the long term. Every freak study is published in the world.
All this means is that intelligence tests do not measure intelligence. After all, any of us who met the participants in the experiment before and after the training - would not have the impression that they became more intelligent.
That is - IQ tests do not measure what we all call "intelligence". This has been known for a long time and it's a shame that this stupid tool is still being used
On the other hand, you might not be able to be a police officer
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06E2DB143DF93AA3575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&partner=digg&exprod=digg
I am sending a link to Ruchama Avraham
Tend to be persuaded by the review of Robert J. Sternberg
Yes, but after entering this site the IQ drops
http://www.braintwister.unibe.ch/
Someone post links to personal improvement exercises
May we all become smarter...
Why invest so much? Sit them in front of channel 2 and see how all the liquid evaporates.