The article “Is working memory Training Effective” is an in-depth piece about the essential elements of working memory with regard to whether or not it can be subject to training. The author asks some very intriguing questions on this matter and towards the conclusion makes a clear-cut judgment on the discrepancy between existing literature on this matter, and what has been empirically proven.
In Essence, the working memory has to do with a high mental process of cognition. People are able to remember several moments, events, items and even people. However the working memory has to do with what is presently being consciously perceived and processed in terms of language and its part of the short term memory responsible for computation of information. According to his research, Zach finds out that working memory has been linked to individual differences such as language and numerical processing as well as comprehension and aptitudes relating to math and verbal capabilities in children as young as four years of age.
Training, as described by the Author refers to capacity of exercising the working memory to the point of having a relatively high capacity working memory. However, one of his main concerns are the control groups used during such experiments that have been carried out before. This concern is relevantly expressed in that control groups allow for a clear explanation of variables being tested since they not only help avoid confounding results, but keep test-re-tests meant for proving reliability at bay (Shipstead, Redick, & Engle, 2012). The issues relating to control groups such as the Hawthorne effect, where research participants are likely to pick up on the fact that they are not expected to show any sort of improvement after the post and pretest examinations are also key areas of Zach’s concern.
The second area that is questioned is whether or not subjective measures are accounted for especially after subjects have undergone the training. Aside from what is done to experiment on the working memory improvement in lab settings it is necessary to figure out whether the same extends outside the experimental setting and to what extent the improvement being sited is left to bias e.g. improvements accredited to receiving treatment rather than actual changes made because of the treatment.
The article is quite comprehensive and this is a strength since it highlights all the areas where working memory and training are involved from memory involving children to adults to those who have ADHD. This makes it credible and all inclusive which is good for a research paper in academia.
There is a lot of information from the book on Adult development and aging which links to the article by Zach on the relationship between working memory and age. According to research there is a possibility of lower processing and problem solving capability of individuals in their elderly years. However, it has yet to be proven whether the age related decrements are universal on the working memory (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2002 p181).
The link however is where elderly people have been known to suffer from a decreased capacity when it comes to encoding of information and retrieval. Since these are essential elements of memory, which are necessary during processing, especially where individuals are tasked with holding information mentally and concurrently using the information in some instance with new information being received.
Many theoretical applications from the book by Cavanaugh stand out from the article as well especially on issues regarding training of memory at old age and how each individual actually has an active role to play in improving memory. The lesson sticks out pretty clearly. There is a chunk of evidence that points towards the importance of practicing memory exercises and memory training not just while approaching old age but during early stages as well, this is because it helps the brain strengthen its work as far as memory is concerned.
References
Cavanaugh, J. & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2014). Adult development and aging. Nelson Education.
Shipstead, Z., Redick, T. S., & Engle, R. W. (2012). Is working memory training effective? Psychological Bulletin, 138(4), 628–654. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0027473
