Cognitive Training Enhances Working Memory Capacity in Healthy Adults. A Pilot Study

Working Memory (WM) was previously conceptualized as a heritable trait resistant to extraneous influences. Recently, emerging evidence suggests that WM capacity can be improved by repeatedly using it as part of a cognitive training. In this pilot study, a new online cognitive training program is proposed. Twenty-five young healthy adults completed the training on their home computers. Before and after the training participants’ WM and attention capacity were measured. Results demonstrated that a short cognitive training produce significant improvements in participants’ WM (d = 0.91) and attention capacity (d=0.66). It appears that healthy adult participants benefit from such a cognitive training.