Session number: 6 – 17
Average n-back: 8.5
Duration (min.): 75
Morning. Ran.
OK. I don’t know what happened today, but I somehow surpassed my previous best (of 7.95) by more than half a point. For all but a couple of blocks I felt very well focused and clear-headed.
n=7. Two misses.
n=8. Three misses.
n=8. Five misses.
n=8. Two misses.
n=9. Four misses.
n=9. Four misses.
n=9. Four misses.
n=9. Six misses.
n=8. Two misses.
n=9. Five misses.
n=9. Four misses.
n=9. Six misses.
n=8. Seven misses.
n=7. One miss.
n=8. Four misses.
n=8. One miss.
n=9. Five misses.
n=9. Four misses.
n=9. Two misses.
n=10. Five misses.
Finishing with a mean n of 8.5
Brain Fitness Pro working-memory training report.
This post was submitted by martin.
Tags: Brain Exercises, brain-fitness, brain-fitness-pro, buschkuehl, increase intelligence, increase IQ, intelligence-training, IQ-training, jaeggi, martin-buschkuehl, mind-sparke, susanne-jaeggi, Training Working-Memory, working-memory
Wow, good work. Other than crosswords getting easier, have you noticed any other effects by now?
Well done! 8.5 is getting up there. I’d also be curious to know what gains you feel you’ve made. Even if you’re utilizing strategies to get to that level, then you’re ability for ‘updating’ and focus still has to be phenomenal nevertheless.
Hi David, Will.
I am very pleased to have made this jump. I’ve been hovering in the sevens for a long time (almost three full training periods, I think). So it was good to get a boost like this.
What I’ve been feeling recently (the last couple of months) and particularly yesterday, has been the greater ability to provided sustained and deep concentration. This is also what I’ve been noticing in everyday life. I can turn my attention to things and hold it there. And this also translates into a much greater speed when processing or synthesizing complex material — either that I’m absorbing or that I’m producing.
(This comment, for instance, would have taken me two or three times as long to frame and write a few months ago.)
Martin
Martin, thanks for the feedback about your experience. I think that’s what I’ve been feeling too, though it’s hard to tell due of the subjective nature of it all. I’m about at Will’s level right now and think that I am starting to notice some consistent changes. I don’t think I’ve become any better at memorizing or retaining information, but I think I may be picking up concepts somewhat quicker than before. Hard to tell though. If there truly is an effect, my sense is that it would be more noticeable to someone in a field like math or physics where reasoning has a more direct relationship with performance, rather than medicine where memorization of facts is still an important and necessary part of performance.
Will, I don’t know if you saw, but I responded to your “Session 114″ post with a link to a free online version of the Raven’s. Go back and take a look if you’re still interested.
Dave
Martin, I’ve noticed that as well, though what has not improved is my ability to do what I’m supposed to do regarding mundane activities (procrastination). I try to compensate for this by not watching (that great time waster) television, but I do find myself tracking otiose celebrity news, human interest stories and other frivolities. Interestingly, online news now has people programmed so that we’re tracking scientific discoveries with celebrity fashion faux paus/bad hair days. Lack of compartmentalization reflects the Flynn effect, I think, in that the controllers of the media have more faith in the person with average intelligence (internet users average about 107, so that’s a bit above) to track events without wondering what is important versus what isn’t. All is laid out to be imbibed. Some might see this as a debasement of the news as “infotainment”, but I see it as media’s faith in the intelligence of the average person. This thesis has been put forward in more detail by Steven Johnson’s “Everything Bad is Good for you.” It goes without saying that there can be no faith without profit…and the media’s motivation is not education for education’s sake but revenue.
All this is to say, I find myself assimilating more news, “important” to the “frivolous” which has more to do with how I’m being programmed as the essence of Time and People Magazine interweave into one entity on the internet. But even important internet news is rather meant to be gobbled up and expended – unlike serious fiction and non-fiction, which require the sort of “deep concentration” you refer to. I think the dual n back training helps with the gobbling up of daily detritus as well as more in depth study.
For me, the problem mainly has to do with motiving myself to find a place where I won’t be disturbed and I can engage in non-online reading. Once I get in the zone, my concentration has improved greatly and I can read and grasp what’s in front of me, barring unfamiliar technical language.
All this points to the non cognitive realm of discipline. But what I’m starting to realize is that the culture influences the way I read in both a positive & negative way (net surfing, both a boon to expansiveness and detriment to a more incisive style of thinking); I find the onus is on me to continue to learn the old fashioned way (libraries) so that my intellect does more than surf widely but shallowly. To reconcile two modes of taking in information is a way to benefit in part from the media and yet still go beyond it; be more aggressive in pursuit of the sort of knowledge that’s still best found, bound in books.
Yes. I still procrastinate on the things I don’t want to do, too! But when I do want to do something I’m right on it.
I should have mentioned that the other big area of change I’ve noticed is in music — both playing and listening. The change was dramatic and has been maintained.
When I play I’m much better able to keep up with what I’m doing and what I should be doing next. This helps with picking up new material as well as finding better touch with familiar material.
When I listen I can better separate out the instruments and parts being played, and I can hear more deeply into the music itself, leading to a greater appreciation for the artist or the performance.
Each of these is a wonderful gift from the training as far as I’m concerned.
Martin
Hi there Will:
Looking for inspiration in your decision to take control of your learning? Join me on http://www.librarything.com/ – in my opinion LibraryThing is the best resource out there for keeping track of books, and for figuring out what to read next.
Add me as a friend via the username ShaunLuttin.
Warm regards,
Shaun.