Answer: The Jaeggi-Buschkuehl dual n-back task.
The dual n-back task is is a working memory task that has been proven to increase fluid intelligence.
Fluid intelligence assesses our ability to problem-solve and reason, and it predicts educational and occupational success.
How to play the n-back game
The Jaeggi- Buschkuehl dual n-back task presents a visual and auditory stimulus at the same time. The player indicates whether the auditory or visual stimulus they have just seen is the same visual or auditory as the one presented on the previous nth occasion, so that n = 1 corresponds to the previous occasion, n=2 corresponds to the second last occasion and so on , all the way up to n = 9, corresponding to the ninth previous occasion.
It’s a hard game, trying to remember what you saw and heard several stimuli before! The game starts at 2-back. This one-minute video shows someone playing the 3-back game. The faint green circle that occasionally appears on the left indicates the last visual stimulus was correct as it previously appeared in the same location on the third previous occasion; the green circle on the right indicates the last auditory stimulus was the same as the previous third occasion.
The game is self-pacing. If you get a high enough score at one level, you automatically get promoted to the next level. But if you score poorly, you get demoted!
It’s a very hard game that requires unwavering concentration. You do get better with practice.
Where can I find the n-back game?
Click here to play the n-back game at the Cognitive Fun site. It’s free, and if you register, you get to track your progress.
What is the scientific evidence that the n-back game grows fluid intelligence?
The n-back game is the first evidence that a working memory task can improve fluid intelligence, an unrelated skill to working memory.
Click here for a summary of the 2008 study results.
Reference: Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., Jonides, J., & Perrig, W. J. (2008). Improving Fluid Intelligence With Training on Working Memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(19), 6829-6833
Click hereto read an interview with Martin Buschkuehl, one of the researchers who developed the n-back task.
Some excerpts from the interview:
Interviewer:Tell me more about the Jaeggi-Buschkuehl dual n-back task:
Martin Buschkuehl:“The students sat through about twenty-five minutes of training per day for either 8, 12, 17 or 19 days, and were tested on their fluid intelligence before and after the regimen using the Bochumer-Matrizen Test (this is a problem-solving task)”
“Participants in the experimental group did significantly better on the fluid intelligence test (which was not directly trained) than participants in the control group. Those in the control group hadn’t gone through any training. The control group did improve slightly, but real “trainees” outperformed them. Furthermore, we found that the improvement was dose-dependent: the more they trained, the larger the gain on fluid intelligence.”
Interviewer: What are the particular aspects of the University of Michigan study that surprised you the most?
Martin Buschkuehl: First, the clear transfer into fluid intelligence, that many researchers and psychologists take as fixed.
Second, I was surprised to see that the more training the better the outcome. The improvements did not seem to peak early.
Third, that all trained groups improved, no matter their respective starting points. In fact, students with lowest fluid intelligence seemed to improve the most. But that was not the main focus of our study, so we can not say much more about it.
Click on the link below for a good write-up of the n-back task study from Science Daily :
Plastic Brain Outsmarts Experts: Training Can Increase Fluid Intelligence, Once Thought To Be Fixed At Birth
ScienceDaily (2008-06-06) — Can human beings rev up their intelligence quotients, or are they stuck with IQs set by their genes at birth? Until recently, nature seemed to be the clear winner over nurture. But new research suggests that at least one aspect of a person’s IQ can be improved by training a certain type of memory. … > read full article
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