Training improves the capacity of visual working memory when it is adaptive, individualized, and targeted

PLoS One. 2015 Apr 2;10(4):e0121702. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121702. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

The current study investigated whether training improves the capacity of visual working memory using individualized adaptive training methods. Two groups of participants were trained for two targeted processes, filtering and consolidation. Before and after the training, the participants, including those with no training, performed a lateralized change detection task in which one side of the visual display had to be selected and the other side ignored. Across ten-day training sessions, the participants performed two modified versions of the lateralized change detection task. The number of distractors and duration of the consolidation period were adjusted individually to increase the task difficulty of the filtering and consolidation training, respectively. Results showed that the degree of improvement shown during the training was positively correlated with the increase in memory capacity, and training-induced benefits were most evident for larger set sizes in the filtering training group. These results suggest that visual working memory training is effective, especially when it is adaptive, individualized, and targeted.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Learning / physiology*
  • Male
  • Memory Consolidation / physiology*
  • Memory, Short-Term / physiology*
  • Sensory Gating / physiology*
  • Task Performance and Analysis
  • Visual Perception / physiology

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Korean Government (MEST, No. 2011-0025005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.