Fluid
ability is the ability to tackle new unfamiliar problems, that require making
inferences, generalizations, abstract thinking, planning, monitoring and flexible
thinking.
Who wouldn't like to improve his
fluid ability?
It
might be possible – through practice in n-back tasks.
What is an n-back task?
It's an apparently simple task: one is presented with a series of items (pictures,
numbers etc.) that are presented sequentially.
The person responds (by pushing a button or verbally) every time that
the item presented is identical with the item presented n items ago. For example, in a 2- back task, the person
responds every time the item presented is identical with the item presented 2 items ago. In a 3- back task, the person responds every
time the item presented is identical with the item presented 3 items ago.
This might sound simple, but it's not easy at
all (said from a personal experience). You should try it! In this site the task is presented as a nice
looking game:
As you'll see, practice improves performance
in this "game". You can progress
to higher levels: 3-back, 4-back and further.
This task also has a dual version (I would
call it an "extreme" version).
In this version, a person has to follow 2 different series of items (one
visual and the other auditory) simultaneously, and to respond (by pressing a
button) when in each of the series the item presented is identical with the
item presented n times ago.
In this research,
The relationship between n-back
performance and matrix reasoning — implications for training and transfer
Susanne M. Jaeggi , Barbara
Studer-Luethi , Martin Buschkuehl ,Yi-Fen Su John Jonides , Walter
J. Perrig Intelligence (2010)
the researchers tried to find out whether practice
in an n-back task affects university student's fluid ability and working memory.
Fluid ability was measured by matrices tests, and working memory was assessed
by a test that required participants to recall a sequence of stimuli in the
correct order in addition to completing a distracting processing task.
Some of the students practiced with an n-back
task for a month. They practiced in
their maximal ability level (3-back, 4-back and so on), to make the practice
effective. They practiced 20 minutes per
day for four weeks. Following practice,
they all improved on the n-back task. Some students reached a 7-back
level (I think I can only dream about reaching this level)!
Fluid ability and working memory were re-measured
following practice. Performance in the matrices tests
improved following n-back practice!
Performance in working memory tests did not improve.
What does the n-back task train?
It might be training memory span.
Memory span is a narrow ability within "short term
memory". Memory span is the ability
to maintain items in immediate awareness and to produce them immediately. "Forward digit span" is a good
example of a memory span test.
The n – back, like other memory span tasks,
requires maintaining the order of the heard or seen items in immediate
awareness. While the item list in other memory tasks is "static",
here one has to keep track of information that keeps flowing in throughout task
performance, and concurrently keep track of the number of items presented after
each item. This makes the task more
complex than other memory span tasks.
This task requires a different kind of manipulation
than other working memory tasks (like "backward digit span"). This explains
it's relatively low correlation with working memory measures.
What explains the n-back task's influence on
fluid ability? It might be the fact that one has to deal quickly with "online"
information, compare it with existing information while updating this existing
information. This makes it a task that
is related with fluid ability.