Don’t Take the Bait – Education & Teacher Conferences Skip to main content

Don’t Take the Bait

AdobeStock_113874849_Credit

Some days I wonder if I have linked to too many articles debunking claims about “brain training games.” Invariably, as soon as this thought crosses my mind, I hear another advertisement for Lumosity, and I realize that I haven’t linked to debunking articles often enough.

So, as my public service for today, here’s another study that makes this point:

People who practiced games that were supposed to improve working memory got better at the games, but they didn’t get better at other working memory tasks.

Put another way: you might decide to spend $15 a month for the fun of playing such games. But, don’t do so because you think they’ll help your cognitive functioning. So far, we just don’t have good evidence that they do.

(Just as a reminder: Lumosity was fined $ 2,000,000 for deceptive advertising.)

 


Recent Blogs

Interleaving Meets Prequestioning: A Powerful Combination for Learning?
Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an intriguing research...

From Facts to Application: The Surprising Power of Repeated Retrieval
Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson

The more time you've spent in Learning and the Brain...

From Lab to Life: Testing Study Strategies with 2,500+ Real Students
Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson

Research-based conclusions often appeal to us because of their tidy...