Moderators of Cognitive Training: Individual Differences and Motivational Factors

Abstract

Despite the potential benefits that improving executive function and working memory might have for performance at school and work, the use of cognitive training as a means to augment these capacities remains controversial. There is consensus that training leads to improvements on the tasks themselves, as well as limited near-transfer. However, there is little agreement regarding whether meaningful far transfer can be demonstrated. In the present work I consider the causes of these varied outcomes, first through a historical perspective, and then through a focus on the influence of individual-difference factors on the outcome of cognitive training. One particular factor that is known to influence the outcome of other interventions, motivation, has not been well-studied in the context of cognitive training. In three studies I examine the influence of motivation, broadly defined, on the outcome of training interventions. Study 1 explores how children might respond to different versions of a cognitive training program that include certain game-like features that are thought to be motivational. Contrary to my expectations, I found that children performed better on the versions of the training that did not include certain common “engagement” features. I interpret this finding as evidence that features that distract from the core task might actually reduce performance early in training. Study 2 examines the influence of extrinsic monetary reward on the outcome of a training program in young adults. Again, contrary to my expectations, I found that payment did not have an undermining effect on training or transfer performance, although it may have been responsible for some differences at baseline. Study 3 explores several individual difference factors, including motivation and baseline cognitive performance, on the outcome of a transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) augmented working memory training program in adults. I found that both baseline performance and motivation influenced the outcome of the intervention, but only among participants who did not receive active stimulation. From these studies I conclude that motivation may have a nuanced and multifaceted influence on the outcome of training interventions. Finally, I briefly discuss the implications of these findings and what might be done to improve future cognitive training research more generally.