Is the link from working memory to analogy causal? No analogy improvements following working memory training gains

Analogical reasoning has been hypothesized to critically depend upon working memory through correlational data, but less work has tested this relationship through experimental manipulation. An opportunity for examining the connection between working memory and analogical reasoning has emerged from t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-09, Vol.9 (9), p.e106616-e106616
Main Authors: Richey, J Elizabeth, Phillips, Jeffrey S, Schunn, Christian D, Schneider, Walter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Biology and Life Sciences
Brain research
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive ability
Data processing
Female
Humans
Language
Learning - physiology
Male
Mathematical problems
Memory
Memory tasks
Memory, Short-Term - physiology
Mental task performance
Problem solving
Psychology of learning
R&D
Reasoning
Research & development
Short term memory
Social Sciences
Students
Studies
Success
Task complexity
Training
Visual tasks
Young Adult
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Summary:Analogical reasoning has been hypothesized to critically depend upon working memory through correlational data, but less work has tested this relationship through experimental manipulation. An opportunity for examining the connection between working memory and analogical reasoning has emerged from the growing, although somewhat controversial, body of literature suggests complex working memory training can sometimes lead to working memory improvements that transfer to novel working memory tasks. This study investigated whether working memory improvements, if replicated, would increase analogical reasoning ability. We assessed participants' performance on verbal and visual analogy tasks after a complex working memory training program incorporating verbal and spatial tasks. Participants' improvements on the working memory training tasks transferred to other short-term and working memory tasks, supporting the possibility of broad effects of working memory training. However, we found no effects on analogical reasoning. We propose several possible explanations for the lack of an impact of working memory improvements on analogical reasoning.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0106616