Improvement in working memory is not related to increased intelligence scores

The acknowledged high relationship between working memory and intelligence suggests common underlying cognitive mechanisms and, perhaps, shared biological substrates. If this is the case, improvement in working memory by repeated exposure to challenging span tasks might be reflected in increased int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Intelligence (Norwood) 2010-09, Vol.38 (5), p.497-505
Main Authors: Colom, Roberto, Quiroga, Mª Ángeles, Shih, Pei Chun, Martínez, Kenia, Burgaleta, Miguel, Martínez-Molina, Agustín, Román, Francisco J., Requena, Laura, Ramírez, Isabel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attention
Biological and medical sciences
Cognitive Ability
Cognitive improvements
College students
Correlation
Deviation
Difficulty Level
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Information processing
Instructional Effectiveness
Intelligence
Intelligence Tests
Learning. Memory
Memory
Pretests Posttests
Processing speed
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Scores
Separated
Short Term Memory
Student Improvement
Undergraduate Students
Working memory
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Summary:The acknowledged high relationship between working memory and intelligence suggests common underlying cognitive mechanisms and, perhaps, shared biological substrates. If this is the case, improvement in working memory by repeated exposure to challenging span tasks might be reflected in increased intelligence scores. Here we report a study in which 288 university undergraduates completed the odd numbered items of four intelligence tests on time 1 and the even numbered items of the same tests one month later (time 2). In between, 173 participants completed three sessions, separated by exactly one week, comprising verbal, numerical, and spatial short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WMC) tasks imposing high processing demands (STM–WMC group). 115 participants also completed three sessions, separated by exactly one week, but comprising verbal, numerical, and spatial simple speed tasks (processing speed, PS, and attention, ATT) with very low processing demands (PS-ATT group). The main finding reveals increased scores from the pre-test to the post-test intelligence session (more than half a standard deviation on average). However, there was no differential improvement on intelligence between the STM-WMC and PS-ATT groups.
ISSN:0160-2896
1873-7935
DOI:10.1016/j.intell.2010.06.008