Near and Far Transfers in the Training of Working Memory Capacity through Simple Span Tasks

Aim and Due to the central role of working memory in general cognition, in recent years, programs for enhancing working memory capacity are of high interest for researchers from different areas in psychology. The purpose of the present research was to study the effects of enhancing working memory capacity using simple span tasks on near and far transfers in male adolescents with low working memory capacity.
Methods and Materials: 30 adolescents from high schools in Damghan City, Iran, who had low working memory capacity were voluntarily chosen and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Participants in the experimental group received training in simple span working memory tasks in 20 sessions. Tasks used for pre- and post-tests and follow-up assessments included the Wechsler numeral auditory and visual working memory span tasks and the N-back working memory updating task.
Findings: Working memory training using simple span tasks led to improvement of auditory working memory (P This research provided evidence for near transfer in some tasks when simple span tasks are used for training; however, no significant effect was obtained in far transfer tasks.