Comparing the Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Working Memory Training on Working Memory Function in High School Males

 The main area of development that underlies most behaviors from childhood onward, throughout the lifespan, is executive function. Working memory, mental set-shifting, and response inhibition are examples of core executive functions. Working memory is considered a core cognitive system that supports complex cognitive processes. Rehabilitation interventions may contribute to improving working memory capacity. Previous research revealed that mindfulness intervention effectively improved attention, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and other executive functions by paying attention to the present time without judgments. In addition, N-back instruction for training working memory was approved as an effective way to promote working memory capacity; it was initially designed for rehabilitation purposes. Mindfulness practices and N-back training are applicable for clinical and non-clinical populations. The present research addressed working memory capacity because it may strongly predict various higher-order cognitive capabilities, including language comprehension, reasoning, and even general intelligence. N-back intervention allocates perceptual or cognitive resources to essential matters and prevents unessential issues. Furthermore, in concentrating on targets in the external world, there is a top-down attentional mechanism in working memory for tasks requiring multiple internal memory representations access and manipulation. Thus, the present study aimed to compare the effects of working memory training by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and N-back intervention.

 This quasi-experimental research a with a pretest-posttest-follow-up and a control group design. The statistical population included all high school students in Tehran City, Iran (N=45) divided into three groups: N-back intervention, mindfulness intervention, and controls. Two experimental groups received 8 sessions of interventions. To collect the necessary data, the Tehran-Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale was used before and after interventions to test the sustainability of effectiveness. Also, Univariate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to test the hypothesis. Bonferroni test evaluated and compared two interventions (p<0.05). SPSS was used for data analysis.

 The current study findings revealed that both interventions provided significant effects on working memory capacity (p<0.001); however, the Bonferroni test data suggested that the size effect of N-back was higher than that of the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (p<0.001).

 According to the present research findings, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and N-back intervention can improve students' working memory function and capacity.