regarding strategy in dual n-back
regarding strategy in dual n-back
I've read that using a strategy may lessen the effect of the training on WM/gF, so now I wonder... what exactly constitutes a strategy?
I do the following: remember n elements depending on the setting, ie 4 in 4-back, as well as their order, check them against the next n elements, and then procede by checking those against the next n elements
and so forth
so the question is, should I go completely by intuition instead, or check every element individually, or is what I'm doing ok?
I do the following: remember n elements depending on the setting, ie 4 in 4-back, as well as their order, check them against the next n elements, and then procede by checking those against the next n elements
and so forth
so the question is, should I go completely by intuition instead, or check every element individually, or is what I'm doing ok?
random | 3 years ago
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The strategies come naturally and are intuition. It's not human intuition to make your task as difficult as possible.
Do whatever works for you, so long as you keep in mind that your n-back score doesn't necessarily equal another person's, in terms of translatable working memory, as they may approach the situation differently.
Most people tend to "chunk" (remember the sequence in parts), and that's perfectly fine. You will still be exercising working memory, just on a higher n-back level than people who insist on not doing this. Fighting your intuition to chunk is distracting and possibly counter-productive.
Rehearsing the sequence as it goes may seem like a good idea but it's very easy to get lost, and your n-back level will likely be very inconsistent because you're working at an unsustainably high n-back. As your ability to perform an n-back improves, you will find you won't need to question how to remember the sequence. The sequence will just stay in your head without any explicit mnemonic efforts. This is probably what people mean by intuitive, and as you practice, regardless how, you will know exactly what intuitive is in this case.
Do whatever works for you, so long as you keep in mind that your n-back score doesn't necessarily equal another person's, in terms of translatable working memory, as they may approach the situation differently.
Most people tend to "chunk" (remember the sequence in parts), and that's perfectly fine. You will still be exercising working memory, just on a higher n-back level than people who insist on not doing this. Fighting your intuition to chunk is distracting and possibly counter-productive.
Rehearsing the sequence as it goes may seem like a good idea but it's very easy to get lost, and your n-back level will likely be very inconsistent because you're working at an unsustainably high n-back. As your ability to perform an n-back improves, you will find you won't need to question how to remember the sequence. The sequence will just stay in your head without any explicit mnemonic efforts. This is probably what people mean by intuitive, and as you practice, regardless how, you will know exactly what intuitive is in this case.
? | 3 years ago
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"Do whatever works for you"
Great response!
Everybody would approach the task (as well as any task) a bit differently. Strategies are likely to break down once the task complexity increases.
However, if you reach a very complex task, and invented a strategy that makes it very easy, then that task loses its learning effect. You will know when that happens -- but for working memory tasks, most of the time it doesn't happen easily :-)
Everybody would approach the task (as well as any task) a bit differently. Strategies are likely to break down once the task complexity increases.
However, if you reach a very complex task, and invented a strategy that makes it very easy, then that task loses its learning effect. You will know when that happens -- but for working memory tasks, most of the time it doesn't happen easily :-)
cognitivefun | 3 years ago
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oh and as you probably noticed, english is not my native language, so please tell if something is unclear
random | 3 years ago
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I thought the post written by "random" was pretty accurate. However, I was wondering if there was a problem with using certain strategies like chunking. That is, do certain strategies NOT exercise working memory. Or maybe the real question is how do you operationalize/define the term working memory if people are using different strategies to remember.
Also, I was wondering if people use certain strategies because they have preconditioned strategies (they've used before, or have the tendency to use) because of their experiences.
I want to know what people think about this regardless of what is actually in the scientific literature. Although evidence would be helpful :-)
Also, I was wondering if people use certain strategies because they have preconditioned strategies (they've used before, or have the tendency to use) because of their experiences.
I want to know what people think about this regardless of what is actually in the scientific literature. Although evidence would be helpful :-)
acomdata | 3 years ago
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