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Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

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Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#211

Post by beilabs »

Just going to plug a product I was working on for a while.

Active Memory (From ABC), was working really closely with a team of neuroscientists out of Australia. Lots of their data goes directly into research programs. Here's the blurb from their site:

"Active Memory has been developed in partnership with the University of Melbourne and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. The program is built on a breakthrough statistical model that examines your game results and serves up a customised training schedule that challenges your brain at just the right level of difficulty. Most importantly, the program aims to measure the changes that are happening to your cognition, based on your training. Critically, your participation in Active Memory will contribute to one of the largest studies of its kind into brain training and its potential health benefits."

Was a really great team to work with. Had a very different angle from Luminosity and was held to very strict advertising controls through being a part of ABCs commercial arm.

https://www.activememory.com

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#212

Post by api_or_ipa »

beilabs wrote: post #211

Just going to plug a product I was working on for a while. Active Memory (From ABC), was working really closely with a team of neuroscientists out of Australia. Lots of their data goes directly into research programs. Here's the blurb from their site: "Active Memory has been developed in partnership with the University of Melbourne and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. The program is built on a…

The ABC is the Australian Broadcasting Corp, in the same category as the BBC and the CBC

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#214

Post by DiabloD3 »

kazinator wrote: post #85
kolbe wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then why the downvote? If I was just falling into your deliberate trap, you shouldn't be taking it out on my karma.

I never simultaneously downvote and reply to something. That shouldn't even be allowed. The downvote can be regarded as a form of reply to something that doesn't deserve the normal reply. Under that view, it is contradictory to apply both.

Why shouldn't that be allowed? I downvote and reply to comments I've downvoted if the comment is worth responding to, ie, I say why I downvoted. I don't downvote to disagree, I downvote because the content of the comment is not constructive or useful to the thread.

In short, I just downvoted you and then replied to you.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#215

Post by lmm »

freehunter wrote: post #132
cant_kant wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a meta-analysis : " The 20 studies included here were all completed between 2008 and 2013....Sample sizes of treatment groups varied between 7 and 36 participants, and control groups between 8 and 43" "net effect of n-back training on Gf outcome measures, about the equivalent of 3–4 points on a standardized IQ test" ie: very small groups, tiny effect. Sounds dubious to me, like much research in the social "scien…

Considering the standard deviation for IQ is 15 points, I wouldn't drink an extra glass of water per day for another 3-4 IQ points, let alone play a training game for any extended amount of time. 3-4 points is statistically meaningless.

If you're of average IQ, an improvement of 0.2 standard deviations is about 8 percentiles of the population - the difference between being 15th in the class and being 12th or 13th. May not sound like much, but if we assume that translates directly into income (i.e. people of 10th percentile intelligence earn 10th percentile salaries) then that's the difference between a salary of $52k and $63k.

At the high end it's even more pronounced as the tail thins. Going from +2SD to +2.2SD is the difference between 98th percentile and 99th.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#216

Post by BillinghamJ »

neurotech1 wrote: post #22
n0us wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to see how this sort of thing could benefit people with traumatic brain injuries as it would be a great service to people suffering from this sort of malady but also probably easier to measure the effects on this group compared to a bunch of average individuals.

Cheaper EEG sensor interfacing for (neuro)feedback would be a major step forward. Using the EEG sensor with various game interfaces is possible, and has been beneficial for patients with Traumatic Brain Injury. With TBI, the issue is often connectivity between parts of the brain, and that can be measured as EEG Coherence. I agree with lettergram and others, that without feedback these type braingames don't really do…

This is what SenseLabs (https://senselabs.com) are doing with a product called Versus (https://getversus.com). It's an EEG sensor connected to an iPad where you play games.

Disclosure: I used to work for them.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#217

Post by DiabloD3 »

cableshaft wrote: post #48
georgemcbay wrote: post #29

I have something of a litmus test for companies where I just assume any company that advertises a lot via "live reads" on radio/podcasts is not to be trusted. Lumosity, LifeLock, etc. There are outliers for which I wouldn't quite say "not to be trusted" like Dollar Shave Club and Blue Apron, but even in those cases you are, IMO, overpaying for a vanishingly small amount of convenience. I think it holds up pretty well…

So I take it you don't aren't munching on your Naturebox and mailing the government (using your Stamps.com scale) your application to start a business (that you created on LegalZoom) making websites via Squarespace, all while listening to an audiobook you got from Audible, before dozing off on your Casper mattress wearing nothing but your "Me Undies"? ...I listen to too many podcasts.

Is it weird that I do business with none of those companies BECAUSE of their annoying advertising? I do not want to be advertised by those companies nor be advertised at invasively as they do, and any business I do with them will be rewarding that unwanted behavior.

I munch on bacon, send mail using normal stamps, have my lawyer do my complex legal work for me, do my websites myself in vim, read books the physical paper way, and sleep on a mattress that is of a major brand (and will be probably replaced with either a memory foam or natural latex from one of the smaller manufacturers that aren't Casper), and I wear underwear like Fruit of the Loom or Hanes.

I also know no one that does business with ANY of those companies. I'm pretty sure I'm also not in some sort of minority bubble.

Who exactly is the market for these businesses? Is this some sort of gigantic Dot-Bomb 2.0 and within the next 5 years none of these companies will still or can exist?

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#218

Post by wodenokoto »

While the research underpinning the product has always been weak in it findings, I find their goal post very low.

If we assume that brain games work, why aren't we comparing this to sudoku, Tetris, trivial pursuit or memory? Or simply reading a book, doing homework?

It's not like real life is low on intellectual challenges and if brain training is really transferable, shouldn't solving math problems be transferable too?

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#219

Post by TeMPOraL »

mikestew wrote: post #126
TeMPOraL wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would most likely only create incentive to fake the value of the car so that it seems lower than it is.

You don't get to fake anything, they look it up in a "book". States that tax you on plates/tabs based on the car's value do exactly that. State says a 2013 Audi is worth $20K, then that's what you're getting taxed on whether you think the car is worth that much or not, and mileage is not taken into account. Annoying, too, when NC said the motorcycle I was riding at the time was worth $3K. Umm, yeah, not with 120K mil…

Sorry, I assumed that the state will be taking taking mileage and general "condition" into account, and personally I'm used to people mostly buying used cars - and used car market isn't exactly a paragon of business honesty.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#220

Post by TeMPOraL »

netheril96 wrote: post #172
TeMPOraL wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, consumer testimonials. I pay very close attention to those. If I learn they're fake, I blacklist the business. If someone is willing to lie to people like that on their page, I don't want to have anything to do with them.

I am under the impression that almost all customer testimonials are fake. They are just too easy to fake one, and hard to catch one, so I assume that they are all lies.

That's my default assumption too. I don't trust them at all, though I still give the company the benefit of doubt. Innocent until proven guilty, etc. And hell, even if they're not lies, they're usually so vague as to be meaningless anyway.
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