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Dual N-back is also available for free online at http://cognitivefun.net (under Tests -> Memory) along with other well-known psychological tasks, including visual/auditory reaction time test, Eriksen flanker test, Stroop test, various flavors of the digit span test, paced serial addition test, and more.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=you-can-i...
Here is a pretty nice (and informative) article based on the research behind the Dual N-back game. http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=you-can-i...
"In the study performed by Susanne M. Jaeggi et. al., study subjects practiced the dual n-back test for about 20 minutes a day for up to 19 days. At the end of that time, the subjects were shown to have increased intelligences (as measured by gF)." An improvement in intelligence that becomes apparent after only 19 days smells too good to be true. Correct me if I'm wrong, but surely someone that practices IQ test prob…
The effects are test-independent. That was sort of the point of the study. You will certainly get better at the dual-n-back game, but the gains apply elsewhere, not just to game itself. It has much to do (they think) with the interconnectedness of fluid intelligence and working memory. I wrote about this fairly in depth here: http://www.ajkesslerblog.com/how-to-get-smarter/
Nicholas Carr has written a nice piece on this http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2011/04/grand_theft_att.ph...
I found it incredibly frustrating that for whatever reason the author decided to have A for location and L for audio. Perhaps this is a bug?
Can anyone reccomend a good iPhone or android version?
Android : Brain N-Back https://market.android.com/details?id=phuc.entertainment.dua... It's well done with good features and free (I am using it since couple of weeks). I think it's a port of this open source project: http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The effects are test-independent. That was sort of the point of the study. You will certainly get better at the dual-n-back game, but the gains apply elsewhere, not just to game itself. It has much to do (they think) with the interconnectedness of fluid intelligence and working memory. I wrote about this fairly in depth here: http://www.ajkesslerblog.com/how-to-get-smarter/
That's the really contentious part of the claim. There's evidence that these games may make you better at performing certain tasks - but there's very little that video games make you generally smarter. Nicholas Carr has written a nice piece on this http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2011/04/grand_theft_att.ph...
The article you linked doesn't have much to do with the claims about dual-n-back. It seems to be referring exclusively to traditional video games, with most of the claimed benefits relating to hand-eye coordination, spacial recognition, reaction times, stimulus processing, etc. Dual-n-back, and improving working memory, is a totally different animal.