Beyond the "effect of" in cognitive training studies.
We live in societies that are becoming more and more demanding in terms of the productive use of time and working hours. In addition, many people want to combine working hours with multiple interesting activities in their free time, traveling and visiting many corners of the planet, spending a lot of time with their loved ones, etc. Parents want their children to optimally develop their cognitive abilities and achieve academic success, and the elderly would like to live as many years as possible in the fullness of their physical and mental capacities.
Given the idiosyncrasies of our times, there is a growing interest in ways to improve and preserve our cognitive abilities. Numerous scientific evidence has linked several behavioral and environmental factors to an increased risk of cognitive decline, such as smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, and a sedentary lifestyle. However, the interest of society and the scientific community goes much further and has turned its attention to the effect of multiple cognitively stimulating activities that could improve our cognitive abilities. For example, reading, physical exercise, chess, playing an instrument or video games have been associated with improvements in mental capacities and delay in the cognitive decline with age.
In this article, CIMCYC researchers Rafael Román Caballero, Daniel Sanabria and Luis Ciria call for caution in drawing conclusions about these studies and raise a number of key issues that should be taken into account before being able to draw and communicate messages to society about the cognitive benefits of these activities: (1) quantify the magnitude of the effect, (2) assess the robustness of the effect, (3) test causality, (4) identify moderating variables, and (5) identify the underlying mechanisms. Taking all these issues into account should help to (6) develop more rigorous media messages, avoiding simplifications, and (7) qualify the true scope of these cognitive interventions.
Reference:
Román-Caballero, R., Sanabria, D., & Ciria, L. F. (2023). Let’s go beyond “the effect of”: Reappraising the impact of ordinary activities on cognition. Psicológica, 44(1), e15144. https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/15144
Contact:
Rafael Román Caballero (@email)
Daniel Sanabria (@email)
Luis F. Ciria (@email)