Brain Training Doesn't Work

[Kyuuketsuki]

Metro: Brain Training ‘Doesn’t Work’

It's a perfect excuse for owning a handheld video console: 'I'm not playing computer games, I'm brain training!'

But do Dr Kawashima et al actually enhance learning or memory? Er, no.

Experts have concluded there is no evidence to back up claims that electronic puzzles such as Nintendo's Dr Kawa-shima's Brain Training boost memory.

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I admit when my daughter and wife got really hooked on this on the Nintendo DS and totally trounced me (I just don't think that fast) I had reservation because I'm not thick, just need time to react and consider things ... seemed to me it just showed you're just good at some things but didn't prove you were at others.

Suffice it to say I'm not overly surprised that there's no empirical support for the "smarter" claims.

Kyu

[Edwardo Piet]

Yeah. Makes sense. I can believe it. I don't see how it would work anyway? Its all so fast - how would that improve your memory anymore than doing everyday tasks that you've been doing for years anyway? I don't get it. Supposed to work. I can imagine if it works that it wouldn't do much.

And since people do everyday tasks anyway then their memory might be kind of at the limit anyway. At least short term? How do you improve your memory other than trying to remember things? If there is a way I would like to know! I want to improve my memory for REAL lol.

What I think is weird is that IQ tests - despite highly intelligent people often have higher IQs that the stupider people! - aren't perfect.

Because I don't believe memory is intelligence. Intelligence is intelligently using resources or thinking things through, etc, etc.

I don't think memorizing facts is good intelligence for example. You could memorize loads of facts but have no idea what they mean. Or you could memorize them all AND what they mean but be completely lacking in common sense!

I mean parrots repeat many things that have said before but is that intelligence?!

Maybe being intelligent makes you more likely to have a good memory. But I don't think having a good memory counts as intelligence, for example.

I would agree with Leonardo Da Vinci here: "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but rather memory."

The significantly relevant part, I think, - being that I also think intellect and memory are separate things!

If you start losing your memory are you suddenly stupid? You might act stupid have more difficulty functioning - but forgetting things doesn't mean you don't know them (they might come back to you later. Just takes you a lot longer than others because you have a bad memory), or can't think intelligently.

If you can't remember stuff on Brain Training, whether it works or not, that doesn't make you stupid. You can be highly intelligent but have a bad memory! You can have a great memory but be really stupid.

You could have a brilliant memory, but you could remember loads of things easily but not understand them or even be capable of understanding them!