BrainTwister A collection of Cognitive Training Tasks

Martin Bu sc hku ehl, Susann e M. Jaeggi, Adrian K obel, & Walter J. Perrig  Perrig 

 A collection of cognitive training tasks Version 1.1.0 

Department of Psychology Division of Experimental Psychology and Neuropsychology ©2010

Table of Contents 1. Introduction.............................................................................................................. Introduction.............................................................................................................. 1 2. Installation ............................................................................................................... 2 2.1 System requirements ......................................................................................... 2 2.2 Installation process ............................................................................................ 2 3. Graphical User Interfaces .......................... ............. .......................... ........................... .......................... ......................... ....................... .......... 3 3.1 The simple main window ........................... .............. .......................... .......................... .......................... .......................... .................. ..... 4 3.2 The extended main window ............................................................................... 7 3.2.1 Defining a standard user .......................... ............. .......................... ........................... .......................... ........................ ............ 8 3.2.2 Single automatic user mode .......................... ............. .......................... .......................... .......................... .................... ....... 8 3.2.3 Multiple automatic users mode .......................... ............. .......................... .......................... .......................... ................ ... 9 4. The training tasks .................................................................................................. 11 4.1 Senso (sequence learning) ......................... ............ .......................... .......................... .......................... .......................... ............... 12 4.2 Visuo-spatial training........................................................................................ 14 4.3 Cat and dog span .......................... ............. .......................... .......................... .......................... .......................... ........................... .............. 16 4.4 Animal span ..................................................................................................... 20 4.5 Safari Training and Farm Training ................................................................... 21 4.5.1 Farm training: tr aining: Specific instructions for children ......................... ............ .......................... ................ ... 23 4.6 N-back Training ............................................................................................... 28 4.6.1 Visuo-spatial N-back training t raining......................... ............ .......................... .......................... .......................... .................. ..... 30 4.6.2 Auditory N-back training ......................... ............ .......................... .......................... .......................... ......................... ............ 32 4.6.3 Dual N-back training ........................... .............. .......................... .......................... .......................... .......................... ................ ... 34 4.7 Training recommendations .............................................................................. 36 5. Training performance ............................................................................................ 37 6. Scientific proof of efficacy .......................... ............. .......................... ........................... .......................... ......................... ..................... ........ 40 7. Acknowledgements ............................................................................................... 41

BrainTwister

Introduction

1. Introduction BrainTwister is a platform independent application that allows training of participants on six working memory based training tasks in different variants. The training paradigms were developed in various research projects carried out by the Division of Experimental Psychology and Neuropsychology at the University of Bern, Switzerland. The training tasks can be used for participants over their whole lifespan in either a single or a group setting. There are no computer   –related  –related skill requirements in order to train with these tasks. BrainTwister generates detailed training data for  each training task and allows visualizing and printing the training performance. For  scientific purposes, detailed training data is saved for each training session. Currently, BrainTwister is available in six different languages (English, German, Swedish, Dutch, French and Italian).

1

BrainTwister

Graphical User Interfaces

2. Installation 2.1 System requirements Windows 

Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, W indows 7

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Pentium IV with at least 1GHz

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256 MB RAM

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Approximately 60 MB free hard disk space

Apple Macintosh 

Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6

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Approximately 40 MB free hard disk space

2.2 Installation process Go to the installation guide for further instructions on how to install the program. Additionally, answers to frequently asked questions are available on www.braintwister.unibe.ch.. www.braintwister.unibe.ch

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BrainTwister

Graphical User Interfaces

3. Graphical User Interfaces BrainTwister has 3 different graphical user interfaces (GUI), which were designed to meet requirements for a broad variety of situations: 

Training in a single setting for a user with average computer skills.

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Training in a single setting for a user with no computer skills (in this case, training is possible with supervision).

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Training in a group setting in which more than one user trains on the same computer. For each of these situations, there are different GUIs which were optimized for 

the appropriate setting. Each of these GUIs will be described in detail below. For the use at home, the most relevant chapter is 3.1.

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BrainTwister

Graphical User Interfaces -> The simple main window

3.1 The simple main window The simple main window was designed for independent and individual use, such as at home. It is the standard GUI that appears when BrainTwister is started for  the first time. With a click on the BrainTwister Icon, the program can be started:

If BrainTwister is started the first time, the following simple main window will be shown:

In order to save and present the accumulated individual training results in a meaningful way (see also chapter 5 – Training curves), it is necessary to define who is going to train before a training is started. Thus, before starting the training, the user  must be defined. For this, first write a user name in the empty field labelled as Then, the user can be saved by clicking on the button “Save user” (labelled as the above figure) somewhere in the file system:

4

.



in

BrainTwister

Graphical User Interfaces -> The simple main window

The most recently used user is automatically loaded when you restart BrainTwister. If a user has been saved already by using this method, this user can be reloaded with a click on the button “Load user”. If a user is already loaded and one would like to create a new user, click on the button “New user” in order to clear the name field (labelled



in the figure) and enter a new user name. In order to properly

analyze the training data later on, it is absolutely necessary that the same person always trains with the same saved user name. The training cannot be started without defining a current user, because BrainTwister does not save the data properly in such cases.  At the same place where the user has been saved, BrainTwister generates a folder named “_sessionData_BrainTwister”. All the training data are saved in this folder: BrainTwister generates a data file for each training session. In this file, all the information about the particular training session is stored. This information is needed to reconstruct a training session in detail and to see how the user performed in the training. BrainTwister user files always use the suffix “.brt”.

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BrainTwister

Graphical User Interfaces -> The simple main window

 After defining a user, you have to select one of the available training tasks (). You can do this by selecting a training task on the left side of the main window. The following training tasks are available and are discussed in more detail in Chapter 4:

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Senso (in 3 different variants)

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Visuo-spatial training

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Cat and Dog span

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Animal span

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N-back (in 3 different variants)

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Safari training and Farm training (especially for children)

You can select a training task by clicking on the corresponding button (refer to 

in the figure). For the training tasks “Cat and Dog Span”, “Animal Span”, “Safari Training”

and “Farm training”, the time which is available for the decision can be varied in the menu bar. If “preferences” is selected in the menu bar, different delay limits (slow: 4s; normal: 3s; fast: 2s) can be selected by clicking on the appropriate button (). Under “Training duration” () you can choose how long the training will last (this is ideal, for example, for a group training), or whether you want to train for a certain amount of trials. The corresponding value can be entered in the nearby text field (see  in the figure). Under “Initial level of difficulty” (see



in the figure), the initial difficulty level of 

the training can be specified.  A defined training as described here can be saved in a user file. In order to do this, click on “Save user” and save the defined training together with the user name somewhere in your file system (see also above). If this user will be reloaded, then the defined training will be reloaded as well. Training can be started by clicking on the “Start” but ton. At the end of the training, BrainTwister will return to the main window. Training results can be seen by clicking on the “Statistics” button (also refer to Chapter 5). There are several different language flags in the upper right corner of the main window. A click on one of these flag changes the language of BrainTwister. The help function is located in the menu bar. “Manual” can be selected there, so that this manual will be opened. The English manual will open for all languages except for German. If “Website” is selected in the help menu, a direct connection to the website of the program is established if the computer is connected to the Internet. Many of the available functions in the main window are also available in the menus: File, Window, Preferences, Help. 6

BrainTwister

Graphical User Interface -> The extended main window

3.2 The extended main window The extended main window is very similar to the simple main window (Chapter  3.1) but provides a couple of additional functions that allow a broader use of the training program. You can get to the extended main wind ow by pressing “SHIFT + CTRL + ALT + A” simultaneously. If you press this combination again, you can get back to the simple main window. The extended main window looks like this:

 As in the simple main window, a user can be defined on the right side of the window. But now, additional information such as age, gender, handedness, length and type of education can be entered. In the case of a research project, you can also enter a study name. As before, you can create new users , and load and save them. If  a user that was saved in the simple main window is loaded in the extended main window, the text “Easy-GUI” will appear automatically in the field “Study name”. In this case, the extended user information is filled with default values (i.e. with 0) . On the left side of the main window, the same training types are available as in the simple main window. Similarly, the training duration and the initial training level of 

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BrainTwister

Graphical User Interface -> The extended main window

difficulty can be defined. As in the simple main window, many functions are also available in the following menus: File, Window, Preferences, Help. The important changes compared to the simple main window can be found in the lower right corner of the extended main window: here, you have the possibility to define a standard user or to choose one of the two automatic modes: 3.2.1 Defining a standard user  With a click on the button “Define automatic user”, the currently loaded user is defined as a default user; that is, each time BrainTwister will be started from now on, this user will be loaded automatically. To repeat: Br ainTwister normally starts (refer to chapters 3.2.2 and 3.2.3) with the simple main window, therefore only the name of  the defined user is visible.  After defining a standard user, the two options “Single automatic user mode” and “Multiple automatic users mode” become available. Additionally, the button “Select path” is available as well. The two modes are discussed in the following chapters. 3.2.2 Single automatic user mode When this mode is activated, BrainTwister does not start with the simple main window but with the following autostart window:

Now, the user has no options available. The idea behind this autostart window is to be able to start a predefined training very easily. With this mode, a training user  only has to know how to start the computer and how to make a doubleclick on the BrainTwister Icon in order to start the training. The training can than be started by clicking on “Start”.

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BrainTwister

Graphical User Interface -> The extended main window

If “SHIFT + CTRL + ALT + A” is pressed simultaneously, the extended main window is shown again. By deactivating the “Single automatic user mode”, the simple main window is shown again by default after a new start of BrainTwister. 3.2.3 Multiple automatic users mode The single automatic user mode as described in Chapter 3.2.2 is limited because the training can only be predefined for one single user. In order to let several different users train with a simplified user interface, the multiple automatic users mode was implemented. If this option is activated, BrainTwister shows the following window after a new start:

 A previously saved user name can now be typed in the text field (“Please enter  user name.”) on the top of the window. If an existing user name is entered, the predefined training for this user can be started be clicking on the “Start” button. This mode is useful if different people are supposed to train with the same computer and the interaction with the computer should be kept to a minimum. In order to use this mode, a separate user file (including its training definitions) must be saved for every potential user. All user files must be saved in the same folder of the file system. This folder can be specified by clicking on the button “Select path”. BrainTwister automatically selects the folder of the currently loaded user if the Multiple automatic users mode is activated. If a user name is entered that does not exist already (for example because of a typo), BrainTwister shows the following error message:

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BrainTwister

Graphical User Interface -> The extended main window

 After a click on the button “OK”, the user name can be entered again. By simultaneously pressing “SHIFT + CTRL + ALT + A”, the extended main window can be reopened and the multiple automatic users mode can be deactivated again.

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BrainTwister

The training tasks

4. The training tasks  After having explained the GUIs of BrainTwister, we will now turn to the description of the different training tasks.  All tasks included in BrainTwister are based on the same idea: With these tasks, we aim to train cognitive processes and functions that underlie a wide array of  non-trained tasks. The goal would be that after training, in addition to an improvement in performance on the trained task, there should also be an improvement in performance on tasks that were not part of the training. For a more detailed outline of  the scientific background refer to Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Jonides, and Perrig (2008) or  Buschkuehl (2007) and Jaeggi (2005) - these references are listed in Chapter 6. The trainings that are included in BrainTwister are suitable for different target groups of people and differ in their demands and complexity. The shared feature of  all tasks is their adaptivity, that is, the task automatically increases in difficulty when the participant gets better at it, and also gets easier, when the performance drops again. Please refer to our recommendations concerning training time and target groups for the various training times in Chapter 4.7. Once a training is running, it can always be quit by simultaneously pressing the keys „SHIFT + CTRL + ALT + 9”. After pressing this key combination, the following window appears:

You can now quit the training by pressing the “ESC” key. By pressing the space bar, a new run will be started and the training continues.

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BrainTwister

Training Tasks -> Senso

4.1 Senso (sequence learning) This task is the least complex of all tasks included in BrainTwister. This task is especially suitable in order to explain the handling of the computer mouse to participants that have less experience with computers. On the drop down list you can select three different versions of this task. These versions are the variants “ coloured squares”, “blue squares”, and “flowers”. These variants only differ in their graphical content; the type of the task is always the same.  After having selected this task and one of its variants, you can click on “start” and the following start screen will show up1:

 After a mouseclick, the task will start with four coloured squares appearing in a row on the middle of the screen. These squares will disappear and reappear in random order. The task for the user is now to memorize this sequence. An example of a possible sequence is shown as follows:

1

3

2

4

 At the end of a shown sequence (the length of the sequence in the first run represents the chosen value under ’’Initial level of difficulty” in the main window), the following screen will appear and the user is required to reproduce the sequence by clicking on the appropriate squares with the computer mouse:

1

The task will be further explained by using only the variant “colo ured squares“.

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BrainTwister

Training Tasks -> Senso

If the sequence was reproduced correctly, it is followed by the message depicted on the left; otherwise, the message depicted on the right shows up:

The next sequence will start after having clicked one of the mouse buttons. The following sequence length will increase by one if the previous sequence was reproduced correctly, otherwise, the sequence length will decrease by one 2. The training ends if either the amount of training minutes is over (the training always ends after a reproduction of a shown sequence, thus, the training can marginally exceed the value defined in the main window), or if the amount of trials (i.e. the amount of shown sequences) is reached. At the end, one of the messages shown above appears (depending whether the responses were correct or not) with the additional message that the training is now finished. After a click on one of the mouse buttons, you will return to the main window.

2

The shortest sequence length is one.

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Visuo-spatial training

4.2 Visuo-spatial training This training task is closely related to the Senso training as described in Chapter 4.1. The major difference is that a sequence can consist of 16 instead of only 4 positions. The task is slightly more complex than the Senso task, but has the same underlying principle. After having started the task, the following screen appears:

 After clicking on one of the mouse buttons, the task starts: A 4x4 grid will be shown in which a blue dot will appear in several consecutive positions of this grid.  After the presentation of this sequence, the task is to reproduce the shown sequence in the correct order. A possible sequence is shown as follows:

1

2

3

4

 At the end of a shown sequence (the length of the sequence in the first run is determined by the difficulty level chosen in the main window), the following screen shows up and the user is required to reproduce the sequence by clicking on the appropriate positions with the computer mouse:

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Visuo-spatial training

If the sequence was reproduced correctly, it is followed by the message depicted on the left; otherwise, the message depicted on the right shows up:

The next sequence will start after having clicked on one of the mouse buttons. The following sequence length will increase by one if the previous sequence was reproduced correctly, otherwise, the sequence length will decrease by one 3. The training ends if either the amount of training minutes is over (the training always ends after a reproduction of a shown sequence, thus, the training can marginally exceed the value defined in the main window), or if the amount of trials (i.e. the amount of shown sequences) is reached. At the end, one of the messages shown above appears (depending whether the responses were correct or not) with the additional message that the training is now finished. After a click on one of the mouse buttons, you will return to the main window.

3

The shortest sequence length is one.

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Cat and dog span

4.3 Cat and dog span In contrast to the Senso and the Visuo-spatial training described in Chapters 4.1 and 4.2, this task is now slightly more complex. This increase in complexity is mainly because there is also a processing component in addition to the requirement to store information. After clicking on “start”, the following screen shows up and the training can be started by clicking on one of the mouse buttons.

First, pictures of either a cat or a dog are presented (always the same pictures). The first task is to decide whether the picture is presented correctly or upside down. The picture on the computer screen (in the case of a cat) will then look like this:

Now, the left mouse button has to be clicked if the picture is presented upside down. If the picture is presented correctly (as in the case shown above), the right mouse button has to be clicked.4 It is important to decide and click the mouse button

4

Mac-Users with a single-button mouse may simulate the right mouse button using CTRL-Key and the mouse button together (works with BrainTwister version 1.1 or higher). We recommend using a two button mouse.

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Cat and dog span

as fast  and as accurately  as possible. The time which is available for the decision can be varied in the menu bar. If “preferences” is selected in the menu bar, different delay limits (slow: 4s; normal: 3s; fast: 2s) can be selected. If the wrong button is pressed, or if it takes too long to give the answer, the following message will show up at the top of the screen:

 An additional component of the task is to memorize the sequence in which the cats and dogs are presented. After having made the decision about whether the picture was shown correctly or upside down, the following screen will be shown (at the same time, the mouse cursor will also appear):

Now the user is required to reproduce the order in which the cats and dogs were presented. In order to do this, the user has to put the mouse cursor either on the cat or the dog and confirm this by clicking the mouse button. As soon as this click has been made, a smaller dog or cat will appear on the lower part of the screen looking like this:

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Cat and dog span

Once a selection has been made, it can not be corrected. If the user has committed an error, the trial should be finished nonetheless and a new trial can be started afterwards. There are as many cats and dogs to select as there were pictures presented earlier to decide on their orientation. If for example there were two animals to decide on, there are only two possibilities to select a cat or a dog for the order  task. After having done this selection twice, the program automatically terminates the trial and shows whether the response was correct (left) or not (right):

With a mouse click, the next trial can be started. If there was no mistake in both parts of the tasks (i.e. if (1) the decision about whether the animal was presented correctly or upside down was accurate and made quickly enough, and if (2) the sequence was correctly reproduced), the next sequence length will increase by one animal. If there was a mistake in reproducing the order, the next sequence length will be decreased by one animal 5. If there was a mistake in the decision whether the animal was presented correctly or upside down (by either pressing the wrong mouse button or taking longer than 3 seconds to respond so that the red message is presented), but the sequence is correctly reproduced afterwards, the next sequence will 5

The shortest sequence length is one.

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Cat and dog span

be as long as in the trial before. The training ends if either the amount of training minutes is over (the training always ends after a reproduction of a shown sequence, thus, the training can marginally exceed the value defined in the main window), or if  the amount of trials (i.e. the amount of shown sequences) is reached. At the end, one of the messages shown above appears (depending whether the responses were correct or not) with the additional message that the training is now finished. After a click on one of the mouse buttons, you will return to the main window.

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Animal span

4.4 Animal span This task is similar to the cat and dog span as described in Chapter 4.3 with the exception that instead of only 2 animals, there are now 8 animals, which makes the task more complex. After clicking on “start”, the following screen shows up and the training can be started by clicking on one of the mouse buttons:

For the procedure of the training, please refer to Chapter 4.3 because the tasks are principally similar. In contrast to the cat and dog task, for the order recollection task, the following selection of animals will be shown to choose from:

Everything else is identical to the cat and dog task (Chapter 4.3).

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Safari and Farm training

4.5 Safari Training and Farm Training In the following section, we will present two training tasks that are identical, except for their graphical material6. These two tasks are variants of the cat and dog span and animal span (Chapter 4.3 and 4.4), with the exception that there are 4 animals instead of 2 or 8, respectively. Please refer to Chapter 4.3 for the outline of the task. The animals presented in this training are the following (left: Safari training; right: Farm training):

These tasks were developed especially for children. The graphical elements were designed accordingly and at the end of each trial, there is an extended feedback. After clicking on “start”, one of the following screens will show up (left: safari training; right: farm training):

In the following instructions, only the screenshots of the farm training will be shown, since the task is otherwise identical in the safari training (with the exception of the graphical design). Both tasks can be explained to participants by using a story outline (refer also to Chapter 4.5.1). Also, in both tasks, the goal is to win apples. 6

Also refer to Roissson, B., & Pourtois, G. (2004). Revisiting Snodgrass and Vanderwart's object set: The role of surface detail in basic-level object recognition. Perception, 33, 217-236.

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Safari and Farm training

One can win apples by correctly reproducing the shown sequence of animals, irrespective of whether there was a mistake in the first part of the task (deciding whether  the animal was shown correctly or upside down). If there was a mistake in the first part of the task, worms will show up at the top of the screen (in the safari training, instead of worms, there are monkeys):

There are two ways to make mistakes: either by using the wrong mouse button or by taking too to decide whether the animal was shown upside down or not. The time which is available for the decision can be varied in the menu bar. If  “preferences” is selected in the menu bar, different delay limits (slow: 4s; normal: 3s; fast: 2s) can be selected.  After having correctly reproduced a sequence, the user wins an apple which will be indicated by the following feedback screen:

The apples represent points that are collected in the basket located on the right side of the screen. On the left, there is an additional highscore bar: If there was no mistake in the first part of the task (i.e. no wrong mouse click and responded fast 22

BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Safari and Farm training

enough) and the order in which the animals were presented was reproduced correctly, the sequence length (i.e. the amount of remembered animals) will show up on this bar. The highscore always shows the maximal amount of animals that were remembered correctly; that is, the bar can only go up and may not change after each trial. The next trial can be started by clicking on one of the mouse buttons. 4.5.1 Farm training: Specific instructions for children In the following, we provide you with an example on how to explain the training to a child. It works by “constructing” a little story in order to explain the task. Farmer Appleseed needs your help to collect all his apples that he shook from his trees into his basket. You can help him by winning as many apples as you can with this game. The task goes like this: In this task, there are two parts, which are equally important: The first part: 

You will see several animals and you have to decide for each of them, whether it is shown correctly or upside down. You can give your answer by clicking on the appropriate mouse button:

correct   hit the right mouse button (green)

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Safari and Farm training

upside down

 

hit the left mouse button (red)

[It might be helpful if there are stickers on the mouse button  – a red sticker on the left button, and a green sticker on the right button.]  As soon as you have made your decision by clicking on one of the mouse buttons, you will see the next picture. If you take too long to decide, some worms will show up. These worms might eat the apples  – of course, apples with worms can not be sold and therefore, you cannot put them into the basket. Try to be faster when deciding with the next set of animals in order to collect many  apples for Farmer Appleseed.

I m p o r t a n t : The same worms will also show up if you hit the wrong mouse button. Try 

therefore to respond correctly. (Reminder: upside down

 

left button; correct   right mouse button).

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Safari and Farm training

The second part: 

 At the same time as you decide upon the orientation of the animals, try to memorize their order in which they appeared (in the example, the first animal was the dog, the second  was the pig) You don’t have to remember whether the animal was shown correctly or upside down; for this part of the task, just the order is important.  As soon as you see the following screen, you have to click (with the mouse) on the previously shown animals in the order as they were shown:

With the mouse (left button), click on the first animal that appeared (in this example, it  was the dog). It will automatically appear below the white line as shown below:

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Safari and Farm training

Then, click on the second animal that was shown (in this example, it was the pig). It  will then automatically appear next to the small dog below the white line in second position:

 As soon as you have clicked on as many animals as there were in this series, you will  be notified with the message shown in the picture above. You will also win an apple for your  basket if you remembered the order correctly (see below). Also, you will see a highscore, that is, the amount of animals that you could remember correctly:

If you made a mistake in remembering the order, a worm will get the apple. Of  course, you cannot give such an apple to F armer Appleseed. Try, therefore, to remember the next order correctly.

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> Safari and Farm training

By clicking one of the mouse buttons, the next trial will start. Now, the training will adjust to your performance: if you decided correctly whether the animal was shown upside down or correctly, and in addition, if you remembered the order  correctly, you will advance one level and see one more animal in the next trial. If you made a little mistake deciding whether the animal was shown upside down or correctly  (or if you were too slow), the amount of animals will stay the same in the next trial. If the new  trial was too difficult, that is, if you couldn’t quite remember the order of the animals, the task  will get easier again. In order to win as many apples for Farmer Appleseed, try:    

To answer correctly as to whether the animal was presented correctly or upside down Not to wait too long until you click the mouse button To remember the order of as many animals as possible

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> N-back Training

4.6 N-back Training This training is the most complex training that is included in BrainTwister. The N-back training is available in 3 variants and is especially challenging in the dual task version. In this N-back task, there are spoken letters that you will hear one after another and/or squares at different positions that appear sequentially on the computer  screen. The task is to respond whenever the actually presented letter is the same as the one that appeared N positions back in the sequence. The following figure will demonstrate this principle:

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> N-back Training

The higher the value of N, the more difficult is the N-back task. In the upper  part of the figure, there is a 1-back task which is the easiest level. In this task, a response is required whenever the currently presented letter or square is the same (i.e. at the same position) as the one that was presented just before. In the lower part of  the figure, there is a 2-back task: in this task, a response is required if the actual presented letter or square is the same (i.e. at the same position) as the one that was presented 2 back in the sequence. In order to respond to the letter task, you have to hit key “L” on the keyboard. For the visuospatial square task, you have to hit key “ A”. One run always consists of 20 + N trials. A trial consists of the presentation of  a letter and/or a square. Thus, in a 2-back task, you will be presented with 22 trials. Therefore, the length of a run is dependent on the level of N, but still lasts approximately one minute. In the following, the 3 variants of the N-back task which can be selected from the drop down list will be described.

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> N-back Training

4.6.1 Visuo-spatial N-back training  After hitting the “start” button in the main window, the following screen will show up:

By pressing the space bar, the task will start. The first N-back level of the task represents the initial level of difficulty that was defined in the main window 7. The following screen will show the N-back level that has to be done in the next run (see also Chapter 4.6):

Thus, for this example, the next run will consist of a 2-back task. That means, whenever the currently presented square is in the same position as the one presented 2 back in the sequence, the user has to press key “A”. In a 3-back task, the user  would have to press key “A” whenever the square would be in the same position as 3 back in the sequence. There are 8 different positions in which the squares can appear. By hitting the space bar again, the run will start. At the end of the run, the user  will receive a feedback concerning the performance of this particular run:

7

The smallest level is a 1-back.

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BrainTwister

Training tasks -> N-back Training

Is the performance higher than 90%, the value of N will be increased by one in the next run. If the performance is 70%8 or lower, the value of N will be decreased by one. Otherwise, the N-back level remains the same. By hitting the space bar, the next run will start. The training ends if either the amount of training minutes is over (the training always ends after a run, thus, the training can marginally exceed the value defined in the main window), or if the amount of runs is reached. By hitting the space bar, you will return to the main window.

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The values shown in the feedback screen always address the amount of detected targets. Nevertheless, if you don’t press any key at all during a run, your percentage correct will still be 70% (because there were also trials in which you did not respond and that was correct!). However, in this case, the next level of N will be decreased by one.

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Training tasks -> N-back Training

4.6.2 Auditory N-back training  After hitting the “start” button in the main window, the following screen will show up:

By pressing the space bar, the task will start. The first N-back level of the task represents the initial level of difficulty that was defined in the main window 9. The following screen will show the N-back level that has to be done in the next run (see also Chapter 4.6):

Thus, for this example, the next run will consist of a 2-back task. That means, whenever the currently presented letter is the same as the one presented 2 back in the sequence, the user has to press key “L”. In a 3 -back task, the user would have to press key “L”, whenever the letter would be the same as the one presented 3 back in the sequence. There are always the same 8 letters: C, D, G, K, P, Q, T, V. By pressing the space bar again, the run will start (please make sure that you have turned on

9

The smallest level is a 1-back.

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Training tasks -> N-back Training

your speakers). At the end of the run, the user will receive a feedback concerning the performance of this particular run:

If the performance is higher than 90%, the value of N will be increased by one in the next run. If the performance is 70%10 or lower, the value of N will be decreased by one. Otherwise, the N-back level remains the same. Hitting the space bar will start the next run. To start the next run, hit the space bar. The training ends if either the amount of training minutes is over (the training always ends after a run, thus, the training can marginally exceed the value defined in the main window), or if the amount of runs is reached. By hitting the space bar, you will return to the main window.

10

The values shown in the feedback screen always address the amount of detected targets. Nevertheless, if you don’t press any key at all during a run, your percentage correct will still be 70% (b ecause there were also trials in which you did not respond and that was correct!). However, in this case, the next level of N will be decreased by one.

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Training tasks -> N-back Training

4.6.3 Dual N-back training In the dual n-back task, the auditory and visuospatial N-back tasks are combined. That is, the letters and the squares will be presented at the same time (please make sure that you have turned on your speakers). However, the value of N will be the same for both modality streams. After hitting the “start” button in the main window, the following screen will show up:

By pressing the space bar, the task will start. The first N-back level of the task represents the initial level of difficulty that was defined in the main window11. The following screen will show the N-back level that has to be done in the next run (see also Chapter 4.6):

Thus, for this example, the next run will consist of a 2-back task. That means, whenever the currently presented letter is the same as the one presented 2 back in the sequence, the user has to press key “L”. Whenever the currently prese nted square is in the same position as the one presented 2 back in the sequence, you 11

The smallest level is a 1-back.

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Training tasks -> N-back Training

must simultaneously press key “A” as well. That is, the user might have to press just key “A”, or  just key “L”, or  both together, or  none at all. In a 3-back task, the user  would have to press key “L” whenever the currently presented letter is the same as the one presented 3 back, and key “A” whenever the currently presented square is at the same position as the one presented 3 back. They are always the same letters (C, D, G, K, P, Q, T, V) in the same 8 positions. By pressing the space bar again, the run will start. At the end of the run, the user will receive a feedback concerning the performance of this particular run:

If the performance is higher than 90% in both modalities, the value of N will be increased by one in the next run. If the performance is 70%12 or lower in either one of  the two modalities, the value of N will be decreased by one. Otherwise, the N-back level remains the same. By hitting the space bar, the next run will st art. The training ends if either the amount of training minutes is over (the training always ends after a run, thus, the training can marginally exceed the value defined in the main window), or if the amount of runs is reached. By hitting the space bar, you will return to the main window.

12

The values shown in the feedback screen always address the amount of detected targets. Nevertheless, if you don’t press any key at all during a run, your percentage correct will still be 70% (because there were also trials in which you did not respond and that was correct!). However, in this case, the next level of N will be decreased by one.

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Training recommendations

4.7 Training recommendations In the following, we give recommendations for target groups and training durations of the training tasks that are integrated in BrainTwister. With target groups we refer to a group of persons for whom we think the corresponding training task is especially suited because of the characteristics of the training task. With training duration we indicate how long a reasonable training session might be. In principle, the training should be conducted in a way that allows for optimal focus on the training task for the full length of the training duration. Furthermore, make sure to be able to train undisturbed. The training should not last too long, but try to fully concentrate as long as the training lasts. Therefore, it can be beneficial to divide a chosen daily training time into several smaller training units, i.e. to train several times daily for a shorter period of time. It is especially important not to take on more than you can handle! In the following table we indicate the optimal training duration for different target groups. The optimal target group for a certain training task is underlined. Task

Target group Persons that are not used to

Preferrably a shorter training time:

use a computer mouse

Maximally 6 minutes per day;



Children up to 7 years old

Up to 2 times a day



from 7 – 13 years

2 times 6 minutes per day



from 14 – 18 years

2 times 10 minutes per day



from 19 – 65 years

20 minutes per day



66 years and up

2 times 8 minutes per day



from 10 – 13 years

2 times 6 minutes per day



from 14 – 18 years

2 times 10 minutes per day



from 19 – 65 years

20 minutes per day



66 years and up

2 times 8 minutes per day



from 10 – 13 years

2 times 6 minutes per day



from 14 – 18 years

2 times 8 minutes per day



from 19 – 65 years

20 minutes per day



66 years and up

2 times 8 minutes per day



from 8 – 12 years



from 18 – 50 years

20 minutes per day



50 years and up

2 times 10 minutes per day



from 18 – 50 years

20 minutes per day



Senso

Visuo-spatial

Cat and dog span

 Animal span

Safari/Farm training N-back single N-back dual

Recommended training duration

2 times 6 minutes per day or  2 times 8 minutes per day

Important note: You cannot expect to see performance increases in tasks other than the trained tasks if you only train for a short period of time. Our research shows that at least a training period of 3 weeks is necessary (please also refer to Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Jonides & Perrig, 2008). 36

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Training performance

5. Training performance In both the simple and the extended main window, it is possible to check the training performance of the currently loaded user by clicking on the button “Statistics”. Here is an example of a training curve for the Farm t raining:

The depicted data refer to the number of animals (order) that were remembered correctly on a certain day. The blue line represents the maximum number of  correctly remembered animals. The green line represents the average amount of correctly remembered animals per day. If there was more than one training per day, one can look at every single training session by clicking on the button “Farm training” at the bottom of the screen:

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Training performance

By clicking on the button “Print”, you can print out the training curves. For each trained task, BrainTwister automatically adds two buttons on the bottom of the statistics window. One button to show the results of every training session, and the other  button for the results aggregated over a whole day. Here is an example where a person trained with the Farm training and the Senso training task:

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Training performance

The different training curves can be selected by clicking on the appropriate button. The statistics window can be closed by clicking on the button “Close” which makes the main window reappear. The following table indicates which values are reported by the training curves for each task: Task

Indicated value

Senso

Amount of correctly recalled squares

Visual-spatial

Amount of correctly recalled locations

Cat and dog span,  Animal span, Safari

 Amount of correctly recalled animals

and Farm training N-back

N-back level

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Efficacy of BrainTwister 

6. Scientific proof of efficacy The training tasks implemented in BrainTwister are based upon ongoing research of the Division of Experimental Psychology and Neuropsychology at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Please refer to the following website for an up-to-date overview of the efficacy studies of the integrated training tasks: www.braintwister.unibe.ch

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