3D Multiple Object Tracking or Adaptive Dual N-Back Training Boosts Simple Verbal Working Memory Span but Not Multitasking Performance in Military Participants

There is a growing literature demonstrating that a short regimen of NeuroTracker—a task that trains 3D multiple object tracking skills—can improve various aspects of cognition (attention, memory) and performance in regular and elite athletes. Vartanian et al. Military Psychology 28:353–360, (2016) extended the application of NeuroTracker to the military domain by demonstrating that it can result in gains in simple working memory (WM) span (verbal, visual, and matrix) in Canadian Special Forces members who trained under the experimenters’ supervision. Here, we conducted a follow-up study to determine whether similar gains would accrue if general Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members were to train unsupervised—a much more likely scenario within military contexts. We randomly assigned CAF members (n = 66) to one of the three conditions: (1) NeuroTracker, (2) adaptive dual n-back, or (3) passive control. Participants in the training conditions trained for 20 min per day on ten separate days within a 2-week period. Before and after training, we administered simple WM span measures (verbal and matrix). To examine far transfer to a task drawing on executive functions, we also administered a multitasking paradigm that deploys four visual and auditory tasks in parallel, designed to evaluate operator performance and workload analogous to activities that aircraft crew perform in flight (Multi-Attribute Task Battery: MATB-II). Participants in both training conditions improved on the trained task and exhibited gains in simple verbal WM span. No gains were observed on MATB-II. Our results demonstrate that self-administered training on NeuroTracker or the adaptive dual n-back task can lead to gains in simple verbal WM span but not in simple matrix WM span or multitasking. In other words, in relation to both NeuroTracker and adaptive dual n-back training, we observed near transfer but not far transfer. We discuss the implications for cognitive training interventions in military contexts.