Arithmetic/Triple N-Back

[Ari]

Has anyone had any success with these methods? I just broke 7 today in
dual n-back, but I'm finding the task too easy. (By "easy" I mean that
I can and know how to do it, not that it comes effortlessly. In fact,
it requires a lot of effort on my part.) At first it was ferociously
difficult, but now I'm just memorizing sequences of letters and
visualizing them on the grid. (I'm not repeating them aloud, but I am
rehearsing the letters and their places in my mind during the
interludes.) To jump from 6 to 7 required only a little more
concentration, not a shift in thought. I think I may be doing it
incorrectly. Would moving to arithmetic or triple n-back be more
worthwhile? I've read what everyone has had to say on doing the task
"intuitively," but I can't imagine how one can do 7 n-back like this.
Without intense concentration and memorization, is it even possible?
Is anyone able to do, say, 6 or 7 n-back without really trying?

[Ashirgo]

Well, as to your doubts concerning the intuitive way of doing n-back,
mine are the same:)

Anyway, I realized it is possible to do 6-back intuitively, for when
you feel comfortable at 9-back, the difficulty of doing 6-back has
already diminished so much as to be indiscernible and look like
intuitive.

I also gave some thoughts doing different kinds of n-back and my
opinion is that the simplest one (n-back) gives you the "depth of
insight" (as I would call it) and others are just wider. The plain n-
back is the fastest way to exercise that depth. What is more, there is
no other version of n-back which could give the equal amount of visual
& sound stimuli. Is the visual/spatial proficiency your main concern?

Regards, Ash

[Martin Syk]

Like you I was up at level 7 of dual-n-back when I shifted to Tripple-
n-back. Actually it was the switching that revealed my intuition of
position/letter. With the colours it is coming bits by bits.
Atm I am wrestling with the 5-tripple-n-back generally but have done a
couple of spurs to even 7.
Been on this task for about 35 days now. Would really be nice with a
quadruple n-back (add shape?) to continue with.

Martin

[Ashirgo]

My idea is that it would be great to create such a thing: combine
letters with solmization and position with colour, all at once.

Regards, Ash

[dualnback]

Let's hope Paul reads this thread for ideas when he upgrades BW after
his exams.

[AshDog]

I second the idea of using a Quad n-back with the addition of a shape
to remember. I'm on triple and the addition of shapes would be
awesome for Quadruple!!

[chinmi04]

too bad a computer can't produce scents :)

I believe the power of dual n-back is mainly due to the use of 2
different senses that you need to employ

[Martin Syk]

I wouldn't be so sure it has to engage different "senses". The brain
engages different areas to process color and shape as well, maybe what
we're doing is strenghtening the connections between frontal lobes,
temporal/occipital lobes (where and what pathway +audio cortex) and
mediating parts.

Actually while we're on the subject one idea about what actually
happens when we practice dual-n-back/working memory is that we
relocate the use of prefrontal parts to parts of the brain that is
engaged earlier in the perceptional chain. If you've heard about the
brainman (Daniel Tammert) his astonishing memory is a very perceptual
process. He describes it as travelling through a landscape - when he
remembers 22.000 decimals of PI. When he does difficult calculations
he suddenly "just know" the answer. This type of preconscious process
looks a lot like the "intuition" that many of us are experiencing.

/Martin

[polar]

Well, if single n-back is just visual, dual-n-back is visual+auditive,
a triple n-back should be, yes, some next sense. I mentioned already
not scents, but sense of touch - which is implementable for example
through force-feedback gamepads. but IMO the dual-back is the most
cost-effective :)