After some time reading old posts, I've found one quoting
Susan Jaeggi on this matter (posted by putumayo on
November 15th 2008). I'll reproduce the quote below; and
here is a link to the thread:
http://groups.google.com/group/brain-training/browse_thread/thread/d779edc2b922db95?hl=en
Or if that long link gets mangled, try this tinyurl instead:
http://tinyurl.com/b9bx7e
"The challanges are in helping people understand that dual-n-back is
NOT about remembering n number of visual and auditory stimuli.
It's about developing a new mental process that intuitively recognizes
when it has seen or heard a stimuli n times ago.
"Initially, most students of dual n-back want to remember n items as
fast as they can so they can conquor the dual-n-back hill. They use
their own already developed techniques to help them remember.
They may try to hold the images in their head mentally and review
them every time a new image is added and say the sounds out loud
and review the sounds everytime a new sound is added. This is NOT
what we want. We want the brain to learn a new process that
intuitively recognizes if an item and sound was shown 3 back or 4
back. It's sort of like playing a new type of musical instrument.
"I've helped some students on the site try to understand this. It's
not about how much you can remember, its about learning a new
process. In theory, this new process translates into a better working
memory, which helps you make connections better and faster."
Thank you for clarifying, Gore Lando. And thanks Paul for the real
Jaeggi quote.
I suppose we'll never know what the "correct" way is. But probably
any kind of mental exercise is good for the brain in some way,
so I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Interesting indeed! Thank you very much.
Oh, by the way, did anyone ask her about triple
n-back and other variations?