On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 12:14 PM, MR<
rous...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> You could still test your digit span. In all likelihood, it was
> initially somewhere between 6 and 8, as it is for most people. If you
> get above 10, which many people on here get with dnb training, you've
> probably made some improvement. I know I tried a before and after
> digit span and found that I went from 8 to 11 after 20 days.
>
> If I were you, I would try doing 1hr sessions (or 40 trials/day) for a
> week, then plot all of your results over # of sessions. If you see a
> major increase in your rate of improvement, we can all take that as
> evidence that 1hr sessions may increase the speed of improvement over
> 30 min sessions, and pursue the question further.
I suppose there is no harm in this. Really, though, such an experiment
would be more like "motivation" rather than "evidence." At least,
considering how variable n-back results seem to be. I encourage
everyone on this list to do their own experimenting, rather than
relying on the experiences of others.
For example, over the past week I have been trying a new training
routine. My goal was to increase my intelligence as quickly as
possible. To that end, over the past 4 days I've done a total of
roughly 360 sessions @ 2 seconds per trial (= ~360 minutes of
training). I had to rest on Wednesday, and I'm resting again today (I
only plan on doing about 40 trials today). But I intend to finish off
the week by doing 100 sessions on Saturday and another 100 on Sunday.
Or more, if I can manage it.
The point is, while I can say without a doubt that this schedule has
been effective _for me_, it might not be effective _for you_. Are the
benefits worth the amount of work needed? Will you even notice an
improvement? Is this healthy? These are all factors which depend
entirely upon the individual actually _doing_ the training. For all
you know, your experience could be completely different than mine.
This is why it's essential that, before you institute a training
routine, you actually test your assumptions first. Don't rely on
someone else to do it. Don't rely on seemingly "logical" deductions.
Experiment!
(For those that are curious, I noticed the largest change in my
thought processes on Wednesday. My abilities were noticeably
different, to the extent that, at some points, it was, well,
startling. I've started getting used to the feeling, so I can't really
compare my intelligence now vs. Wednesday. However, I'm completely
confident that I've become smarter. Under the kind of stress I've put
my brain through, I can't imagine a scenario where that _wouldn't_
happen.)