%A Schmiedek,Florian %A Lövdén,Martin %A Lindenberger,Ulman %D 2010 %J Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience %C %F %G English %K cognitive abilities,cognitive training,latent factors,transfer,working memory %Q %R 10.3389/fnagi.2010.00027 %W %L %M %P %7 %8 2010-July-13 %9 Original Research %+ Prof Florian Schmiedek,German Institute for International Educational Research,Center for Research on Education and Human Development,Frankfurt/Main,Germany,schmiedek@dipf.de %+ Prof Florian Schmiedek,Max Planck Institute for Human Development,Center for Lifespan Psychology,Berlin,Germany,schmiedek@dipf.de %# %! Training Enhances Broad Cognitive Abilities %* %< %T Hundred Days of Cognitive Training Enhance Broad Cognitive Abilities in Adulthood: Findings from the COGITO Study %U https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2010.00027 %V 2 %0 JOURNAL ARTICLE %@ 1663-4365 %X We examined whether positive transfer of cognitive training, which so far has been observed for individual tests only, also generalizes to cognitive abilities, thereby carrying greater promise for improving everyday intellectual competence in adulthood and old age. In the COGITO Study, 101 younger and 103 older adults practiced six tests of perceptual speed (PS), three tests of working memory (WM), and three tests of episodic memory (EM) for over 100 daily 1-h sessions. Transfer assessment included multiple tests of PS, WM, EM, and reasoning. In both age groups, reliable positive transfer was found not only for individual tests but also for cognitive abilities, represented as latent factors. Furthermore, the pattern of correlations between latent change factors of practiced and latent change factors of transfer tasks indicates systematic relations at the level of broad abilities, making the interpretation of effects as resulting from unspecific increases in motivation or self-concept less likely.