Recollect the Game

Name: Recollect the Game
Author: University of California, Riverside

University of California, Riverside

CLINICAL GRADE

Studied in clinical trials · Mixed evidence

For:General Public & Enthusiasts

Free

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App Summary

Recollect the Game is a brain-training app for all age groups that uses a game-based format to deliver working memory exercises, including N-back tasks, designed to improve cognitive performance. The app's design is based on research, including three randomized controlled trials (N=460), which found that the degree to which N-back training improves reasoning skills (far transfer) is associated with improvements on similar, untrained memory tasks (near transfer). The authors conclude that this 'gating' effect, where improvement on near tasks enables improvement on more distant cognitive skills, may help explain how working memory training can produce broader cognitive benefits.

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Detailed Description

Functionality & Mechanism Developed by the University of California Riverside's Brain Game Center, this system delivers gamified working memory training. Sessions immerse the participant in a side-scrolling platform environment where completion of cognitive tasks is required to advance. The interface integrates scientifically supported renditions of N-Back, Item Span, and Multiple-Identity tracking tasks. These modules are embedded within a reward-based framework designed to reinforce program adherence and maintain the efficacy of the cognitive training protocol.

Evidence & Research Context

The app's N-Back training mechanism is informed by research from the developer, including a report on three randomized controlled trials (N=460 total) investigating cognitive transfer.
The associated research established that performance improvement on untrained N-Back tasks (near transfer) statistically mediated transfer to matrix reasoning performance (far transfer).
This mediating relationship was observed across all three trials, including two where a direct intervention effect on far transfer was not significant, supporting a model where near transfer gates far transfer.
A significant intervention effect was demonstrated for a working memory composite, an outcome that was also mediated by near transfer performance.

Intended Use & Scope This application is intended for the general public and for researchers investigating cognitive training paradigms. It functions as a structured tool for exercising working memory functions through repeated task engagement. The app is not a diagnostic instrument or a substitute for clinical assessment and intervention for cognitive impairment or attention disorders.

Studies & Publications

1 publication

Peer-reviewed research associated with this app.

RCT

Near transfer to an unrelated N-back task mediates the effect of N-back working memory training on matrix reasoning

Pahor et al. (2022) · Nature Human Behaviour

Training improved performance on some tasks but not on matrix reasoning in two of three trials.

The extent to which working memory training improves performance on untrained tasks is highly controversial. Here we address this controversy by testing the hypothesis that far transfer may depend on near transfer using mediation models in three separate randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In all three RCTs, totalling 460 individuals, performance on untrained N-back tasks (near transfer) mediated transfer to Matrix Reasoning (representing far transfer) despite the lack of an intervention effect in RCTs 2 and 3. Untrained N-back performance also mediated transfer to a working memory composite, which showed a significant intervention effect (RCT 3). These findings support a model of N-back training in which transfer to untrained N-back tasks gates further transfer (at least in the case of working memory at the construct level) and Matrix Reasoning. This model can help adjudicate between the many studies and meta-analyses of working memory training that have provided mixed results but have not examined the relationship between near and far transfer on an individual-differences level. Pahor et al. find evidence across three experiments that the extent to which people improve in matrix reasoning as a result of N-back training is associated with their degree of improvement on working memory tasks similar to the training task.

In the Media

Who benefits from brain training and why?

UC Riverside and UC Irvine researchers conducted three randomized control trials involving nearly 500 participants to understand why brain training benefits some people but not others, finding that "near transfer" predicts "far transfer" in cognitive training games. "Some people do very well in training, such as playing a video game, but they don't show near transfer perhaps because they are using highly specific strategies," said first author Anja Pahor, an assistant research psychologist at UCR. The study shows that people who improve on untrained similar tasks are more likely to experience broader cognitive benefits in daily activities.

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