Dual N-Back
Updated 2026-07-31
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A cognitive training paradigm in which a participant monitors two independent streams at once, typically a visual position and a spoken letter, and responds whenever the current item matches the item presented N steps earlier. The task is demanding because both streams must be held and updated simultaneously. It attracted wide attention after a study reported gains in fluid intelligence, making it one of the few working memory regimes with claims of transfer. Later replications have been mixed, so the evidence for broad intelligence gains remains contested.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Load Calibration: set N so the task is difficult but still mostly solvable. - Transfer Test: check whether gains show up on untrained tasks rather than only on the drill. - Session Design: keep practice short and regular instead of one long grind.
Anchor fast decisions
Maintaining two streams and continuously updating them loads the executive component of working memory, the part that holds and manipulates information under interference. Repeated demand at the edge of capacity is thought to improve the efficiency of those control processes. Transfer to broad measures such as fluid intelligence requires those processes to be shared with the target task, which is exactly the link that replication studies have struggled to confirm.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-backverified
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