Posts Tagged ‘mind-evolve’

Session #8

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Day 8
Saturday, May 31, 2008

Training location: Home
Training conditions: Afternoon. Just napped. Just had a light lunch. Some caffeine today and a fresh cup of coffee at my side. Alone in the house.

Using a modified version of the program today… Code changes — new code to try to eliminate the over-repetition of symbols; same voice for all audio symbols; no countdown of tests remaining and keystroke registers.

Note: This is the eighth day – the end of the training for Jaeggi’s first group, after which she noticed already a statistically significant improvement in IQ test scores.

Wow! Really got thrown off by the change in the audio symbols – the new voice is very different. Blew that block and reverted to the old sounds.

Back to the old sounds, still missing the key recognition a little, but held steady on n=3 for the first 5 blocks. Now up to n=4 on block 6. (8 hits, 7 misses; felt a little more comfortable with n=4). Two misses on the next block, right back to n=4. (6 hits, 7 misses.) Block 9. Starting to lose focus and concentration. Losing track of the sequences. Took a break, walked around; one miss on block 11. Up to n=4. (7 hits, 7 misses – a lot of repeats!!) Just two miss on the next n=3, back to n=4. Just 4 misses! Staying on n=4. (6 hits, 8 misses) Now starting to lose it, down to n=2 for the first time after block 16. (Zero misses on n=2.) Took a longer break, 1 miss, back to n=4. (6 hits, 10 misses).
Bottomed out on the last test – 8 misses on a 3-back!!

Mean n-back: 3.25

Session #7

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Day 7
Friday, May 30

Training location: Home
Training conditions: Afternoon. Tired (woken up early again). Swam. Had lunch. Caffeine. Ginger tea. Alone in the house.

First ten blocks stayed on 3 most of the time, moving up to 4 a couple of times. Block 11, no misses on a 3. (First time!) Back to three for block 13, but just one miss, despite feeling discombobulated. Down to 2 on block 15, got totally confused on the 3s. No misses on the 2s. Losing it at this point, completely flaked out on the next 3 set. Again, no misses on the 2s.

Mean n-back: 3.15

Session #6

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Day 6
May 29 (skipped a day due to lack of time)

Training location: Fall Café
Training conditions: Just drank a cup of latte and ate a cranberry muffin

Feeling tired – Zane woke up at 5, I got him back to bed but got up at 6 with Otto.

Down to 2 on block four, up to 4 on block 6. Back down to 3, right back to 4. Starting to feel more comfortable on the 3s – seeing the visual hits better. Back up to 4, back down to 2 by block 16… Feel like I start to get tired after the first 10 blocks or so, this gets worse, affects concentration, and I just can’t remember the sequences. Taking breaks and forcing focus seems to help. Cancelled a block at 17. Starting to feel competitive with myself after the dip in scores on the last session.

But despite feeling very much more in control, I scored a mean n only .05 better than two sessions ago! (Mean n=2.95)

Session #5

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Day 5

Training location: Fall Café
Training conditions: Just drank a cup of latte and ate an almond croissant.

Disappointing day. Started on a good stretch of 3s and a 4, feeling a sense of mastery, then slumped to a disappointing string of 2s and 3s. Ended with a mean n score of 2.7, worse than yesterday’s 2.9.

Session #4

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Day 4
Memorial day

Training location: At home.

Conditions: Morning before going out to Long Island with the family

Started to feel more comfortable with the 3-back sequences. Began to actually remember rather than intuit. Score improved to 2.9.

Ended with a very good string.

Session #3

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Day 3

Training location: Not recorded

Conditions: Not recorded

Several times scored no misses on n=2, several times stayed on n=3 for two consecutive turns. With two training blocks to go, got on to n = 4 !!

Felt completely out of depth on n = 4 (9 misses, 6 hits)

(Ended on string of n = 3, n = 4, n = 3, holding n = 3)

Training Session #2

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Day 2
Saturday May 25 After a break on Friday.

Training Location: Alone in the house

Conditions: Not recorded

2-back starts to get easier, finding some mastery of it. 3-back is very confusing. Feel like I’m guessing. Manage to stay on the 3-back for successive turns then completely fall apart. Other than that, mostly going back and forth from 2 to 3.

Mean n-back: 2.45

First Day of Training (Ever)

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Day 1
May 23, 2008

Training Location: Fall Cafe (Brooklyn, NY)

Conditions: Reasonably alert; two cups of coffee

Anxious to get started with the first prototype of the program. So anxious that I left the cafe and went across the street to the drug store to purchase a cheap pair of headphones.

Wow! this is hard. Found even the 2-back difficult. Got up to the 3-back a couple of times.

Mean n-back=2.3

Hints And Tips

Monday, June 23rd, 2008
  1. Don’t feel stupid: The program is designed to stretch your brain. As you improve, it automatically makes things harder by increasing the degree of difficulty. Feeling stretched means that you’re getting more intelligent.
  2. Pause between training blocks: Sit back, take a deep breath. Orient yourself to the next n-value. In particular, if the n-value has changed since the last training block, make sure to get your mind around the n-back value for the next block before pressing “Go!”
  3. Don’t panic: If you lose your way during a training block, don’t panic. Just pick up again from where you are. Or, if you got distracted, just cancel the block and start over.
  4. Stay alert: Take the training when you feel alert and focused, ideally when you’re not tired or hungry, and not right after eating.
  5. Turn off e-mail alerts, shut off your phone, and close other computer programs that may make noises. (Peace and quiet is essential to peak performance.)
  6. Expect setbacks: At some point during the training, most people’s scores slip from one session to the next. Your mind is forging new pathways, gaining mastery. These setbacks may be accompanied by a sense that you’re actually getting better at remembering the sequences.