Last year, one idea attracted a great deal of attention: PC games may be used to develop intellectual \u2014 or, more precisely, cognitive \u2014 abilities. The idea is probably as old as the games themselves, but, until recently, was viewed a bit skeptically.<\/p>\n
And here is why: Intelligence was considered, in all respect, heritage (thus, a permanent attribute) back in 1890s. For quite a long time this assertion was not challenged.\u00a0It wasn\u2019t until several years ago when scientific papers were published, proving feasible the possibility to boost an adult\u2019s intellectual abilities through specialized cognitive trainings.<\/p>\n
A number of commercial programs emerged in response to this discovery: the creators of those programs claimed to \u2018train the brain\u2019 of young people and maintain the elderly\u2019s intellectual abilities in good shape. Such projects were mostly based on training modules and employed games as a main driver.<\/p>\n
Consequently, a question arises: Can one benefit from video games that already exist and \u00a0are, by all means, more interesting and engaging than scientific \u2013 but still too mediocre -\u2018medical novelties\u2019?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s\u00a0understand the means of boosting the intelligence: First and foremost, we need to clarify the terms. Psychology describes intelligence as a set of different cognitive abilities. Intelligence can be \u2018crystallized\u2019 and \u2018fluid\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n Crystallized intelligence is responsible for making proper use of previously accumulated abilities and knowledge. Fluid intelligence is a bit more enigmatic; it is dealing with abstract thinking and serves to solve unknown challenges which do not depend on expertise acquired before. Conundrums are a good example of such challenges.<\/p>\n It is fluid intelligence that wears out year by year, and this is the reason why elderly people have problems mastering new skills like PCs, the Internet, a new foreign language and so on, whereas, thanks to crystallized intelligence, an elderly person remains absolutely knowledgeable when it comes to their prior experience.<\/p>\n The core of fluid intelligence is the working memory, which is responsible for keeping newly obtained information and using it. It is the working memory which mind-training programs try to influence.<\/p>\n In the English-speaking part of the Internet there are two renowned commercial projects developed for training the working memory \u2014 Cogmed<\/a> and Jungle Memory<\/a> (both are paid programs), and many others, less familiar to the general audience.<\/p>\n 13 ways to anti-age your brain: http:\/\/t.co\/DUg0rTuceM<\/a> #Cogmed<\/a> #LifestyleAU<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/I9swKYspg8<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Cogmed (@cogmed) February 12, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nTraining programs<\/h3>\n
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