Brain Training Scientific Evidence
It is argued that for brain training scientific evidence to be fully credible, then the usefulness of brain training games would need to address some of the the following questions.
Can brain training provide improvement in a broad range of tasks? Do the IQ or other measurable gains persist for a certain period of time? Are the subsequent changes noticed in real life situations prove improvement in cognitive abilities?
Two scientists, Dr. Bryan Roche and Dr. Sarah Cassidy have worked for many years in the development of a brain training methodology which they named SMART. Their approach to brain health is based on Relational Frame Theory — a modern theory of cognition that our team has helped to develop over the past two decades. Dr. Roche was the co-editor of the two seminal texts on this theory. Dr. Cassidy was the leading researcher behind the first demonstration of IQ gains resulting from relational skills training.
The SMART brain training program is based on established principles of learning that have been proven to underlie intellectual development across a wide range of areas (reading, problem solving, reasoning, and so on). The skills that have been identified as underlying most intellectual abilities, are called “relational skills” and both Doctor Bryan Roche and Doctor Sarah Cassidy have played a key role identifying how “relational skills training” impacts a person’s intellectual ability.
They then devised the SMART brain training system to teach people these crucial learning skills. Dozens of published studies from several independent laboratories have highlighted on the development of relational skills as they key to intellectual development. RaiseYourIQ have also published over four in-depth experimental studies which show that IQ can be increased by a large amount using our method — something no other brain training game has done.
RaiseYourIQ offers the only brain training system in the world that is based on tried and tested systems of intellectual skills interventions used in the clinical setting (for example the methods of Applied Behavior Analysis), and that has been shown in published scientific research to lead to real, large, and objectively measurable gains in general intelligence (IQ). No other method benefits from even a single study, showing large and reliable IQ gains as a result of training.
The SMART system has achieved the holy grail of brain training across several different published studies. That is, it has achieved what scientists call evidence of “far transfer”. This means that increased scores on an IQ test have been proven to result from training on skills that are not directly assessed on the IQ test. In other words, the benefits of SMART training have been proven to transfer far into intellectual areas that we do not train directly in our system but which are assessed in general intelligence tests (e.g., vocabulary, verbal comprehension, analogical reasoning, numeracy, and so on). This makes SMART training truly unique and revolutionary in its approach to intellectual skills enhancement.
Some of the other tools that we have made available here to schools or clinics (SMART for Dyslexia, KidStarter, FAST emotional flexibility training) are also based on Relational Frame Theory concepts, or on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) methods, which are heavily conceptualized in terms of Relational Frame Theory.
Published brain training science research includes:
McLoughlin, S., Tyndall, I., & Pereira, A. (in press). Relational operant skills training increases standardised matrix scores in adolescents: A stratified active-controlled trial. Journal of Behavioural Education.
Amd, M., & Roche, B. (2018). Assessing the effects of a relational training intervention on fluid intelligence among a sample of socially disadvantaged children in Bangladesh. The Psychological Record, 68(2), 141–149.
Cassidy, S., Roche, B., Colbert, D., Stewart, I., & Grey, I. (2016). A relational frame skills training intervention to increase general intelligence and scholastic aptitude. Learning and Individual Differences, 47, 222–235.
Cassidy, S., Roche, B., & Hayes, S. C. (2011). A relational frame training intervention to raise Intelligence Quotients: A pilot study. The Psychological Record, 61, 173–198.
Colbert, D., Tyndall, I., Roche, B., & Cassidy, S. (2018). Can SMART training really increase Intelligence? A Replication Study. Journal of Behavioral Education, 27, 509–531.
Hayes, J., & Stewart, I. (2016). Comparing the effects of derived relational training and computer coding on intellectual potential in school-age children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 397–411.
