And Monkeys!: Space Training Edition

"In studies of monkeys trained for space flight, a series of training programs has been found to be very appealing to the primates and to result in general improvements in aggression, social relations, and hyperactivity (Rumbaugh & Washburn, 1995). We have now adapted these programs for use with toddlers and young children, and trials are under way to determine the range of improvement possible, and which children and which brain networks are likely to reflect those improvements."

M. R. Rueda, M. I. Posner, & M. K. Rothbart (2004). Attention control and self-regulation. Handbook of Self-Regulation.

I love that first phrase -- in studies of monkeys trained for space flight.

I was curious whether applying these monkey programs to human kids worked, and it appears that they did:

"Our exercises began by training the child to control the movement of a cat on a computer screen by using a joystick and to predict where an object would move on the screen, given its initial trajectory. Other exercises emphasized the use of working memory to retain information for a matching-to-sample task and the resolution of conflict.

We have tested the efficacy of a very brief five days of attention training with groups of 4- and 6-year-old children...The first and last days involved assessment of the effects of training by use of the ANT [an attention task], a general test of intelligence [K-BIT], and a temperament scale...

Five days is of course a minimal amount of training to influence the development of networks that develop over many years. Nonetheless, we found a general improvement in intelligence in the experimental group as measured by the K-BIT. This was due to improvement of the experimental group in performance on the nonverbal portion of the IQ test. Our analysis of the brain networks using EEG recording further suggested that the component most closely related to the anterior cingulate in prior adult studies changed significantly in the trained children to more closely resemble what is found in adults."

M. I. Posner & M. K. Rothbart (2006). Research on attention networks as a model for the integration of psychological science, Annual Review of Psychology.