“How Malleable Are Cognitive Abilities? A Critical Perspective on Popular Brief Interventions”, 2021-12-23 (; similar):
This review discusses evidence across a number of popular brief interventions designed to enhance cognitive abilities and suggests that these interventions often fail to elicit reliable improvements. Consequences of exaggerated claims are discussed, together with a call for constructive criticism when evaluating this body of research.
A number of popular research areas suggest that cognitive performance can be manipulated via relatively brief interventions. These findings have generated a lot of traction, given their inherent appeal to individuals and society. However, recent evidence indicates that cognitive abilities might not be as malleable as preliminary findings implied and that other more stable factors play an important role.
In this article, I provide a critical outlook on these trends of research, combining findings that have mainly remained segregated despite shared characteristics.
Specifically, I suggest that the purported cognitive improvements elicited by many interventions are not reliable, and that their ecological validity remains limited.
I conclude with a call for constructive skepticism when evaluating claims of generalized cognitive improvements following brief interventions.
[Keywords: behavioral interventions, cognitive improvements, brain plasticity, genetics, intelligence]