RESUMEN
There is considerable debate about whether Working Memory (WM) training specifically results in far-transfer improvements in executive cognitive function (ECF) rather than improvements on tasks similar to the training tasks. There has also been recent interest in whether WM training can improve ECF in clinical populations with clear deficits in ECFs. The current study examined the effects of WM training compared with non-WM adaptive Visual Search (VS) control training (15 sessions over 4 weeks) on various measures of ECF, including delay discounting (DD) rate, inhibition on flanker, color and spatial Stroop tasks, and drinking in a community-recruited sample with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD, 41 men, 41 women, mean age = 21.7 years), who were not in treatment or seeking treatment, and non-AUD healthy controls (37 men, 52 women, mean age = 22.3 years). Both WM and VS training were associated with improvements on all ECF measures at 4 weeks and 1-month follow-up. WM and VS training were associated with reductions in both DD rates and interference on Stroop and Flanker tasks in all participants, as well as reductions in drinking in AUD participants that remained apparent one month post training. The results suggest that nonspecific effects of demanding cognitive training, as opposed to specific WM training effects, could enhance ECF, and that such enhancements are retained at least one-month post-training.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Research on decision-making (DM) biases in persons with alcohol use disorder have largely relied on behavioral economic DM tasks, which do not assess the dynamic multitude of factors associated with real-world decisions about drinking. The current study extends the literature on DM and alcohol use by using a mobile daily diary approach to investigate whether, and how, real-world incentives and disincentives are associated with actual drinking decisions in college students. METHODS: We assessed current drinking and lifetime alcohol problems in 104 young adults (61.5% female, 84.5% White) who, for 14 days, used a mobile daily diary to respond to questions about drinking decisions from the day prior. Mobile prompts assessed daily data on the timing of drinking decisions, alcohol quantity initially decided to drink, quantity actually decided to drink, and the incentives that influenced drinking decisions. RESULTS: Users of the app reported high usability, high compliance rates were observed, and incentive responses were reduced to three subtypes: alcohol, social/party, and mood. Daily mobile measures of drinking quantity were strongly correlated with self-reported drinking 2 weeks prior to the daily assessment. Lifetime alcohol problems were positively related to the average quantity decided to drink per event, drinking more than initially decided, and higher levels of self-reported drinking-decision incentives. "Alcohol" and "social/party" incentives were positively related to the quantity the participant decided to drink at drinking events. Mood incentives and disincentives showed little to no significant relationships with drinking decisions. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that mobile data collection can be useful for assessing aspects of real-world drinking decisions and the influence of multiple drinking decision incentives.
