Brain Fitness: Is Attitude Important?

Readers of this blog may already know that I’m very interested in self-efficacy as a factor in how well people perform on cognitive tasks. Study after study has shown that what you think about your cognitive functioning may actually make your cognitive function better.

Memory self-efficacy, or someone’s beliefs about how well they understand their memory and how well they can manage and perform memory tasks, has been clearly related to someone’s actual memory performance. it’s a chicken-and-egg question, though, because one explanation for someone’s self efficacy can be their level of skills. People may have confidence in their memory skills because their memory skills are actually good.

One study from several years ago actually looked at how an intervention focused on self-efficacy affected memory skills (see reference below). West and colleagues showed that training older adults in memory skills in a way that focused on increasing self-efficacy produced significant gains not only in how the participants felt about their memory but also in how well their memories actually functioned.

Strategies these researchers used to improve both memory and self-efficacy were to emphasize the development of understanding how well participants could manage their memory and on their competencies rather than their problems or failures.

The take-home message for those interested in maintaining brain fitness is to be very objective about how you see your cognitive functioning. Use your scores on on-line games or cognitive training activities as evidence that you’re getting better. Don’t interpret minor set backs as evidence that your mind isn’t working – modify how you view yourself to move toward a realistic understanding of your strengths while you work to improve your abilities.

Reference:s

West RL et al (2008). Self-efficacy and memory aging: The impact of a memory intervention based on self-efficacy.Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 15, 302-329.