

Attention and Intelligence - cwan
http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2010/04/attention_and_intelligence.php

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tjmaxal
I would really like to see the effect of attention span increasing drugs on
these types of experiments, for example what happens when you give the low
performers Adderal or Vyvanse? does their performance improve? What about
drugs that expand working memory like Provigil? Is there any research on this
that you (the HN collective) recommend?

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carterschonwald
So I think there is the following problem with the experiment as you propose:
are these low performers simply deficit in attention management or broader
faculties as well. If the former, there's decades of data indicating that
clinical level difficulties with attention can indeed be treated (hint: it's
called ADHD). That's because ADHD is often in large part a gap between
intentionality and action (that gap being executive function, which in "that
would be fun, but I should do this" scenario makes the this branch choice
possible).

Do people actually use provigil off label to improve memory? That seems like a
pretty iffy approach, sleeping wold probably work better!

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tjmaxal
I know more than a few med students who take Provigil to help them study.

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carterschonwald
does it help them?

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tjmaxal
They certainly think it does.

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reader5000
The n-back task is a working memory task that has been correlated with
increasing fluid intelligence in one paper.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-back>

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tokenadult
Thanks for the reference, which includes the neutral point of view, "The
paper's methodology has been criticized by David Moody[5]. He draws attention
to the fact that different tests were used to evaluate the control and test
groups. Due to the way in which the tests were administered, he also questions
whether they were valid tests of fluid intelligence."

K. Anders Ericsson has achieved astounding results through training in "digit
span," long reputed to correlate well with "general intelligence."

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_memory>

"Whereas most adults can repeat about seven digits in correct order, some
individuals have shown impressive enlargements of their digit span--up to 80
digits." The further discussion at this reference about whether the tested
task correlates with anything else of interest would apply as well to the
n-back task.

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GavinB
tl;dr To get smarter, you should struggle through the whole article and not
skip to the tl;dr.

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paulgb
Has anyone found meditation to be useful as a way to increase their attention
span? I'd be curious to hear the results. It seems that practicing the ability
to focus on nothing may improve your ability to focus on one thing. I have an
admittedly shallow understanding of what meditation entails, though.

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ghotli
The times I have truly "passed the threshold" during meditation I have
successfully been able to concentrate and be calm for hours afterwards.
Usually the rest of the day.

The times that this has occurred have been few and far between and this was
when I was meditating every day for at least 10 minutes. Sometimes up to 30.
It's hard to do, especially at first, but yes I found it to be effective.

Then I had kids and didn't sleep for a year and anytime I tried to meditate I
fell asleep. I still do it from time to time but it's rather cumulative. The
more daily the practice, the more useful it will become IMO.

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emanuer
If you read NurteShock you already know how crucial the ability to focus is.
The great news is, you can train this ability and not only increase your
Intelligence & Attention Span, but also your game score.
[http://www.drjonathanreed.co.uk/wordpress/category/working-m...](http://www.drjonathanreed.co.uk/wordpress/category/working-
memory/)

so next time you kill a few bad guys, or conquer another empire (on your
screen), do it knowing that you just got a little more intelligent.

~~~
swah
What is NurteShock?

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gjm11
Probably a typo for "NurtureShock", a recently published book:
[http://www.amazon.com/btw-you-can-put-anything-here-or-
even-...](http://www.amazon.com/btw-you-can-put-anything-here-or-even-omit-
it/dp/0446504122)

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dmfdmf
Ayn Rand covers this in her book "Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology".
In her theory, focus (or selective attention) is the essence of free-will (the
ability to direct the object of our consciousness). Focus also (not
surprisingly) plays a crucial role in the formation of concepts (or classes),
the main theme of the book. She describes intelligence as the capacity to deal
with wide abstractions and long conceptual chains (my paraphrase).

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jey
This probably makes sense for convergent thinking, but there's also divergent
thinking. Is the author effectively saying that intelligence = convergent
thinking? If so, he is pretty much saying creativity is worthless and
obedience is paramount.

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sliverstorm
I knew making myself get back into reading was a good thing.

Further evidence that books may well be a lot better for us than we might
otherwise imagine these days. Notice classically, smart people read a lot of
books? Maybe they just develop the ability to focus really well (well, in
addition to misc. facts and words they pick up)

