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Working memory, attention control, and the N-back task: a question of construct validity
Open accessAbstract
The N-back task requires participants to decide whether each stimulus in a sequence matches the one that appeared n items ago. Although N-back has become a standard "executive" working memory (WM) measure in cognitive neuroscience, it has been subjected to few behavioral tests of construct validity. A combined experimental- correlational study tested the attention-control demands of verbal 2- and 3-back tasks by presenting n = 1 "lure" foils. Lures elicited more false alarms than control foils in both 2- and 3-back tasks, and lures caused more misses to targets that immediately followed them compared with control targets, but only in 3-back tasks. N-back thus challenges control over familiarity-based responding. Participants also completed a verbal WM span task (operation span task) and a marker test of general fluid intelligence (Gf; Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices Test; J. C. Raven, J. E. Raven, & J. H. Court, 1998). N-back and WM span correlated weakly, suggesting they do not reflect primarily a single construct; moreover, both accounted for independent variance in Gf. N-back has face validity as a WM task, but it does not demonstrate convergent validity with at least 1 established WM measure.
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“Stimuli presentation was pseudo-randomized to avoid the occurrence of lure trials (i.e., non-target letters that match a recent letter in the sequence but not the letter N-back), which are known to elicit more false alarms (FA) and misses than non-lure non-targets because of their familiarity and resemblance to targets (see Kane et al., 2007).”
From Working Memory Reloaded: Tyrosine Repletes Updating in the N-Back Task (2013) · cites this paper as Kane et al., 2007
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“Both maintenance and disengagement are important for problem-solving (e.g., Carpenter et al., 1990), but the relative contribution of each could be driving the different relationships of complex span tests and the n-back with fluid intelligence, as well as their less-than-perfect correlation with each other (e.g., Kane et al., 2007).”
From Which “working memory” are we talking about? Complex span tasks versus N-back (2025) · cites this paper as Kane et al., 2007
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“WM is itself an umbrella term encompassing diverse experimental paradigms, from maintenance of perceptual, spatial or verbal information to complex “n-back” and “span” tasks, with uncertain construct validity (Kane, Conway, Miura, & Colflesh, 2007; Shallice & Cooper, 2011).”
From Strategic offloading of delayed intentions into the external environment (2015) · cites this paper as Kane, Conway, Miura, & Colflesh, 2007
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“In conditions with n = 2 or higher (where the match is for the stimulus that appeared two or more items ago), this task requires the on-line monitoring and updating of WM content, which is known to be cognitively demanding (Kane et al., 2007).”
From Working Memory Reloaded: Tyrosine Repletes Updating in the N-Back Task (2013) · cites this paper as Kane et al., 2007
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“One of the most common tasks used in these WM training studies is the N-back, an updating task that correlates significantly with measures of higher-level cognition, such as Matrix Reasoning20–24.”
From Near transfer to an unrelated N-back task mediates the effect of N-back working memory training on matrix reasoning (2022) · cites this paper as [23]
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“Two-back performance did not correlate significantly with either measure, whereas three-back performance correlated descriptively more strongly with Raven's matrices than with operation span.”
From Which “working memory” are we talking about? Complex span tasks versus N-back (2025) · cites this paper as Kane et al., 2007
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“Indeed, correlations between the n-back and operation span ranged from nonsignificant to weak (all rs ≤ .22).”
From Which “working memory” are we talking about? Complex span tasks versus N-back (2025) · cites this paper as Kane et al., 2007
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“Furthermore, operation span and the n-back each accounted for unique variance in fluid intelligence, suggesting a dissociation between the two measures.”
From Which “working memory” are we talking about? Complex span tasks versus N-back (2025) · cites this paper as Kane et al., 2007
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“Kane et al. (2007) identified recall versus recognition as one candidate.”
From Which “working memory” are we talking about? Complex span tasks versus N-back (2025) · cites this paper as Kane et al., 2007
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“Based on the cognitive load of the 2-back condition (20–22)”
From Dynamic reconfiguration of frontal brain networks during executive cognition in humans (2015) · cites this paper as [22]
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Dosi, I., & Gavriilidou, Z. (2020) · Journal of Psycholinguistic Research · doi:10.1007/s10936-020-09711-w · Cited by 24
“N-back tasks are assumed to measure standard “executive” working memory; in other words, more complex verbal working memory (Kane et al. 2007).”
BackgroundBrief bursts of infrasound may improve cognitive function – An fMRI study
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Scott, E. E., Crabtree, K. W., McDonnell, A. S., LoTemplio, S. B., McNay, G. D., & Strayer, D. L. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1039334 · Cited by 28
“Importantly, research suggests that while “complex” span tasks such as OSPAN, and “simple” span tasks share variance, they are also likely measuring separable components of working memory abilities (e.g., Colom et al., 2006; Kane et al., 2007; Unsworth and Engle, 2007; Arnell et al., 2010).”
BackgroundResultWho “believes” in the Gambler’s Fallacy and why?
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“A person will most likely 1 Note that it is crucial to the model that the sliding window moves incrementally through the sequence (as is implied, e.g., in tests of short term memory such as the N-back test, see, e.g., Kane, Conway, Miura, & Colflesh, 2007).”
Hakun, J. G., & Johnson, N. F. (2017) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2017.08.007 · Cited by 23
“However, it is important to note that the low correlation values between the N-Back and WMC estimates observed here are not anomalous, as the N-Back and WMC were, similarly, only weakly (2-5% shared variance) or uncorrelated in previous studies (Kane et al., 2007; Redick & Lindsey, 2013; Roberts & Gibson, 2002).”
A comparison of visual working memory and episodic memory performance in younger and older adults
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“Examples are the N-back task and the Stroop Test [Kane et al. 2007; Kirchner 1958; Renaud and Blondin 1997].”
MethodLi, G., Chen, Y. S., Le, T. M., Wang, W., Tang, X., & Li, C. R. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-89433-8 · Cited by 23
N-backer: An auditory n-back task with automatic scoring of spoken responses
Monk, A. F., Jackson, D., Nielsen, D., Jefferies, E., & Olivier, P. L. (2011) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/s13428-011-0074-z · Cited by 22
“The n-back task is widely used as a way of placing a continuous demand on working memory (WM) in neuroimaging and behavioural dual-task experiments (for reviews, see Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Perrig, & Meier, 2010; Kane, Conway, Miura, & Colflesh, 2007; Owen, McMillan, Laird, & Bullmore, 2005).”
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Individual variation in working memory is associated with fear extinction performance
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“domains where the SDT scoring framework has been applied, such as n-back tests of working memory (Kane et al., 2007), continuous performance”
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“This hypothesis is further strengthened by previous findings showing that individual differences in Gf are predicted by lure interference in n-back tasks [54, 87].”
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RetractedAttention Networks in ADHD Adults after Working Memory Training with a Dual n-Back Task
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“, the specification and the location of a stimulus), with increasing attentional and working memory load, and decide if the currently presented stimulus is the same as the one presented in N trials previously [39,40].”
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“The 2-back task measured information integration performance (Jaeggi et al., 2010; Kane et al., 2007; Kirchner, 1958).”
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“The objective of our cognitive task was to keep observing a sequence of letters on a screen, shown one at a time, and respond if the current letter was previously shown—n-back task [28].”
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“We have demonstrated that here with the CRT-1 task, and it has recently also proven to be true for the n-back task (e.g., Jonides & Nee, 2006; Kane et al., 2007 ).”
MethodInfluentialZhou, B., Ghose, T., & Lukowicz, P. (2020) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s20030730 · Cited by 22
“N-back is a task commonly used in cognitive science to evaluate participants’ working memory [57,58], where participants need to identify repetitive patterns relying on their short-term memory.”
BackgroundWorking memory and fluid intelligence: A multi-mechanism view
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Self-citationUpdating the emotional content of working memory in social anxiety
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Role of Working Memory in Task Switching
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“This approach relies on the premise that when an individual undergoes a validated mental fatigue-inducing task, such as the n-back task [54] or the dual letter/number task [106], the resulting mental fatigue will manifest physiologically, evident in factors like HR and breathing rate [106, 114].”
Jeong, S., Kim, J., & Lee, J. (2024) · IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics · doi:10.1109/tvcg.2024.3372126 · Cited by 23
“…between the level of cognitive load and cognitive capacity on task performance, we first divided the participants into two cognitive capacity groups (low and high capacity) based on the overall accuracy rate in the N-back task, which has been shown to predict participants’ cognitive capacity [25].”
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“The n-back task has been extensively used in various forms both as an assessment (Kane et al., 2007) and training (Jaeggi et al., 2008) tool for working memory.”
MethodLin, L., Zhang, J., Wang, P., Bai, X., Sun, X., & Zhang, L. (2019) · Stress · doi:10.1080/10253890.2019.1669557 · Cited by 21
“N-back task was used to test working memory, as it is closely associated with the executive function (Kane et al., 2007) and it can elicit typical ERP components (Han, Liu, Zhang, Jin, & Luo, 2013).”
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“…modulate WM (i.e., K score was highest with positive, intermediate with neutral, and lowest with negative emotional stimuli), it remains possible that emotions also influence the decision-making process, such as a reduction of the threshold required for initiating a response (Kane et al., 2007).”
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Pucci, V., Guerra, C., Barsi, A., Nucci, M., & Mondini, S. (2023) · Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society · doi:10.1017/s135561772300022x · Cited by 22
“On one hand, CR increases brain network connectivity and cognitive functionality (Varela-L´opez et al., 2022); on the other, MR may lead to better brain oxygenation which indirectly sustains better cognition (e.g., Chung et al., 2007, 2008; Kane et al., 2007).”
BackgroundBall, J. D., Hills, E., Altaf, A., Ramesh, P., Green, M., Surti, F., Minhas, J. S., Robinson, T. G., Bond, B., Lester, A. B., et al. (2024) · Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism · doi:10.1177/0271678x241270452 · Cited by 20
“37 The N-back protocol was used by several studies in this review.”
Working memory training shows immediate and long-term effects on cognitive performance in children
Pugin, F., Metz, A. J., Stauffer, M., Wolf, M., Jenni, O. G., & Huber, R. (2014) · F1000Research · doi:10.12688/f1000research.3665.2 · Cited by 20
Age-differences in the temporal properties of proactive interference in working memory.
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“The use of an N-back task as a measure of WM deserves some commentary given prior research showing a weak relationship between this task and other WM measures (Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Perrig, & Meier, 2010; Kane et al., 2007; Redick & Lindsey, 2013).”
BackgroundMethodA process model of the understanding of uncertain conditionals
Kleiter, G. D., Fugard, A. J. B., & Pfeifer, N. (2018) · Thinking & Reasoning · doi:10.1080/13546783.2017.1422542 · Cited by 19
“The n-back task measures in the first line control processes of the working memory (Kane et al., 2007). The lure-3 score and the score for the correct rejections are not indicators of the capacity of working memory in the sense of buffer size. Kane et al. (2007) have argued, for example, that the n-back task and the s…”
BackgroundInfluentialPersistent Postconcussive Symptoms Are Accompanied by Decreased Functional Brain Oxygenation
Helmich, I., Saluja, R. S., Lausberg, H., Kempe, M., Furley, P., Berger, A., Chen, J., & Ptito, A. (2015) · Journal of Neuropsychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.14100276 · Cited by 24
“However, n-back tasks did not demonstrate convergent validity with established working memory measures.(63) We therefore addressed this controversy by investigating whether a mTBI is accompanied by increased or decreased frontal cerebral blood flow during a working memory task using functional near-infrared spectrosco…”
BackgroundAllsop, J. E., Gray, R., Bülthoff, H., & Chuang, L. L. (2017) · Journal of Eye Movement Research · doi:10.16910/jemr.10.5.8 · Cited by 19
Phishing vulnerability compounded by older age, apolipoprotein E e4 genotype, and lower cognition
Pehlivanoglu, D., Shoenfelt, A., Hakim, Z. M., Heemskerk, A., Zhen, J., Mosqueda, M., Wilson, R. C., Huentelman, M. J., Grilli, M. D., Turner, G. R., et al. (2024) · PNAS Nexus · doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae296 · Cited by 32
“Working memory represents a series of operations such as active maintenance of goals and manipulation of task-relevant information ( 57, 58) that are domain general and common to other cognitive functions (59, 60 ).”
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“53 Certain cognitive tasks that were traditionally employed to assess human or animal cognition are now being utilized to evaluate the cognitive capabilities of LLMs. 54,55 Some pioneering work reports that LLMs have demonstrated human-like performance.”
MethodBallesteros, S., Mayas, J., Ruiz-Marquez, E., Prieto, A., Toril, P., Romero, L. P. D. L., CEBALLOS, M. L. D., & Avilés, J. M. R. (2017) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/resprot.6570 · Cited by 19
“One view is that suppression processes relying on executive control are engaged in preventing the irrelevant dimension from taking control of the response [97].”
BackgroundAlizadehgoradel, J., Imani, S., Nejati, V., & Fathabadi, J. (2019) · Neurology Psychiatry and Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.npbr.2019.08.002 · Cited by 18
The comparative analysis of intelligence.
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“Different aspects of WM have been emphasized in the different tasks used with humans, and each underlying aspect has shown a relationship with g (Kane et al., 2007; Unsworth & Engle, 2007; Unsworth et al., 2009).”
MethodSela, I., İzzetoğlu, M., İzzetoğlu, K., & Onaral, B. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0046527 · Cited by 17
Dores, A. R., Barbosa, F., Carvalho, I. P., Almeida, I., Guerreiro, S., da Rocha, B. M., de Sousa, L., & Castro‐Caldas, A. (2015) · Journal of Neuropsychology · doi:10.1111/jnp.12076 · Cited by 18
Hippocampal subfields' volumes are more relevant to fluid intelligence than verbal working memory
Zhu, B., Chen, C., Dang, X., Dong, Q., & Lin, C. (2017) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2017.02.003 · Cited by 18
Siffredi, V., Barrouillet, P., Spencer‐Smith, M. M., Vaessen, M. J., Anderson, V. A., & Vuilleumier, P. O. (2017) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0179959 · Cited by 18
“Despite its popularity in fMRI studies, empirical evidence shows that the n-back task correlates weakly with WM span tasks, suggesting that it is unlikely that these two types of tasks reflect a single construct, and questionning the empirical validity of using n-back tasks (continuous-recognition or updating measures…”
BackgroundByrne, E. M., Ewbank, M., Gathercole, S. E., & Holmes, J. (2020) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105552 · Cited by 18
The neural correlates of specific executive dysfunctions in Parkinson’s disease
Gawryś, L., Falkiewicz, M., Pilacinski, A., Riegel, M., Piątkowska-Janko, E., Bogorodzki, P., Wolak, T. P., Andrysiak, R., Królicki, L., Kuliński, R., et al. (2014) · Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis · doi:10.55782/ane-2014-2009 · Cited by 17
The interplay between inhibitory control and metaphor conventionality
Sana, F., Park, J., Gagné, C. L., & Spalding, T. L. (2021) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-021-01152-7 · Cited by 18
Multimodal Detection of Drivers Drowsiness and Distraction
Das, K., Sharak, S., Riani, K., Abouelenien, M., Burzo, M. G., & Papakostas, M. (2021) · INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MULTIMODAL INTERACTION · doi:10.1145/3462244.3479890 · Cited by 17
“N-Back is a cognitive task commonly used in the field of psychology and cognitive neuroscience for the measurement of working memory [22].”
MethodPoor Performer: A Distinct Entity in Cochlear Implant Users?
Völter, C., Oberländer, K., Haubitz, I., Carroll, R., Dazert, S., & Thomas, J. P. (2022) · Audiology and Neurotology · doi:10.1159/000524107 · Cited by 17
“In contrast, there was no significant difference in the N-back which seems to assess a different area of working memory as reported in earlier studies who could not find any correlation between the OSPAN and the N-back task either [Kane et al., 2007; Jaeggi et al., 2010].”
ResultChen, T., Hou, L., Yang, J., Xu, L., Peng, J., & Law, C. Y. J. (2022) · Current Medical Imaging Formerly Current Medical Imaging Reviews · doi:10.2174/1573405618666220822101019 · Cited by 17
Dengler, J., Deck, B. L., Stoll, H., Fernandez-Nuñez, G., Kelkar, A. S., Rich, R. R., Erickson, B. A., Erani, F. R., Faseyitan, O. K., Hamilton, R. H., et al. (2024) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2023.11.020 · Cited by 18
“Moreover, the spe-cific roles of frontoparietal networks in artifical and ecological conditions should be evaluated.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialA comparison of two working memory tasks in aphasia
Ivanova, M. V., Kuptsova, S. V., & Dronkers, N. F. (2016) · Aphasiology · doi:10.1080/02687038.2016.1172699 · Cited by 17
“Previous studies have yielded conflicting results as to whether these tasks index similar underlying cognitive processes, with the majority of studies of healthy controls showing a minimal relationship between the two tasks (Jaeggi et al., 2010; Kane et al., 2007).”
MethodResultInfluentialNaber, M., Vedder, A., Brown, S. B. R. E., & Nieuwenhuis, S. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00822 · Cited by 17
“Second, the n-back task is a typical measure of attentional control (Kane et al., 2007) and should correlate with Stroop interference and MIB in case this construct underlies the previously found correlation.”
Effects of anxiety and cognitive load on instrument scanning behavior in a flight simulation
Allsop, J. E., Gray, R., Bülthoff, H., & Chuang, L. L. (2016) · doi:10.1109/etvis.2016.7851167 · Cited by 19
The Smoking N-Back: A Measure of Biased Cue Processing at Varying Levels of Cognitive Load
Evans, D. E., Craig, C., Oliver, J. A., & Drobes, D. J. (2010) · Nicotine & Tobacco Research · doi:10.1093/ntr/ntq214 · Cited by 17
More intelligent extraverts are more likely to deceive
Sarzyńska‐Wawer, J., Falkiewicz, M., Riegel, M., Babula, J., Margulies, D. S., Nȩcka, E., Grabowska, A., & Szatkowska, I. (2017) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0176591 · Cited by 26
“We used the 3-back task to assess working memory updating ability [37,38].”
BackgroundMethodEnergy optimization during walking involves implicit processing
McAllister, M. J., Blair, R. L., Donelan, J. M., & Selinger, J. C. (2021) · Journal of Experimental Biology · doi:10.1242/jeb.242655 · Cited by 17
“In this task, participants listened to a stream of auditory tones and continually distinguished whether the present tone was of higher or lower frequency than the tone immediately preceding it (one-back) (Kane et al., 2007).”
BackgroundKim, H., Park, H., Lim, D., Choi, M., Kim, H., Lee, I.-H., Kim, H.-S., Choi, J., Tack, G., & Chung, S. (2013) · PubMed Central · doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.03.009 · Cited by 16
“Highly concentrated oxygen was found to enhance cognitive performance, including memory , visuospatial , verbal([6]), addition([11]), and n-back tasks([7-9]).”
BackgroundInfluence of working memory on stimulus generalization in anomia treatment: A pilot study
Harnish, S. M., Blackett, D. S., Zezinka, A., Lundine, J. P., & Pan, X. J. (2018) · Journal of Neurolinguistics · doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2018.02.003 · Cited by 16
Shen, I., Liu, P., & Chen, C. (2018) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.07.006 · Cited by 17
Zonca, J., Coricelli, G., & Polonio, L. (2020) · Judgment and Decision Making · doi:10.1017/s1930297500007373 · Cited by 14
“The nback task assesses the ability to actively maintain and update information in working memory, and targets mechanisms linked to executive control such as inhibition and interference resolution (Kane et al., 2007).”
BackgroundA Frontal Account of False Alarms
Festini, S. B., & Katz, B. (2021) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_01683 · Cited by 17
Shielding working memory from distraction is more effortful than flexible updating
Papadopetraki, D., Froböse, M. I., Westbrook, A., Zandbelt, B. B., & Cools, R. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-96980-x · Cited by 19
Blur detection is unaffected by cognitive load
Loschky, L. C., Ringer, R. V., Johnson, A. P., Larson, A. M., Neider, M. B., & Kramer, A. F. (2014) · Visual Cognition · doi:10.1080/13506285.2014.884203 · Cited by 17
Mixter, S., Mathiassen, S. E., & Hallman, D. (2019) · Ergonomics · doi:10.1080/00140139.2019.1614229 · Cited by 16
“As a standardised CT engaging working memory, we used n-back (Kane et al. 2007).”
MethodKong, Q., Wang, J., Huang, X., He, J., & Chang, J. (2024) · Neurorehabilitation and neural repair · doi:10.1177/15459683241274755 · Cited by 19
Towards a serious game based human-robot framework for fatigue assessment
Kanal, V., Brady, J., Nambiappan, H. R., Kyrarini, M., Wylie, G. R., & Makedon, F. S. (2020) · International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments (PETRA) · doi:10.1145/3389189.3398744 · Cited by 15
“The instruction given by the wizard follows the N-Back condition [12] where if an instruction is the same as the instruction given n steps before the current step in a sequence, then the user must execute the instruction.”
MethodRosa, E., Grönkvist, M., Kölegård, R., Dahlström, N., Knez, I., Ljung, R., & Willander, J. (2021) · Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance · doi:10.3357/amhp.5798.2021 · Cited by 20
Older Adults Show Intraindividual Variation in the Use of Predictive Processing
Jongman, S. R., Copeland, A., Xu, Y., Payne, B., & Federmeier, K. D. (2022) · Experimental Aging Research · doi:10.1080/0361073x.2022.2137358 · Cited by 13
“Each letter was shown for 500 ms, followed by a 2000 ms blank screen (we removed the fixation cross prior to the letter in Kane et al. (2007) to reduce total task time).”
MethodKnöbel, S., & Lautenbach, F. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1026017 · Cited by 15
“Due to weak correlations with performance in other working memory tasks, this discussion mainly focused on the question of whether the n-back task only measures working memory (Kane et al., 2007; Miller et al., 2009).”
BackgroundKatembu, S., Zahedi, A., & Sommer, W. (2023) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1001132 · Cited by 19
“Experimental tasks The n-Back Task: This task is a standard “executive” WM task (62) and requires participants to decide if a stimulus in a temporal sequence matches an item presented n steps ago (63).”
MethodMadison, A. A., Andridge, R., Kantaras, A. H., Renna, M. E., Bennett, J. M., Alfano, C. M., Povoski, S. P., Agnese, D. M., Lustberg, M. B., Wesolowski, R., et al. (2023) · Cancers · doi:10.3390/cancers15174414 · Cited by 16
“The n-back test measures working memory [45].”
Evaluation of physiological responses to mental workload in n-back and arithmetic tasks
Wiediartini, W., Ciptomulyono, U., & Dewi, R. S. (2023) · Ergonomics · doi:10.1080/00140139.2023.2284677 · Cited by 15
“Therefore, the n-back task has face validity as a working memory task (Kane et al. 2007).”
Swanson, E. A., Barnes, M. A., Fall, A., & Roberts, G. (2017) · Reading & Writing Quarterly · doi:10.1080/10573569.2017.1359712 · Cited by 38
Choi, H.-S., Geden, M., & Feng, J. (2017) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189667 · Cited by 17
van Dijk, R., Christoffels, I. K., Postma, A., & Hermans, D. (2011) · Bilingualism Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728911000198 · Cited by 15
“To illustrate, several recent studies have found either that n-back tasks correlate more strongly with simple span tasks than with complex span tasks (Dobbs & Rule, 1989; Roberts & Gibson, 2002) or that n-back tasks correlate only moderately with complex span tasks (Conway et al., 2005; Kane et al., 2007; Miller, Pric…”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialN-back Training Task Performance: Analysis and Model
Harbison, J. I., Atkins, S. M., & Dougherty, M. R. P. (2011) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 15
Verhaeghen, P., & Zhang, Y. (2012) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbs119 · Cited by 15
More complex than you might think: Neural representations of food reward value in obesity
Pimpini, L., Kochs, S., Franssen, S., van den Hurk, J., Valente, G., Roebroeck, A. F., Jansen, A. T. M., & Roefs, A. (2022) · Appetite · doi:10.1016/j.appet.2022.106164 · Cited by 16
Henemann, G. M., Schmitgen, M. M., Wolf, N. D., Hirjak, D., Kubera, K. M., Sambataro, F., Bach, P., Koenig, J., & Wolf, R. C. (2023) · Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging · doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111593 · Cited by 14
Metacognition in working memory: Confidence judgments during an n-back task
Conte, N., Fairfield, B., Padulo, C., & Pelegrina, S. (2023) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2023.103522 · Cited by 15
Metadata
- Authors
- Kane, M. J., Conway, A. R. A., Miura, T. K., & Colflesh, G. J. H.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- University of Illinois Chicago (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
- Published
- 2007-05
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 615-622
- ISSN
- 0278-7393 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1285
- OpenAlex
- W1978600950
- Cited by
- 933
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 50 · 2025: 68 · 2024: 73 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 74 · 2020: 70 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 63 · 2017: 57 · 2016: 50 · 2015: 57 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 32
- FWCI
- 21.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- libres.uncg.edu
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- NC Digital Online Collection of Knowledge and Scholarship (The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-00-1-131)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- n-back task, working memory, attentional control, construct validity, convergent validity, operation span, fluid intelligence, executive function
- MeSH terms
- Attention, Humans, Individuality, Intelligence, Memory, Short-Term, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Problem Solving, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Semantics, Serial Learning, Verbal Learning
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