To our knowledge, cognitive-based intervention protocols for adolescents with extremely low intellectual functioning, an underserved portion of the student population, are scarce. The exclusion of participants with intellectual challenges in most studies (e.g., ) presents an area of opportunity to investigate the appropriateness of cognitive training for this population.
This information is especially valuable in the case of populations with significant cognitive deficits, such as individuals with intellectual functioning below the average range, a population typically excluded from this area of research. Although feasibility studies are scarce in comparison to efficacy and effectiveness trials in cognitive training research, they can provide valuable information about the implementation and viability of a program. suggest that feasibility studies are a critical step to successfully design, execute, and evaluate the validity of a cognitive training program prior to testing efficacy and/or effectiveness. As part of the contentious debate throughout the field, recent reviews have pointed to the lack of methodological standards as the source of inconsistent results. While a significant body of research and reviews support the validity of these attention-based cognitive training programs, research discounting the benefits of this approach also exists. Thus, previous research has attempted to improve reading and mathematics achievement for learners with developmental disabilities via attention-based cognitive training programs, yielding promising outcomes. The relationship between attention and academics is evidenced by the association of attentional capability to reading and math achievement in both typically developing and clinical populations. Īttention is one cognitive construct that is significantly related to academic achievement.
Cognitive training studies have demonstrated its benefits ranging from improved performance on similar cognitive tasks (i.e., near-transfer) to improved academics (i.e., far transfer). This approach has resulted in promising findings for enhancing cognition for neurotypically developing populations and suggested to be used as an alternative or supplemental treatment approach for individuals diagnosed with neurodevelopmental conditions. Second, the findings from this study provide recommendations on the appropriateness of outcomes measures.Ĭognitive training involves repeated practice on a domain-specific, computer-based cognitive task that has demonstrated the potential to improve cognitive functioning across a spectrum of domains. For one, the findings suggest that cognitive training is feasible with this population and can be administered in classroom setting. The implications of the feasibility findings for the design of the study are twofold. What are the implications of the feasibility findings for the design of the main study? Furthermore, the findings highlighted that individuals were able to interact with the NeuroTracker attention training paradigm.
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The findings demonstrated that all participants that met inclusionary criteria were able to progress through the arms of the randomized controlled trial assessing the feasibility of the cognitive training program. Prior to conducting this study, it remained unclear whether cognitive training was feasible for children and adolescents with cognitive capability in the extremely low range (i.e., between 2 and 3 standard deviations below the population mean) and in the classroom setting. What uncertainties existed regarding the feasibility? Results suggest that implementing NeuroTracker as a classroom-based intervention and using clinically validated outcome measures is feasible with this population. Some limitations of the academic measures were identified. Eighty-three percent of participants meeting initial inclusion criteria completed all stages of the study from baseline to post-intervention assessments. ResultsĪll recruited participants completed 15 training sessions within a 6-week period. Recruitment and retention rates, adherence, and properties of the academic measures were assessed. Twenty-six adolescents aged between 11 and 16 years with a Wechsler-based IQs in the extremely low range ( M IQ = 56.00, SD IQ = 13.89) completed 15 training sessions on either the NeuroTracker or an active control task math and reading performance were assessed using clinically validated instruments before and after training. This feasibility study investigated the viability of implementing a cognitive-based training program (NeuroTracker) and assessing its potential effects on academic performance for adolescents with extremely low IQ.