Archival ReportRemember the Future: Working Memory Training Decreases Delay Discounting Among Stimulant Addicts
Section snippets
Participants
Twenty-seven participants (20 male, seven female, mean age = 38.6 years) being treated for stimulant use at a substance-abuse treatment facility enrolled and completed all assessments. Stimulant abuse/dependence diagnosis was determined by clinical staff at the treatment facility using criteria established by the DSM-IV-TR (25) and documented to be consistent with the findings from aspects of Addiction Severity Index—5th Edition administered to all individuals in the facility as a component of
Results
Active and control training groups did not statistically differ on any demographic variables. Because of a marginal nonsignificant difference between the mean ages of the two groups (35.7 for active vs. 41.6 for control, t25 = 1.89, p = .070), age was included as a covariate in subsequent analyses. When it was found not to affect inferences, age as a covariate was dropped from the final models.
Discussion
This study suggests that working memory training among stimulant-dependent individuals results in a decrease in discounting of delayed rewards consistent with previous reports of a relationship between working memory and delay discounting. This effect of training working memory was selective and did not affect any other pre- and posttraining measures. Moreover, the absence of any significant effects in the control group indicates that these effects are not related to attention, exposure to the
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