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Installation

Before downloading the i3 Mindware app make sure you have installed Adobe AIR here, or the last AIR runtime beta here

If your operating system does not support this app, e-mail admin@iqmindware.com with your OS details, and you will be reimbursed immediately.

Induction: Classic Dual N-Back

The i3 Mindware games are all based on the classic and well-studied dual n-back game for working memory. Working memory capacity is a key component of IQ. From within the i3 Mindware app you can also access the relational reasoning IQ puzzles if you want to follow up your training session with relational reasoning practice. Relational reasoning, along with working memory and attention control are core components of your IQ.

WATCH THE VIDEO TUTORIAL ON HOW TO PLAY THE CLASSIC DUAL N-BACK GAME

Week 1 : 5 Days DNB Training

1. From the Splash panel you can create a new Profile. You can also access previously created Profiles. First click on ‘New.’
2. Create your first Profile here. Fill in the relevant fields. If your country is not represented choose a country that you most like!
3. You can choose whether or not to do IQ test problems after each training session from this screen. Select ‘No’ to disable this. It is not required for the Trident Foundation program. If you have the time (5 extra minutes), it’s recommended. If not, that’s not a problem. External IQ tests can be found here – there is no need to access them via the app.
4. Here you can select a training period, and the app records when you start the program. You will only be training with this Profile for 2 weeks, so you will not complete all the sessions available.

5. This is your game menu window. You should select ‘DNB Training’ here. (Note that changing games requires creating another Profile.)

6. This is an instructions window for the classic dual n-back game. Press the ‘L’ key for a letter (audio) match, and the ‘F’ key when there is a spatial location match. You should rest your index fingers over these keys throughout the session.

7. This is an options menu for your brain training DNB game. After every training session with the game, you will return to this window. It shows you what your next ‘n-back’ level is (see video above). It also shows you your accuracy for the training session you have just completed. Here you can also select a fixed n-back level (including a 1-back) by toggling that option.

If you want audio error feedback while you are training, toggle the switch as shown here.

8. This is the training game window for the dual n-back. You can pause or cancel the game at any time. There are 10 mini-sessions (or ‘blocks’) per session.

Number of i3 DNB Sessions: x1 per day for 5 days

You can o play 1 DNB session each evening to see capacity gains within typically 2 weeks of training. You can also optionally train x2 sessions per day. Your training should take no longer than 20 minutes. Each day you will benefit from long-term neuroplasticity changes, modifying your dopamine receptor density.

Training Goals

Your goal in this first week of training is to increase your n-back level. Don’t be frustrated if it takes a while as often one or two days will go by without improvements. After each 10 block training session, you can see your average N-Back level for the session in a graph. What is important here is that your n-back level improves over the week – the absolute n-back level is not important.

Week 2 : Speeded DNB Training

For the second week of your Trident IQ Foundations training, you will continue with the same DNB Training game as Week 1, but you can optionally play the game at a faster speed setting, to increase cognitive load. You can toggle the faster speed setting as shown below. If this is too demanding, you can continue with the slower speed setting. As in the first week, aim for 10 sessions over 5 days. This is not a requirement – and you could continue your second week at the same speed setting as the first week.

Week 3: Non-Categorical DNB Training

For the third week of your Trident IQ Foundations training, you will create a new Profile and play 1 to 2 weeks of a variation DNB game: the non-categorical or ‘episodic’ dual n-back, which targets your hippocampus for learning new associations. This is a core IQ ability.

This may feel much harder than the previous DNB training, and your average DNB score will most likely drop. That’s perfectly OK, as this is targeting a different working memory neural circuit involving the hippocampus.

The game logic is exactly the same as for the classic DNB you are now familiar with.

1. After creating a new Profile, select ‘Custom Games’ in the game options window.
2. Select Non-Categorical DNB.
3. Train for 1-2 sessions per day as in the previous weeks, for 5 days. Press the ‘L’ key for a letter (audio) match, and the ‘F’ key when there is a spatial location match. You should rest your index fingers over these keys throughout the session.

Week 4: 5 Days Output Gated DNB

For the final week of your Trident IQ Foundations training, you can either continue with the non-categorical DNB if you see potential benefits there, or you can create a new Profile and play 5 days of a variation DNB game: 1G DNB – also known as output gated DNB. This game requires attention to relations between the two modalities in the game – visuospatial location and letters. Relational processing is a core IQ ability.

1. After creating a new Profile, select ‘1G Training’ in the game options window.
2. The instructions for the 1G Training are shown in the app prior to starting play. These are explained below.
3. A screenshot of gameplay is shown. This is the same dual n-back game, but your response depends on the relationship between matches in the two streams of information: visuospatial locations and audio letters.
   
   Train for 2 sessions per day, for 5 days. Press the ‘L’ key for a letter (audio) match, and the ‘F’ key when there is a spatial location match.

Instructions for 1G DNB

The game alternates between 3 different response modes for what counts as an n-back match. You are holding two streams of information in your working memory, and based on the changing symbols described below, you have to regulate how you respond to n-back matches.

OR – standard response: This is the classic dual n-back game. This implements an ‘OR’ logic gate in how you respond. You respond to either a location match or a letter match or when both types of match occur together – as shown above.

XOR : This is a variation of the dual n-back, in which you only respond if there is an audio match but not a visual match, or a visual match but not an audio match. In other words, you do not respond if BOTH audio and visual matches occur simultaneously – as shown above.

AND: This is the opposite of the XOR. You only respond if there is a simultaneous audio and visual match, but not if there is a match of one of these alone as shown above.

As with the other games, your goal is to increase the n-back level within the week as much as you can.

Semantic & Visual Streaming

Find instructions for semantic and visual streaming here.

Cognitive Coaching

Please contact Mark Ashton Smith, Ph.D. by e-mail if you are interested in upgrading for a one-to-one cognitive coaching session to get the most out of your training.

Please e-mail  mark@iqmindware.com to set this up.

Good luck with your training!

Mark Ashton Smith, Ph.D 

Director, IQ Mindware
Director, Mindware Lab
Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Essex (Online)