Does Every Brain Fitness Programs Work?
One of my friend got his son one of those “brain fitness games” for his Nintendo DS. “At least now he’ll be improving his brain.” he said.
But is that true? You see, one of the problems with brain fitness programs is that there’s no way to reliably measure results by yourself. How do you know if your brain is really improving?
If you read the testimonials of most brain fitness programs, you’ll notice a pattern: That is most people “feel” a difference. No one set a benchmark test in which to measure their results.
The problem with “feelings” is, of course, cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon in which people justify their previous actions. Let’s say you’ve just subscribed to a magazine and you regret it. To protect yourself from depression, your brain justifies subscribing to the magazine by saying something like, “Who knows, there might an article in it that might change your life.”
By purchasing a brain fitness program, in other words, it is rare for people to admit that they have made a mistake. Most people WILL “feel” a difference. And trust me, the concept of cognitive dissonance has been clinically proven over and over again.
Just read the book “Mistakes were made (but not by me): Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions and hurtful acts”
This is one of the reason I held off purchasing any programs for my declining brain. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon Posit Science did I truly appreciate the science behind brain plasticity (the concept that your brain can change).
Posit Science’s programs, unlike most other brain fitness programs, are researched and clinically tested by more than 50 scientists worldwide… so you can be sure you’re not just suffering from cognitive dissonance.
Plus, Posit Science’s Brain Fitness Program includes a few level of challenges. This is important because you have to challenge your brain for it to grow.
If you want to build muscles, you have to carry weights beyond your limits. If you want to run faster, you have run like you have never done before. You can’t grow if there is no challenge!
That’s why I was skeptical as to the effectiveness of the brain game my friend got his son.
