Feasibility of a Home-Based Task-Switching Training in Middle-Aged Caregivers

Lanfer, Sarah S. Lütke; Enge, Sören; Melzer, Marlen; Wegge, Jürgen; Kliegel, Matthias · 2022 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1007/s41465-021-00237-0

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Summary

This study investigates the feasibility of implementing a self-administered, home-based task-switching training program for middle-aged caregivers, a population often neglected in cognitive training research. Motivated by the need to translate laboratory-based process training into real-world settings, the researchers aimed to assess four key areas: adherence to the training regimen, the effectiveness of the training in improving task-switching performance, the efficiency of different training intervals (weekly vs. fortnightly), and the generalization of gains to other cognitive domains and everyday functioning. The study addresses the gap between controlled laboratory findings and their application in the daily lives of healthy working adults. The experimental design involved 81 caregivers (aged 41–62) working in nursing homes, who were instructed to complete eight training sessions at home using a USB-stick-based task-switching paradigm. Participants were assigned to either a 7-day or 14-day interval between sessions, with control groups matched for time intervals but receiving no training. The training task required participants to switch between deciding if a letter was upper/lower case or vertical/horizontal. Pre- and post-training assessments measured near transfer (an untrained task-switching task), mid-transfer (inhibition and working memory updating), and far transfer (prospective memory via laboratory tasks and self-report questionnaires). Adherence was tracked by the number of completed sessions. Results indicated limited adherence, with only 56.7% of participants completing more than half of the instructed sessions. However, among those who were compliant (completing more than four sessions), significant training gains were observed in the trained task-switching paradigm. These compliant participants also demonstrated significant transfer effects to an untrained, structurally similar task-switching task. Conversely, no significant transfer effects were found for inhibition, working memory updating, or laboratory-based prospective memory tasks. Regarding everyday functioning, trained participants tended to report fewer everyday memory failures compared to the control group, though this finding was not statistically robust across all measures. The study found no significant differences in outcomes between the 7-day and 14-day interval groups, suggesting both schedules were similarly effective for those who adhered. The study concludes that while home-based task-switching training is feasible for middle-aged caregivers, its success is heavily contingent on participant adherence. The findings suggest that while specific cognitive improvements and near transfer are achievable in real-world settings, the generalization of laboratory results to broader cognitive domains and everyday life is limited. The authors highlight that low adherence and the lack of far transfer represent significant challenges in applying process-based training outside controlled environments. This research underscores the importance of addressing compliance issues and managing expectations regarding the scope of cognitive benefits when translating experimental interventions into practical, everyday applications.

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• simulator training transfer