Working Memory Training in Adolescents Decreases Laboratory Risk Taking in the Presence of Peers

Abstract

Adolescence is a period of heightened risk taking relative to both adulthood and childhood, due in part to peers’ increased influence on adolescent decision making. Because adolescents’ choices have harmful consequences, there is great interest in specific interventions that might attenuate risk taking. We hypothesized that it might be possible to reduce adolescent risk taking through an intervention targeting the ability/tendency to engage cognitive control processes. While some studies of working memory training (WMT) have indicated subsequent enhancement of adults’ cognitive control abilities, potential impacts on adolescent cognitive control have not been explored. Accordingly, we tested whether 4 weeks of WMT (relative to active control training, ACT) might increase performance on cognitive control measures and decrease risk taking in adolescents. Adolescents receiving WMT, compared to those receiving ACT, exhibited some evidence of improved short-term memory performance following the 4-week training period. Improvements did not significantly transfer to performance on basic cognitive control measures. However, on two risk-taking tasks administered at post-training either with or without an anonymous peer audience, adolescents who received WMT evinced suppressed levels of risk taking when observed by peers, an effect not seen in ACT. Further work is needed to more fully characterize the potential of WMT interventions in stemming risk behavior within adolescent samples.