| Popis: |
An implied goal of education is to provide enriching experiences that enhance domain-general abilities important for learning, such as keeping relevant information in mind, responding flexibly in accordance with task goals, and tackling novel problems. Here we examined, retrospectively and prospectively, the relationship between educational attainment and both cognitive performance and learning. We analyzed an existing dataset of cognitive test results from 196,388 subscribers to an online cognitive training program, Lumosity. These subscribers, ages 15-60, reported a wide range of educational attainment. Controlling for multiple variables, we found that higher levels of education were associated with better cognitive performance across the age range. Differences were large between Ph.D. vs. Some High School (d = .80), and moderate for Bachelor’s degree vs. High School (d = .51). Cognitive performance did not differ at age 17 between students who had vs. had not begun a college degree at that point, but was 0.5 SD higher at age 25 for college graduates than high school graduates. This and other such findings suggest a divergence in cognitive trajectories as a result of cumulative life experiences. In addition to measuring cognitive performance at one timepoint, we measured change in performance for 69,202 subscribers who had completed approximately 100 days of cognitive training. Higher educational attainment was associated with bigger gains, but the effect was small (d = .04 - .37). These results highlight the long-lasting trace of an effect of prior cognitive challenges, but also show that this effect can be reduced with additional experience. |
