Comments on NumbersNearMultiplesOfTen

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:55:25 GMT

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< ### 6 Comments. ###

> ### 7 Comments. ###

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## 7 Comments. ### How to do 56 x 49? I can't get the result.

-- Jiggaboo 2009-09-15 21:42 UTC

@Jiggaboo that's because it only works if the numbers are "close" to a POWER of 10 (not a multiple)... and yours aren't.

I have some multiplication tricks of my own at: http://www.discreteideas.com/2009/08/the-shortest-path/

-- The Count 2009-10-06 14:52 UTC

what determines a + or - in the first step?

-- Anonymous 2009-10-29 08:04 UTC

base 50 = 10 * 5

56 +6 [56 - 50 = 6] 49 -1 [49 - 50 = -1]

5 * (50 + 6 - 1) | -6 275 |-6 2750 - 6 = 2744

-- Anon. 2009-11-15 09:21 UTC

Vedic Math... early 20th century?? Sure about that?

-- anon42 2010-04-03 17:01 UTC

This is an amazing method.

-- Anonymous 2011-02-06 03:00 UTC

"Vedic Math... early 20th century?? Sure about that?"

Yep. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharati_Krishna_Tirthaji

-- jsryan 2012-09-06 22:58 UTC

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BrainTrainingGames

Sun, 05 May 2013 13:08:44 GMT

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> * [http://www.brainexer.com/nback.html BrainExer N-Back] - free online n-back task exercise

Added:

> * [http://www.brainexer.com/ www.brainexer.com] - free online brain training exercises

Can we use games such as video games to improve mental performance?

In general, scientific studies find that while practising something will make you good at it, getting good at one activity doesn't make you better at other activities. For example, if you play a lot of chess, you will get better at playing chess, but there is not good evidence that playing chess will make you better at other activities like, say, playing bridge or computer programming (See this interesting article in Scientific American on "The Expert Mind" : http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-expert-mind ).

That means that if we do find scientific evidence that playing some game improves general intelligence, it is a very exciting finding for us. The Mind Hacks and Mind Performance Hacks books both describe evidence that playing first person video games improves certain general mental processes, namely the "attentional blink" and "subitizing". This is a fast moving area of research and every now and then researchers are making new findings suggesting ways that game playing can improve intelligence.

Recently, researchers have presented evidence that practicing a particular demanding mental task (called "Dual n-back") increases general intelligence - probably through increasing the capacity of working memory (i.e. the number of things we can hold in our head at one time while thinking). That holds the promise of a way of increasing general intelligence and problem solving ability.

Training with dual n-back

Programs to train with

The study suggests that practicing the dual n-back task for about 30 minutes a day will improve overall intelligence. There are a number of implementations of the dual n-back task that you can use for training. Four of the best are:

Dual n-back Task - an exact duplicate of the algorithm used in the study by Jaeggi, et al. No distracting bells and whistles. Includes a Flash 6 version that works on Pocket PC (if the device has a keyboard) and Windows Mobile smart phones.
soakyourhead.com - an implementation of the n-back task which is very close to the original paper
cognitive fun - another good implementation of the n-back task. The cognitive fun site has a number of other demanding brain games which are well worth exploring.
Brainworkshop - an open source app with lots of options, written in Python
Working Memory Workout - a feature-heavy open source PC game
N-Back task online - an online implementation of the N-Back task with a number of settings.
BrainExer N-Back - free online n-back task exercise

The dual n-back task is pretty intense, and it's probably fairer to describe it as an "intense brain workout" than a "game". An interesting twist on the n-back idea is the 3d dual n-back speed run at cognitivefun.net, which is an attempt at implementing something close to the dual n-back task in the study, but made into a much more compelling computer game format.

For iPhone/iPod Touch users, check out the "IQ Boost" application, which is a reasonably faithful implementation of the original task.

Other n-back programs

Pithyless - another n-back implementation
brain-beat - a well presented implementation of single and dual n-back
"hback" - another program aiming to implement dual n-back as described in the paper
IQ by EFRAC - an implementation of Dual N-Back for Java-enabled mobile phones.

Press coverage

Brain boot camp makes you smarter - Article from Science Central with a video featuring the authors of the dual n-back study
Radio interview with Suzanne Jaeggi, one of the authors of the dual n-back study
New Scientist - simple brain exercise can boost IQ
Which brain games will help you the most? - from Discover magazine

See WorkingMemoryTraining for further scientific background

Other brain training and mental calculation games online

www.brainexer.com - free online brain training exercises
mybraintrainer.com - commercial brain training games site
Space Fortress - a brain training game with a long history. The online game Star Castle may resemble it.
NeuroNation - a great site with a variety of brain games (completely free)
NeuroNation (German) updated version of NeuroNation?, unfortunately only in German.
CognitiveLabs - a site with a lot of interesting stuff
Fitbrains.com - a slick site with lots of games (NOT all free)
gamesforthebrain.com
braingymmer.com
scilearn.com - publishes the "Fast ForWord?" reading training software. See a summary of a study of the effectiveness of this, suggesting no significant gains, and the Wikipedia article on Fast ForWord
Speed math trainer - a good online game for rapid fire drilling of mental arithmetic
Grey Matters mental gym - lots of online games
gbrainy - Free, open source game software that claims to improve your intelligence. Cf. Brain Age.
Memorise.org memory gym
TimesOnline.co.uk - some simple but slick Nintendo-style online brain training games
Matica.com brain gym - free flash games
Happy Neuron - site with lots of games, generally need paying for but with free trials
Games at brainready.com
crealude.net
Learning tools at teach-the-brain.org
100 web games and tools to stretch your mind without moving a muscle - at find-schools-online.com
brainist.com - lots of brain games
A mental rotation game
braindash.com - various brain games at a slick site
foxythinking.com
playwithyourmind.com
BrainArena.com
Smart kit - puzzle site, also has blog with interesting posts on research
Mastermind - good for practicing logic and deduction.

For facebook users, check out the "Who has the biggest brain" application.

Brain training and mental health

The future of computerized cognitive therapy at Sharpbrains.com - maybe computer training can improve your mental health as well as making you smarter....
Using Tetris as a potential treatment for PTSD

Training processing speed

Brain training effects of traditional videogames

Cheyney - Mom, let me play more computer games: they improve my mental rotation skills
Video game playing associated with surgery skills
Strategic video game improves critical cognitive skills in older adults - play Rise of Nations and get smarter. At least, it works for old folks!
Boot, W. R., Kramer, A. F., Simons, D. J., Fabiani, M., Gratton, G. (in press). The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control
The effects of action video game experience on the time course of inhibition of return and the efficiency of visual search
Video games 'can improve vision'

Brain training effects of traditional board games

Training attention

Green & Bavelier 2003 - describes a brain training game successfully used to train attention
Can attention itself be trained?
Interview about training attention at SharpBrains

Relevant books

The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger As Your Brain Grows Older - by Elkhonon Goldberg
The overflowing brain: information overload and the limits of working memory See also: BrainBooks
Open questions

Here are some open questions for development:

Can we find any more research evidence in this area?
Is there evidence that the "brain training" programs that have been popularised by Nintendo and others recently really work?
What other memory and brain training software is available? Which is the best?

Mentat Wiki: RecentChanges

Comments on NumbersNearMultiplesOfTen

BrainTrainingGames

Training with dual n-back

Programs to train with

Other n-back programs

Press coverage

Other brain training and mental calculation games online

Brain training and mental health

Training processing speed

Brain training effects of traditional videogames

Brain training effects of traditional board games

Training attention

Other relevant links

Scientific background

Relevant books

Open questions

See also

Comments