N-back Performance: Comparing Assessment and Training Performance

Despite its frequent use, much is unknown about how the nback task is performed and how it relates to working memory. We conducted a detailed analysis of the accuracy and reaction time data from a 4-back version of the task and compared the results with previous results from an adaptive training version of the task. The experiment was also designed to test the novel predictions of a computational model of n-back performance. The assessment results were largely consistent with both the training data and the model predictions.