In the language of psychologists, the ability to control their unwanted behavior is called executive control (executive control). That is, for you and me, this is willpower. The same group includes attention, planning, memory, etc. When our desires still win, it is executive control that is to blame for this.
Working memory is located in the prefrontal cortex of the brain and is closely related to executive control. People with weak working (operational) memory have problems with executive functions. When training working memory in such people, there is an improvement in executive control.
Therefore, Dutch scientists decided to conduct tests that would show the dependence of memory training with getting rid of bad habits. Groups of people who abuse alcohol (over 30 servings of alcohol per week) were recruited. These people were divided into two groups. One group performed memory training exercises for a month with memorizing letters on the screen and then repeating the same characters in reverse order. Gradually, the tasks became more complicated. The second group also trained their memory with special exercises. But they were much easier and did not get more complicated over time.
As a result, people from the first group not only showed good results in the development of working memory. They have significantly reduced the amount of alcohol consumed (from 30 to 10 servings per week). People from the second group improved their memory, but they did not make much progress in reducing the amount of alcohol consumed.
Good news — willpower is quite tangible and measurable. And this means that we can influence it and there are practically no hopeless patients. And her training will not only help you get rid of bad habits or start doing something useful, but also improve your memory. Which in turn will increase your productivity, perception and processing of information, and therefore change your outlook on life. This is how to make a correction to a visually impaired person. Everything immediately appears in different colors and you begin to see much further than your own nose ;)
