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Mark Ashton Smith, Ph.D

About Mark Ashton Smith, Ph.D

I am a cognitive scientist with a joint Ph.D in cognitive psychology and neuroscience from the Center of the Neural Basis of Cognition (Carnegie Mellon/Pittsburgh). At IQ Mindware we develop brain training interventions to increase IQ, critical thinking, decision making, creativity and executive functioning.

How Working Memory Training Can Increase IQ, Intelligence And Higher Order Cognition

HighIQPro  has been designed to expand working memory capacity. In this article I will look at the scientific basis of the connecting threads between working memory, working memory capacity, working memory training and IQ. I will be answering the question: How does working memory training increase IQ? Working Memory Definitions Working memory has been has been defined in everyday language as: “a set of skills that helps us keep information in mind while using that information to complete a

Creativity and IQ. What Is Divergent Thinking? How Is It Helped by Sleep, Humor and Alcohol?

What is creativity? Definition of creativity Creativity is the process of producing something that is both original and worthwhile. When someone comes up with creative ideas they are ideas that are novel and appropriate to the purpose at hand. In this two part blog article we’ll be looking at the creative process and how your IQ level is critical in this process. Left brain vs right brain and creativity Have you ever heard people say that they tend to

The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT)

Here the 3-item CRT test for ‘cognitive reflection’ developed at Princeton. Average Carnegie Melon and Harvard undergraduate scores for this test range from 1.4-1.5 out of 3!

Lego Puzzle!

Can you figure out this lego puzzle? It has been circulating on Facebook recently. It needs a key – a leap of insight – to solve. But when you click, the components of the puzzle unravel quickly.

How Your Brain Ages & What To Do About It

How the brain ages   The figure is taken from Trey Hedden & John Gabrieli at Stanford University. It shows the life course of different cognitive abilities underlying IQ, with declines setting in for most cognitive functions after the age of 55. These researchers suggest a number of measures for maintaining cognitive ability levels well into old age, to help beat the statistical averages. There are several factors that accelerate cognitive decline in older adults. Helping counter these can simply involve lifestyle choices, under control

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