If you’re like most people you will think that if you have your IQ tested and score 100, you have average intelligence – period. How smart you are, the story goes, is genetically hardwired and there is little you can do to alter your raw ‘brain power’. Some people are naturally smart: they learn quickly, grasp complex matters, problem solve effectively and make good decisions. While others have to work that bit harder and practice more, relying more on practice and conscientiousness to keep up.

 

I  can tell you as a cognitive scientist with over 20 years of research experience in the area that this is not true.

 

I’m Dr. Mark Ashton Smith, founder of IQ Mindware – an evidence based cognitive training provider.  Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific field that is concerned with the brain’s neurobiology underlying cognition – how we perceive and know, decide and act, reason and comprehend. 

In earning my joint neuroscience and cognitive psychology Ph.D. I had seven years of training at the Carnegie Mellon & University of Pittsburgh’s Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC) program.  Later I lectured and researched in the Department of Psychology at Cambridge University, and went on to build and direct psychology programs around the world. Having fulfilled an academic career, I needed a new challenge – and decided to use my knowledge and expertise to develop apps and programs to help individuals get smarter and more resilient. My online lab and educational resource – the Health, Resilience & Performance (HRP) Lab can be found here. 

 

 

The Power of Neuroplasticity

The accumulated evidence is paints a clear picture about the power of adult neuroplasticity (1, 2) You can train to rewire your brain – not just in in forming new memories or learning new skills, but in terms of core cognitive abilities, such as working memory and general intelligence (g). You can push your cognitive limits beyond your baseline, to learn faster, think & reason better, make better decisions, become more creative, and attain more insight.

This Feb 2018 study in the prestigious journal Intelligence, for example, shows high gains in fluid intelligence from the right kind of brain training program.

 

How To Start

Brain training for core neuroplasticity change requires commitment over a training period of around 4 weeks, 20 minutes a day. This gives enough time for significant cognitive gains. 

I suggest you consider the following points, if you want to succeed with your program.  

 

What Are Your IQ-Related Cognitive Goals?

A useful first step in a successful program is to identify what goal or goals you want to achieve or problem to overcome. This could be something general such as:

 

• Increasing your IQ – how smart you are: your ability to grasp situations, reason, solve problems, understand material, learn rapidly.
• Pushing your limits to attain maximum cognitive potential: upgrading yourself and expanding the bounds of what is possible.
• Becoming more productive and innovative at college or work.
• Being more cognitively resilient to maintain focus and clarity under pressure at college or work, and forestalling burnout.

Or you may also have specific IQ-related goals such as:

• Gearing yourself up for a cognitive challenge (e.g. a project, an interview, a training course) you are committed to taking on.

Or you may want to take control and address cognitive issues that may impair your IQ such as:

• Attention-related disorders.
• Stress & anxiety issues that undermine your cognitive performance.
• Signs of cognitive decline with age – losing track, lapses in attention, memory problems, or simply not being as sharp as you once were.

 

HighIQPro

HighIQPro is an evidence-based IQ increase app and training program with supplementary eBooks and tutorials. It is focused on applied intelligence – increasing your cognitive capacity through neuroplasticity change to then apply in day to day cognitive challenges. It is a training program that combines the following:

 

1. Core Neuroplasticity Training

HighIQPro’s core neuroplasticity training integrates two well-established scientific brain training interventions in one game:

1. Working memory training (developments of the classic dual n-back)
2. Executive control training (attention control and flexibility, interference control and speed of processing)

HighIQPro’s innovative game design integrates both of them in the gCODE brain training method, resulting in the most effective brain training for intelligence on the market. The evidence for the gCODE is reviewed here.

 

2. Mindware Training For Applied Intelligence 

‘Mindware’ is the cognitive science term for the knowledge & strategies you have at your fingertips to solve problems and organize your thinking.  HighIQPro comes with an extensive set of tutorials to help you develop useful strategies for  problem solving, reasoning, decision-making, strategizing and planning, efficient learning of new content and skills, and so on.

 

3. Performance Tracking

The gTRACK Test Battery module provides you with an optional selection of short, well-known scientifically valid tests for a broad spectrum of IQ and attention-related cognitive abilities. With this you can chart your progress and prove your objective training gains.

 

4. IQ Increase Guarantee  

Whether you use the gTRACK Battery or free external IQ tests we provide links to, we guarantee a 10-20 IQ increase as a result of training – or your money back. We are the only training provider to give this level of guarantee. Terms of the guarantee are found here.

For  HighIQPro specs and purchase options click the button.

 

HighIQPro App

 

Good luck with your training goals moving forward!

Mark Ashton Smith, Ph.D.

Director, Cambridge Mindware Lab
Department of Psychology, University of Essex Online
@LinkedIn