THE EFFECT OF MEMORY TRAINING ON SHORT AND LONG-TERM MEMORY ON INDIVIDUALS WITH ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY

Namen te študije je bil preveriti vpliv spominskega treninga N-back na kratko- in dolgotrajne spominske sposobnosti pri udeležencih s pridobljeno možgansko poškodbo. V ta namen sta se izoblikovali dve hipotezi, in sicer (H1) kratkotrajni spomin udeležencev se bo izboljšal ter (H2) dolgotrajni spomin udeležencev se ne bo spremenil. Udeleženci v študiji so bili trije posamezniki, stari 38, 31 ter 26 let, ki imajo pridobljeno možgansko poškodbo. Metodološki pripomočki, uporabljeni v študiji, so bili: testa spominskih sposobnosti Auditory-Verbal Learning Test oziroma AVLT (Lezak et al., 2012) in Shum Visual Learning Test oziroma SVLT (Shum, O\u27Gorman in Eadie, 1999) ter pet podtestov testne baterije Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status oziroma RBANS (Randolph, 2012). Postopek zbiranja podatkov je najprej zajemal prvotno testiranje, nato dvomesečni spominski trening s pomočjo spominskega treninga N-Back, za tem pa še zaključno testiranje spominskih sposobnosti s prej naštetimi pripomočki. Rezultati testiranj niso pokazali izboljšanj v sposobnostih kratko- in dolgotrajnega spomina. Tako hipoteze 1 ni bilo mogoče potrditi, medtem ko je bila hipoteza 2 potrjena. Kljub temu se je med spominskim treningom pričel nakazovati pozitiven trend kompetentnosti pri dveh udeležencih, kar morda kaže na ustreznost spominskega treninga za dva udeleženca, vendar bi za prikaz izboljšav tudi v testiranjih trening moral biti dolgotrajnejši.The purpose of this study was to check the effect of memory training N-back on short- and long-term memory skills in participants with acquired brain injury. In this regard, two hypotheses were formed, namely (H1) short-term memory of the participants will be improved and (H2) long-term memory of the participants will not change. The participants in the study were three individuals aged 38, 31 and 26, who have acquired brain injury. Methodological aids used in the study were: two memory skill tests – Auditory-Verbal Learning Test or AVLT (Lezak et al., 2012) and Shum Visual Learning Test or SVLT (Shum, O\u27Gorman and Eadie, 1999), and five subtests of the test battery Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status or RBANS (Randolph, 2012). The process of data collection was originally covered by the initial testing, then a two-month training memory using memory training N-Back, and after that the final testing of memory capacity with the above listed aids. The test results did not show any improvement in the ability of short- and long-term memory. Therefore, the hypothesis 1 could not be confirmed, while the hypothesis 2 is confirmed. Nevertheless, during the memorial training a positive trend was indicated in the competence of two participants, possibly indicating the relevance of memory training for the two participants, but to show improvements also in testing results the training should be prolonged