Editing Cognitive Testing

The efficiency of the work most people do is a combination of their ability to focus and think. Cognitive testing can help the user measure and optimize mental fatigue. Many surprising sources of significant impact on brain function can be revealed using cognitive testing.<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7366948/ Brain health consequences of digital technology use]</ref> There is a philosophical argument to be made that those who think more are actually more alive. Unfortunately, constant testing can easily be the most time consuming part of a health tracking routine. Some of the tools listed bellow mitigate this problem. The more complicated a skill being tested the less 'clean' it is and more likely to detect major failures in one of the subskills rather than improvement in any of them or overall I suspect.      

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==== Scientifically Validated ====
[[Quantified Mind]]

==== Cognition Training ====
Highly controversial<ref>https://www.cognitivetrainingdata.org/the-controversy-does-brain-training-work/</ref> though studies crop up.<ref>https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12486</ref> Often the purpose is to counteract disability and ageing. 

N-back<ref>https://www.gwern.net/DNB-FAQ</ref> Common test of working memory. Several implementations are available. Training may improve other WM tasks and therefore train IQ.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749596X18300871?via%3Dihub</ref>

==== Formal Diagnostic Neuropsychological tests ====
More formal tests are available but they are unlikely to be good for testing changes between days.<ref>https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/15/public-domain-scientific-intelligence-test-available-for-use-in-research</ref><ref>https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/10453/computer-based-cognitive-tests?rq=1</ref>

==== Games<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mark-Chignell/publication/265510273_Designing_Serious_Games_for_Cognitive_Assessment_of_the_Elderly/links/5410b6890cf2f2b29a4114c7/Designing-Serious-Games-for-Cognitive-Assessment-of-the-Elderly.pdf</ref> ====
Fun.  

Chess. lichess.org Most programs record moves even timestamps. Analysis programs though are based on computer analysis and will not give an analysis of performance like a human. 

Video Games. Fighting games train and even analyze player's exact timings on button presses and reactions. Many other types are becoming E-Sports and should get or have in depth analysis of player performance. For Gerontology.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268028955_Continuous_unobtrusive_monitoring_for_the_assessment_of_cognitive_function</ref> 

==== Skill Training ====
Test your cognitive abilities while training a skill. Since user is testing a skill they need, the issue of how strongly IQ correlates to job performance does not apply. Scott Young suggests breaking down your real work into small component skills and training those skill individualy to become better at the entire job.<ref>https://www.tobysinclair.com/post/book-summary-ultralearning-by-scott-young</ref><ref>https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/bhLxWTkRc8GXunFcB/what-are-you-tracking-in-your-head?commentId=PsveEz4epkfRhLsDt</ref>

mental arithmetic<ref>https://arithmetic.zetamac.com/</ref><ref>https://hippocanvas.com/posts/learning%20soroban%20anzan.md</ref>  

Tying: [[Amphetype]] Walking may help.<ref>gwern.net/treadmill</ref> 

[[Spaced Repetition]]<ref>https://www.slideshare.net/nickwinter/cognition-learning-and-selftracking-quantified-self-2011</ref> aka flashcards, measure long term memory: [[Anki]]. Alertness has been tested this way.<ref>https://supermemo.guru/wiki/SleepChart</ref> [[User:DG|DG]] is working on an [[Flash Cards as Cognitive Test|in depth analysis]]. 

==== Background ====
Takes no extra time on the users part.  Examples include how long it takes to open a smart phone or misspelling when typing emails. Whenever user fails to input data manually or skips a test could be because they were too tired or did not remember. 

==== Puzzles Games ====
Similar to, and more fun then the validated test above but often useless. Would need to compare other people's scores on exact same puzzle. School tests could possibly work the same way if the serial tests are given to enough people and a difficult of each question can be assessed. 

Many many many<ref>https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/506/are-there-any-cognitive-test-or-test-suites-available-on-the-ipad</ref> available on smart phones. Some may be scientifically valid.<ref>https://forum.quantifiedself.com/t/quantifying-cognitive-performance/2576</ref>

humanbenchmark.com [[User:DG|DG]] ([[User talk:DG|talk]])

==== Self-report cognitive functioning ====
Requires less time than a test but all the problems that come with [[Self Report]].<ref>https://www.verywellmind.com/definition-of-self-report-425267</ref><ref>https://github.com/markwk/awesome-biomarkers</ref>

== Nootropics ==

Nootropics are supplements or drugs that that are claimed to improve cognitive function or to promote relaxation, improved mood, executive functions, attention, memory, creativity, or motivation in healthy individuals. The most commonly used nootropic in the world is caffeine.

For more, see the Wikipedia page for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nootropic Nootropics], and the r/nootropics subreddit [https://old.reddit.com/r/nootropics/wiki/beginners community wiki].

=== References ===


[[Category:Topics]][[Category:Tracking topics and methods]]