Rate-of-test-taking (also known as r9) is one of the main subsets of processing speed, so is tested via e.g. the symbol digit coding task. I believe it is affected by e.g. depression.
How likely is it that rate-of-test-taking impacts on WM tests, the digit span test etc,?
It was pointed out in this answer that tests of WM should create a "bottleneck" so that other cognitive processes are implicated less. What about r9?
According to "The neuroscience of working memory capacity and training" by Christos Constantinidis & Torkel Klingberg asserts that training can increase WM capacity, however this does not translate into better reasoning power:
Ongoing research aims to elucidate the extent to which the improvements also translate to various other abilities, such as academic abilities, that statistically correlate with WM capacity. Indeed, transfer to reasoning ability has been reported to be small, with inconsistent findings.
However, transfers to attention seem more promising:
More-encouraging transfer results are seen for attention: several randomized, controlled trials, some of them including children with ADHD, show decreases in inattentive behaviour in every-day life after WM training
They cite to support this:
Klingberg, T. et al. Computerized training of working memory in children with ADHD — a randomized, controlled trial. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 44 , 177–186 (2005)
Brehmer, Y., Westerberg, H. & Backman, L. Working- memory training in younger and older adults: training gains, transfer, and maintenance. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 6 , 63 (2012).
Green, C. T. et al. Will working memory training generalize to improve off-task behavior in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder? Neurotherapeutics 9 , 639–648 (2012).
Bigorra, A., Garolera, M., Guijarro, S. & Hervas, A. Long-term far-transfer effects of working memory training in children with ADHD: a randomized controlled trial. Eur. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry http:// dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s00787-015-0804-3 (2015).
Conklin, H. M. et al. Computerized cognitive training for amelioration of cognitive late effects among childhood cancer survivors: a randomized controlled trial. J. Clin. Oncol. 33 , 3894–3902 (2015)
