Understanding Mediating and Moderating Factors that Determine Transfer of Working Memory Training

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PROJECT SUMMARY We are requesting a supplement to the currently funded NIMH grant 5R01MH111742, “Understanding Mediating and Moderating Factors that Determine Transfer of Working Memory Training”. The purpose of this administrative supplement is to request additional funds to expand recruitment efforts needed to reach target enrollment due to unanticipated circumstances related to the current public health and economic crises. The online study was launched in second quarter 2020 with the target of recruiting 30,000 participants to each conduct twenty, 20-minute working memory training sessions, budgeted with around $0.40 per participant for completion incentives (in the form of give-aways). The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a substantial barrier to recruitment. The pandemic has negatively impacted the physical and mental health of millions of individuals and has substantially restructured the way people live and work. These factors, along with mass proliferation of competing online studies (almost all of which require less time and pay more per hour than ours) as human subject research has moved online to address in-person human subject research being closed down around the world, and the unceasing wall of press associated with the pandemic and political events, are unanticipated obstacles that have challenged outreach, recruitment and retention of the 30,000 participants that we plan to enroll in working memory training. To overcome these recruitment barriers, we are requesting additional funds that can be used to pay a publicist, recruit social media influencers, pay participant recruitment services, and increase incentives for participants. This 4-pronged approach will allow us to grow and maintain visibility for our study, reach additional audiences, benefit from professional platforms designed to connect researchers with interested volunteers, and provide incentives to motivate participation. We note that with increases of mental health problems throughout the world, and people seeking solutions without knowledge of which may be effective, our study is timely and important. It has taken years to build the technology and conduct the preliminary research to launch our online study. This supplement is critical to assuring the success of this project that can lead to effective, low-cost interventions to ameliorate cognitive impairments could be life-altering for millions of people worldwide.