Introduction to the Special Issue: Recent Advances in Cognitive Remediation for Persons With Serious Mental Illness.
Cognitive remediation for serious mental illness keeps growing—mix in exercise or cultural tweaks and track your data.
01Research in Context
What this study did
D'Agostino et al. (2025) wrote a narrative introduction for a special issue. They pulled together meta-analyses on cognitive remediation for adults with serious mental illness.
The authors map where the field stands now. They also flag new twists like adding aerobic exercise or tailoring programs to culture.
What they found
The paper does not give new data. It says cognitive remediation is an evolving, evidence-based practice.
Emerging combos, such as exercise plus computer drills, look promising but need more work.
How this fits with other research
Dougan (1987) framed the field decades ago. That review urged step-by-step assessment, family teaching, and generalization checks. D'Agostino et al. (2025) keeps the same roadmap but updates it for serious mental illness.
Schedlowski et al. (2025) seems to clash at first. Their scoping review calls stimulus-equivalence memory training for dementia “experimental.” D'Agostino et al. (2025) is more upbeat about cognitive remediation for mental illness. The gap makes sense: different diagnoses, different methods, and Schedlowski’s evidence base is still thin.
Khokhar et al. (2025) adds a behavioral angle. They show that multi-protocol ABA packages beat single ones for adults with IDD. D'Agostino et al. (2025) mirrors this idea by welcoming hybrid programs that mix cognitive drills with exercise or CBT.
Why it matters
You now know cognitive remediation is ready for use, but not frozen in time. Think hybrids: add brief aerobic bursts between computer trials, or weave in values from your client’s culture. Start with solid assessment, then plan for generalization exactly as Dougan (1987) advised. Track data session-by-session so you can spot when a fresh combo is working.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Impaired cognitive functioning is a common feature of serious mental illness that contributes to worse psychosocial functioning and attenuated response to psychiatric rehabilitation. To address these impairments, cognitive remediation (i.e., interventions aimed at enhancing cognitive abilities such as attention and memory based on learning principles with the goal of improving psychosocial adjustment) has emerged in recent decades as a dynamic, rapidly evolving evidence-based practice. In this introduction we provide a summary of controlled research on the effects of cognitive remediation on cognitive and psychosocial functioning in people with serious mental illness, highlighting the results of three meta-analyses using similar methods conducted over 14 years. We next review different methods employed in cognitive remediation and summarize the recommendations of a consensus expert panel on the critical component of effective programs. We then highlight four papers in this special issue that illustrate the broad range of applications and research questions addressed in contemporary research on cognitive remediation. One paper examines the intriguing effects of combining cognitive remediation with aerobic exercise to improve psychotic symptoms in first episode psychosis, while a second one explores the feasibility of using cognitive remediation to enhance independent living skills training in people living in locked supervised residential settings awaiting discharge into the community. A third paper describes the processes involved in the cultural adaptation of a widely researched program for improving social cognition. The fourth paper considers what has been learned about the effects of cognitive remediation and tackles questions related to increasing its implementation and dissemination.
Behavior modification, 2025 · doi:10.1177/01454455251371023