Trial reportDevelopmental science2020
The academic outcomes of working memory and metacognitive strategy training in children: A double-blind randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Developmental science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- The academic outcomes of working memory and metacognitive strategy training in children: A double-blind randomized controlled trial.Developmental science · 2020Trial
- Transfer Effects of Integrated Adaptive Working Memory Training in School-Age Children: Improvements in Inhibitory Control and Asymmetric Gains in Mathematical Abilities.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- The First Digital Strategy-Based Method for Training of Executive Functions: Impact on Cognition and Behavioral and Emotional Regulation, and Academic Success in Children With and Without Psychosocial Risk.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Improving auditory alarm sensitivity during simulated aeronautical decision-making: the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with computerized working memory training.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2025Article
- Challenging Cognitive Load Theory: The Role of Educational Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence in Redefining Learning Efficacy.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- IQ variability and cognitive life skills: insights from Spanish students in vocational physical activity and sports training.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Enhancing mathematical learning outcomes through a low-cost single-channel BCI system.NPJ science of learning · 2024Article
- The unique contribution of motor ability to visuospatial working memory in school-age children: Evidence from event-related potentials.Psychophysiology · 2023Article
- Artificial Cognitive Systems Applied in Executive Function Stimulation and Rehabilitation Programs: A Systematic Review.Arabian journal for science and engineering · 2023Article
- Intra-individual variability in task performance after cognitive training is associated with long-term outcomes in children.Developmental science · 2023Article
- Executive Functions and Rapid Automatized Naming: A New Tele-Rehabilitation Approach in Children with Language and Learning Disorders.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Developmental differences in the impact of perceptual salience on short-term memory performance and meta-memory skills.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Beyond IQ: The Importance of Metacognition for the Promotion of Global Wellbeing.Journal of Intelligence · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Working memory training has been shown to improve performance on untrained working memory tasks in typically developing children, at least when compared to non-adaptive training; however, there is little evidence that it improves academic outcomes. The lack of transfer to academic outcomes may be because children are only learning skills and strategies in a very narrow context, which they are unable to apply to other tasks. Metacognitive strategy interventions, which promote metacognitive awareness and teach children general strategies that can be used on a variety of tasks, may be a crucial missing link in this regard. In this double-blind randomized controlled trial, 95 typically developing children aged 9-14 years were allocated to three cognitive training programmes that were conducted daily after-school. One group received Cogmed working memory training, another group received concurrent Cogmed and metacognitive strategy training, and the control group received adaptive visual search training, which better controls for expectancy and motivation than non-adaptive training. Children were assessed on four working memory tasks, reading comprehension, and mathematical reasoning before, immediately after, and 3 months after training. Working memory training improved working memory and mathematical reasoning relative to the control group. The improvements in working memory were maintained 3 months later, and these were significantly greater for the group that received metacognitive strategy training, compared to working memory training alone. Working memory training is a potentially effective educational intervention when provided in addition to school; however, future research will need to investigate ways to maintain academic improvements long term and to optimize metacognitive strategy training to promote far-transfer. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/-7MML48ZFgw.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.