ArticleCurrent directions in psychological science2019
The Hype Cycle of Working Memory Training.
Article in Current directions in psychological science, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
32 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Cognitive Training Effectiveness on Memory, Executive Functioning, and Processing Speed in Individuals With Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Pooled it
- The effectiveness of affective compared to neutral working memory training in university students with test anxiety.Behaviour research and therapy · 2021Trial
- Cognitive control training for urgency: A pilot randomized controlled trial in an acute clinical sample.Behaviour research and therapy · 2021Trial
- Training-dependent transfer within a set of nested tasks.Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) · 2021Trial
- Targeted self-regulation interventions in low-income children: Clinical trial results and implications for health behavior change.Journal of experimental child psychology · 2021Trial
- Does working memory training in children need to be adaptive? A randomized controlled trial.Child developmentTrial
- Working memory training in pediatric brain tumor survivors after recent diagnosis: Challenges and initial effects.Applied neuropsychology. ChildTrial
- Up, down, and all around? Deciphering the boundary conditions for training-induced transfer effects within a set of hierarchically nested tasks.Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) · 2026Article
- The role of working memory for learning with context-personalized tasks in elementary school.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Transparency in Cognitive Training Meta-analyses: A Meta-review.Neuropsychology review · 2025Review
- Development and usability of VRainSUD's cognitive training virtual reality platform for substance use disorders.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Effect of a Working Memory Intervention Package on the Working Memory Performance of Primary School Students with Specific Learning Disabilities.Journal of Intelligence · 2025Article
- Decoding the elite soccer player's psychological profile.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- A systematic review and content analysis of serious video games for children with ADHD.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
- Working Memory Performance Predicts, but Does Not Reduce, Cocaine and Cannabinoid Seeking in Adult Male Rats.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Asymmetric negative transfer effects of working memory training.Memory & cognition · 2023Article
- Unicorn, Hare, or Tortoise? Using Machine Learning to Predict Working Memory Training Performance.Journal of cognition · 2023Article
- Mechanisms of Cognitive Change: Training Improves the Quality But Not the Quantity of Visual Working Memory Representations.Journal of cognition · 2023Article
- Investigating the Role of Individual Differences in Adherence to Cognitive Training.Journal of cognition · 2023Article
- Exploring Individual Differences as Predictors of Performance Change During Dual-N-Back Training.Journal of cognitive enhancement : towards the integration of theory and practice · 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
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
Seventeen years and hundreds of studies after the first working memory training journal article was published, evidence for the efficacy of working memory training is still wanting. Numerous studies show that individuals who repeatedly practice computerized working memory tasks improve on those tasks and closely related variants. Critically, although individual studies have claimed improvements in untrained abilities and behaviors, systematic reviews of the broader literature show that studies producing large, positive findings are often those with the most methodological shortcomings. The current review discusses the past, present, and future status of working memory training, including consideration of factors that might influence working memory training and transfer efficacy.
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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.