SynthesisPsychonomic bulletin & review2020
Working memory training in typically developing children: A multilevel meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Psychonomic bulletin & review, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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
35 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The asymmetry of working memory training transfer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2026Pooled it
- Can we enhance working memory? Bias and effectiveness in cognitive training studies.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2024Pooled it
- Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis.Memory & cognition · 2020Pooled it
- A Metacognitive Intervention for Children and Adolescents in Neuropediatric Care (Mio-Training): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Trial
- Cognitive control training with domain-general response inhibition does not change children's brains or behavior.Nature neuroscience · 2024Trial
- Does working memory training in children need to be adaptive? A randomized controlled trial.Child developmentTrial
- Executive functions as a transdiagnostic endophenotype in developmental psychopathology.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- 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 interplay between executive function and learning disabilities: Developmental cognitive neuroscience perspectives on reading, math, and ADHD.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Review
- Effects of multilevel neuropsychological group intervention (EXAT) in children with executive functioning and attention deficits: a comparative study with typically developing controls.Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists · 2026Article
- Unraveling the Link Between n-Back Working Memory and Algebraic Ability in Adolescents: Correlations and Training Effects.PsyCh journal · 2025Article
- Executive Function and Transfer Effect Training in Children: A Behavioral and Event-Related Potential Pilot Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Working Memory and Instructional Fit: Reintroducing Aptitude-Treatment Interaction in Education Research.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Transparency in Cognitive Training Meta-analyses: A Meta-review.Neuropsychology review · 2025Review
- Why does the brain matter for education?The British journal of educational psychology · 2025Article
- Children's executive functioning and health behaviors across pediatric life stages and ecological contexts.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Test anxiety, psychological adaptability, and learning performance: Effects of a mindfulness training intervention on university students.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Is working memory domain-general or domain-specific?Trends in cognitive sciences · 2024Review
- Concurrent predictors of mathematics achievement for 9-year-old children with Williams syndrome.Scientific reports · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Working memory (WM) training in typically developing (TD) children aims to enhance not only performance in memory tasks but also other domain-general cognitive skills, such as fluid intelligence. These benefits are then believed to positively affect academic achievement. Despite the numerous studies carried out, researchers still disagree over the real benefits of WM training. With this meta-analysis (m = 41, k = 393, N = 2,375), we intended to resolve the discrepancies by focusing on the potential sources of within-study and between-study true heterogeneity. Small to medium effects were observed in memory tasks (i.e., near transfer). The size of these effects was proportional to the similarity between the training task and the outcome measure. By contrast, far-transfer measures of cognitive ability (e.g., intelligence) and academic achievement (mathematics and language ability) were essentially unaffected by the training programs, especially when the studies implemented active controls ([Formula: see text] = 0.001, SE = 0.055, p = .982, τ
Indexed as
Identifiers
31939109What 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.