ArticleJournal of cognitive enhancement : towards the integration of theory and practice2020
Divergent Research Methods Limit Understanding of Working Memory Training.
Article in Journal of cognitive enhancement : towards the integration of theory and practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploring the potential of artificial intelligence in individualized cognitive training: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Near transfer to an unrelated N-back task mediates the effect of N-back working memory training on matrix reasoning.Nature human behaviour · 2022Pooled it
- Working memory training in typically developing children: A multilevel meta-analysis.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2020Pooled it
- Evaluating environmental and inhibitory control strategies to improve outcomes in a widely available weight loss program.Contemporary clinical trials · 2022Trial
- Working memory training restores aberrant brain activity in adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.Human brain mapping · 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
- Cognitive and Psychological Transfer Effects of Length-Dependent Working Memory Training in Healthy Older Adults.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- Dissociating stimulus and task effects on neural oscillations during n-back tasks.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Retraining Dorsal Visual Pathways Improves Cognitive Skills After a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Retraining dorsal visual pathways improves cognitive skills and executive control networks following mild traumatic brain injury.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- Is working memory domain-general or domain-specific?Trends in cognitive sciences · 2024Review
- A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel Study Investigating the Efficacy of a Whole Coffee Cherry Extract and Phosphatidylserine Formulation on Cognitive Performance of Healthy Adults with Self-Perceived Memory Problems.Neurology and therapy · 2023Article
- Cognitive Training: A Field in Search of a Phenomenon.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2023Article
- Investigating the Role of Individual Differences in Adherence to Cognitive Training.Journal of cognition · 2023Article
- Expectation effects in working memory training.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Remote auditory assessment using Portable Automated Rapid Testing (PART) and participant-owned devices.The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2022Article
- Training with an auditory perceptual learning game transfers to speech in competition.Journal of cognitive enhancement : towards the integration of theory and practice · 2022Article
- An assist for cognitive diagnostics in soccer (Part II): Development and validation of a task to measure working memory in a soccer-specific setting.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- 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
- Multisensory Facilitation of Working Memory 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
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Working memory training has been a hot topic over the last decade. Although studies show benefits in trained and untrained tasks as a function of training, there is an ongoing debate on the efficacy of working memory training. There have been numerous meta-analyses put forth to the field, some finding overall broad transfer effects while others do not. However, discussion of this research typically overlooks specific qualities of the training and transfer tasks. As such, there has been next to no discussion in the literature on what training and transfer tasks features are likely to mediate training outcomes. To address this gap, here, we characterized the broad diversity of features employed in N-back training tasks and outcome measures in published working memory training studies. Extant meta-analyses have not taken into account the diversity of methodology at this level, primarily because there are too few studies using common methods to allow for a robust meta-analysis. We suggest that these limitations preclude strong conclusions from published data. In order to advance research on working memory training, and in particular, N-back training, more studies are needed that systematically compare training features and use common outcome measures to assess transfer effects.
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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.