Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35939827›Full record

ArticlePerspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science2023

Cognitive Training: A Field in Search of a Phenomenon.

Fernand Gobet, Giovanni Sala

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
53citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

53 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  18. Differential Transfer Effects Across Tasks in Younger and Older Adults Following Executive Function Training.Journal of cognitive enhancement : towards the integration of theory and practice · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Fernand GobetCentre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, London School of Economics and Political Science.ORCID 0000-0002-9317-6886
Giovanni SalaDepartment of Epidemiology of Aging, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Considerable research has been carried out in the last two decades on the putative benefits of cognitive training on cognitive function and academic achievement. Recent meta-analyses summarizing the extent empirical evidence have resolved the apparent lack of consensus in the field and led to a crystal-clear conclusion: The overall effect of far transfer is null, and there is little to no true variability between the types of cognitive training. Despite these conclusions, the field has maintained an unrealistic optimism about the cognitive and academic benefits of cognitive training, as exemplified by a recent article (Green et al., 2019). We demonstrate that this optimism is due to the field neglecting the results of meta-analyses and largely ignoring the statistical explanation that apparent effects are due to a combination of sampling errors and other artifacts. We discuss recommendations for improving cognitive-training research, focusing on making results publicly available, using computer modeling, and understanding participants' knowledge and strategies. Given that the available empirical evidence on cognitive training and other fields of research suggests that the likelihood of finding reliable and robust far-transfer effects is low, research efforts should be redirected to near transfer or other methods for improving cognition.

Indexed as

Academic SuccessCognitive TrainingCognitionEducational StatusHumanscognitive trainingmeta-analysismethodologyworking memory training

Identifiers

PMID35939827
PMCPMC9903001

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.