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Cited by 150Cognitive Abilities and TestingCognitive Functions and MemoryNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 164 of the 164 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Can impaired working memory functioning be improved by training? A meta-analysis with a special focus on brain injured patients.

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Weicker, Juliane, Villringer, Arno, Thöne-Otto, Angelika·2016·Neuropsychology
DOI 10.1037/neu0000227
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Deficits in working memory (WM) are commonly observed after brain injuries and cause severe impairments in patients' everyday life. It is still under debate if training can enhance or rehabilitate WM in case of malfunction. The current meta-analysis investigates this issue from a clinical point of view. It addresses under which conditions and for which target group WM training may be justifiable. METHOD: Relevant WM training studies were identified by searching electronic literature databases with a comprehensive search term. In total, 103 studies, which added up to 112 independent group comparisons (N = 6,113 participants), were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Overall, WM training caused a moderate and long-lasting improvement in untrained WM tasks. Moreover, improvement of WM functioning led to sustainable better evaluation of everyday life functioning, however, effect sizes were small. Concerning transfer effects on other cognitive domains, long-lasting improvements with small effect sizes were observed in cognitive control and reasoning/intelligence. In contrast, small immediate, but no long-term effects were found for attention and long-term memory. Studies with brain injured patients demonstrated long-lasting improvements in WM functions with moderate to large effect sizes. A main moderator variable of intervention efficacy is the number of training sessions applied. CONCLUSION: WM training produces long-lasting beneficial effects which are strongly pronounced in patients with acquired brain injuries. This finding supports the application of WM training in clinical settings. To determine optimal training conditions, future studies must systematically investigate the characteristics of interventions as they are at present inevitably confounded.

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. E., & Boyle, M. O. (2005). Working memory and intelligence: The same or different constructs? Psychological Bulletin, 131(1), 30–60. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033- · DOI
  2. Adam, K. C. S., Mance, I., Fukuda, K., & Vogel, E. K. (2015). The contribution of attentional lapses to individual differences in visual working memory capacity. Journal of Cognitive
  3. Neuroscience, 27(8), 1601–1616. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00811 · DOI
  4. Intelligence: Two Case Reports. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1939. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01939 · DOI

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Metadata

Authors
Weicker, J., Villringer, A., & Thöne-Otto, A.
Affiliations
  • Max Planck Society (DE)
  • Leipzig University (DE)
ORCID
Venue
Neuropsychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2016
Volume
30
Issue
2
Pages
190-212
ISSN
  • 0894-4105 (ISSN-L)
  • 1931-1559
DOI
10.1037/neu0000227
OpenAlex
W1618038909
Semantic Scholar
1016f832cb994fa36bd96a515015eb5bacbd71e9
Cited by
147
References
164
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 9
FWCI
25.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-nd
Locations
  • Neuropsychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • Qucosa (Saxon State and University Library Dresden) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
German Max Planck Society
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
working memory training, working memory, brain injury, acquired brain injury, cognitive rehabilitation, transfer effects, cognitive control, attention, long-term memory, training sessions
MeSH terms
Attention, Brain Injuries, Humans, Intelligence, Learning, Memory, Short-Term, Thinking, Memory, Long-Term

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