The DOI matches its Crossref record; 231 of the 232 references it cites were found in a registry or an index, and 1 are not checked yet; 11 of the 73 sources its claims cite were checked for support.
Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence From a Meta-Analytic Review
Open accessAbstract
It has been claimed that working memory training programs produce diverse beneficial effects. This article presents a meta-analysis of working memory training studies (with a pretest-posttest design and a control group) that have examined transfer to other measures (nonverbal ability, verbal ability, word decoding, reading comprehension, or arithmetic; 87 publications with 145 experimental comparisons). Immediately following training there were reliable improvements on measures of intermediate transfer (verbal and visuospatial working memory). For measures of far transfer (nonverbal ability, verbal ability, word decoding, reading comprehension, arithmetic) there was no convincing evidence of any reliable improvements when working memory training was compared with a treated control condition. Furthermore, mediation analyses indicated that across studies, the degree of improvement on working memory measures was not related to the magnitude of far-transfer effects found. Finally, analysis of publication bias shows that there is no evidential value from the studies of working memory training using treated controls. The authors conclude that working memory training programs appear to produce short-term, specific training effects that do not generalize to measures of “real-world” cognitive skills. These results seriously question the practical and theoretical importance of current computerized working memory programs as methods of training working memory skills.
Verified 2026-10-05 · 1 reference not checked yet
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Claims the paper makes
11 of 73 cited sources checked · 6 supported · 1 flagged · accuracy not yet measured
At least one cited source doesn’t support this claim or points to a different paper, and none confirmed it — see the verdicts below.
In the paper
“Unfortunately, once again this effect seems to be driven by three comparisons across two studies (Nussbaumer et al., 2013; Alloway et al., 2013) where the control group shows decreases in performance between pretest and posttest.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Follow-up Effects from Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
What the sources say
- Disputedcites Nussbaumer et al., 2013Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Discussion (page unavailable) says the low-WM-load group was the active control group and that its performance increased from pretest to posttest, rather than decreased. The Results (page unavailable) also report no differential transfer in mathematical problem-solving tasks. This paper does not establish the citing sentence’s count of three comparisons across two studies. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Alloway et al., 2013 source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes- Disputed
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“These crossover interactions thus artificially produced large effect sizes (Boot, Blakely, & Simons, 2011; Fischer-Baum, 2015; Redick, 2015; Redick & Webster, 2014), and are responsible for the significant effect of N-back training and transfer to nonverbal ability.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites Boot, Blakely, & Simons, 2011 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
In 'Inadequate Baseline for Transfer Effects' (page unavailable), the paper says a control group’s lack of expected test–retest improvement can make a training benefit appear greater. That supports the general concern about inflated apparent effects, but the passage does not identify crossover interactions, quantify large effect sizes, or link them to N-back training and transfer to nonverbal ability. (LLM, conf=0.82)
- Not matchedcites Fischer-Baum, 2015
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Redick, 2015 source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes- Partly supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“After only the most problematic study has been removed from the analysis (Schweizer et al., 2011), the effects of N-back training on nonverbal ability with treated controls is negligible (g = 0.10).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
What the sources say
- Supportedcites Schweizer et al., 2011 source
The citation identifies the study removed from the citing authors’ analysis; it does not attribute the recalculated g = 0.10 to Schweizer et al. The Methods (Participants and Procedures; Materials) describe n-back training, an actively trained control group, and Raven’s Progressive Matrices as a nonverbal transfer measure. The source therefore fits the study being identified. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes- Supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Of these, 6 comparisons across 4 studies (Jaeggi et al 2014; Lee, 2014; Redick & Wiemers, 2015; Shiran & Breznitz, 2011) show an odd pattern with the control group showing decreases in reading comprehension from pretest-posttest”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Jaeggi et al 2014 source
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Lee, 2014
- Partly supportedcites Redick & Wiemers, 2015 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Criteria for Evaluating Educationally-Relevant Working Memory Training Research section says that control groups sometimes decline from pretest to posttest. But our copy does not report six reading-comprehension comparisons across four studies; the specific control-group decreases described in the Alloway et al. (2013) section concern spelling and math. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.78)
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesThe cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“For intermediate and near transfer effects to verbal and visuo-spatial working memory tasks, the development of task- or stimulus-specific strategies is likely to explain a large amount of the pretest-to-posttest improvement (Gibson et al., 2014; Dunning & Holmes, 2014; Sprenger et al., 2013).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Theoretical Implications
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Gibson et al., 2014 source
- Partly supportedcites Dunning & Holmes, 2014 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Discussion reports that strategy use and performance improved together on untrained visuospatial short-term memory and verbal working memory tasks that directly overlapped with training, and proposes task-specific strategies as an explanation. It does not establish how much of the improvement strategies explain, and the Results do not show a comparable strategy increase for visuospatial working memory in the adaptive-training group. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Sprenger et al., 2013 source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesEvery source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“In addition, it is important to remember that ‘the variance of the score gains can have a radically different composition than the variance of the scores themselves’ (Hayes, Petrov, & Sederberg, 2015, p. 9).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Theoretical Implications
What the sources say
- Supportedcites Hayes, Petrov, & Sederberg, 2015 source
The General Discussion states the cited sentence almost verbatim. It explains that components contributing to scores across individuals can cancel out when pretest scores are subtracted from posttest scores, leaving score gains with a different variance composition. (LLM, conf=0.95)
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes- Supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“Given the tendency for small sample sizes to produce inflated effect size estimates (Button et al., 2013), future studies should include larger samples in order to produce more precise effect size estimates.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Supportedcites Button et al., 2013 source
The Results section states that small studies are particularly susceptible to inflated effect size estimates. The Abstract explains that this inflation is worst for small, low-powered studies when findings are selected by a discovery threshold. (LLM, conf=0.94)
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passes- Supported
The sources with a verdict support this claim; the rest weren’t checked yet, have no full text we could read, or their verdicts aren’t rated yet.
In the paper
“For example, there is no evidence that working memory training reduces symptoms in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Cortese et al., 2015; Rapport, Orban, Kofler, & Friedman, 2013).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Practical Implications
What the sources say
- Supportedcites Cortese et al., 2015 source
The Results report no effects of working memory training specifically on ADHD symptoms in the children with ADHD studied. The Discussion likewise says its effects on ADHD symptoms were negligible even with ratings from assessors closest to treatment. (LLM, conf=0.93)
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Rapport, Orban, Kofler, & Friedman, 2013 source
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passes- Supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“Unsworth et al. (2014) demonstrated that all three sources of variance (primary memory, secondary memory, attention control) were necessary to fully mediate the relationship between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Theoretical Implications
What the sources say
- Supportedcites Unsworth et al., 2014 source
The Discussion reports that capacity, attention control, and secondary memory each uniquely related to fluid intelligence and jointly, completely mediated its relationship with working memory. The paper describes primary memory as including the capacity to maintain items, so the citing sentence’s terminology is a reasonable paraphrase. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Strength:boosted· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passes- Supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“For studies in which untreated controls are used (and even in studies with treated controls where the subjects have different expectancies than the training group about the intervention) motivation could partially explain differences, given previous research showing effects of motivation on intelligence tests (Duckworth, Quinn, Lynam, Loeber, & Stouthmaer-Loeber, 2011).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Theoretical Implications
What the sources say
- Supportedcites Duckworth, Quinn, Lynam, Loeber, & Stouthmaer-Loeber, 2011 source
Split into 2 atoms — 2 confirmed, 0 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.
Strength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:conditional· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passes- Supported
- It may state two separate claims as one. 41
- Probably not a substantial claim. 44
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Several studies have found that intervention studies are particularly vulnerable to publication bias and for lacking replicability (Cuijpers et al., 2010; Scherer et al., 2007).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Current Review
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Cuijpers et al., 2010 source
- Partly supportedcites Scherer et al., 2007 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The discussion passage on randomized or controlled trials reports that positive results were associated with full publication and warns reviewers of interventions about publication bias (page not provided). It does not address replicability or establish that intervention studies are more vulnerable to publication bias than other study designs. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“There is, however, a significant effect at follow-up for treated controls on arithmetic.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Follow-up Effects from Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“When the comparisons with the problematic pretest-to-posttest decline in the control group are excluded, the effects of working memory training compared to treated controls for reading comprehension becomes trivial (g = 0.08) and similar in magnitude to the”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The findings are consistent between studies; there is no significant variation between studies on any measure.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Follow-up Effects from Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“however, both of these significant effects within the moderator analyses include the problematic comparisons described above, and when these studies are excluded the effect sizes reduce to trivial levels.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“These effects are significant, moderate in size, and there is evidence of true heterogeneity between studies (see Table 1).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Intermediate Transfer Measures
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In addition, 4 of the 5 comparisons had large, unexplained pretest-to-posttest decreases for the control group, which were larger than the training group's pretest-to-posttest increases.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In studies with treated controls, the effects of training on nonverbal ability, verbal ability, word decoding, and arithmetic are close to zero and not significant (see Table 1).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The findings, though statistically significant, vary across studies (true heterogeneity is present, see Table 1) and are maintained at follow-up (5 months after training; see Table 2).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Effects of Working Memory Training on Near Transfer Measures
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Overall, there was a tendency for studies in the grey literature to have smaller effect sizes, but this was only significant for verbal working memory and visuo-spatial working memory”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Analyses of Publication Bias
Strength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:correlational· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“On most measures the pattern of findings across studies were consistent (the true variation between studies was zero or not significant, see Table 1).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“At follow-up the effects for verbal working memory were no longer significant in studies with treated controls, but still significant for studies with untreated controls.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Follow-up Effects of Working Memory Training on Intermediate Transfer Measures
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For treated controls there are no statistically significant effects on nonverbal ability, verbal ability, word decoding, or reading comprehension.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Follow-up Effects from Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Current working memory training programs yield short-term improvements on both verbal and visuo-spatial working memory tasks.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“As is evident in our figures, even though the meta-analytic effect sizes tended to be non-significant, there are certainly individual studies that demonstrate transfer effects.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Theoretical Implications
Strength:boosted· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For measures of visuo-spatial working memory, modest training effects appear to be maintained at follow-up, but these outcome tasks often share features (memoranda, method) with the tasks trained.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For treated controls, the k = 34 studies meeting the minimum recommended sample sizes produced no effect, g = .01, whereas the k = 25 comparisons with fewer subjects produced a significant effect, g = .26.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“However, based on an analysis of the 87 studies containing 145 independent experiments reviewed here, we observed no evidence of such effects.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Practical Implications
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In addition, neither of these effects was significant in the untreated control comparisons.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“There were two cases where there appears to be weak evidence for transfer from working memory training to measures of “real-world” cognitive skills: improvements in reading comprehension immediately after training (that were not sustained at follow-up) and improvements in arithmetic at follow-up (in the absence of effects at immediate posttest).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The largest effect size for working memory training on nonverbal ability came from the earliest study (d = 2.18; Klingberg et al., 2002), which included only 7 subjects in each of the training and control groups.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Klingberg et al., 2002 source
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedn = 7Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For untreated controls, the k = 31 studies meeting the minimum recommended sample sizes produced a significant effect, g = .16, as did the k = 18 comparisons with fewer subjects, g = .33.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“all immediate and delayed comparisons of nonverbal ability, verbal ability, reading comprehension, word decoding, and arithmetic were not significantly different from zero when compared against treated controls and eliminating outlier studies.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Conclusions
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We did find significant moderator effects on intermediate and near transfer (verbal and visuo-spatial working memory), suggesting that we had sufficient power to detect such effects if they were present.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This will give us much more robust estimates of effect size, and allow us to perform moderator analyses that have more power.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Current Review
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The inter-rater correlation (Pearson's) for outcomes was r = .99, 95% CI [.97, 1], p < .0001 and agreement rate = 97.00%.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Search, Inclusion Criteria and Coding
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:correlational· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For the moderators, the agreement rate was 98%.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Search, Inclusion Criteria and Coding
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For this reason studies from the same author were examined to detect duplicate samples, and studies based on the same participants were only coded once”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Search, Inclusion Criteria and Coding
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This meta-analysis was designed in line with the statement for systematic reviews developed by PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, www.prisma-statement.org).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Since previous meta-analyses have found a large difference between studies using treated and untreated controls (Dougherty et al., 2015; Lilienfeld et al. 2014; Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2013), these two designs were analyzed separately.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
What the sources say
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“For example, according to one theory variations in fluid intelligence reflect to a large degree variations in working memory capacity (Engle, 2002; but see Heitz et al., 2006).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Foundation of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Engle, 2002 source
Tests✗ Asserted: fails✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The authors may not put it forward as true.
In the paper
“Previous reviews seem to show conflicting findings for two main reasons: First, some methodological decisions may have led to biased conclusions (see Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2015). Secondly, typically previous reviews have examined subsets of studies restricted to specific types of working memory training, age groups, or participant status.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Prior Reviews of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2015 source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The idea that working memory limitations may place constraints on diverse higher cognitive functions leads directly to the suggestion that if working memory capacity can be increased by training, this should produce transfer effects to diverse untrained tasks that depend on such a capacity (Shipstead, Redick, & Engle, 2010).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Foundation of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Shipstead, Redick, & Engle, 2010 source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“If working memory training studies find increases in fluid intelligence or attainment in the absence of increases in working memory capacity, this pattern would be difficult to explain theoretically.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Current Review
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“However, there are some obvious weaknesses in this study: the group sizes (7 children per group) are tiny – this study is, like many other studies in this area, severely underpowered.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Foundation of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Klingberg et al. (2002) source
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedn = 7Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“When a study had multiple indicators for the same construct (for instance more than one measure of verbal working memory) the mean of the indicators was used to yield a single effect size, for that study.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Search, Inclusion Criteria and Coding
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Because of the limited number of training studies examining follow-up effects, moderator analyses were not conducted. In addition, moderator analyses were not calculated for decoding, reading comprehension, and arithmetic, given the limited number of comparisons for treated and untreated controls.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“We calculated effect sizes by dividing the differences in gain between pre- and post-test in the treatment and the control group by the pooled standard deviation for each group at pretest; this method of effect size calculation for pretest-posttest designs is recommended (Morris, 2008).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Morris, 2008 source
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The authors conclude that working memory training programs appear to produce short-term, specific training effects that do not generalize to measures of “real-world”cognitive skills.”
- Also stated in: § Abstract · plain
“Our conclusion is that there is no good evidence that working memory training improves intelligence test scores or other measures of “real-world”cognitive skills.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Abstract
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § Abstract · plain
In the paper
“The idea that working memory limitations may place constraints on diverse higher cognitive functions leads directly to the suggestion that if working memory capacity can be increased by training, this should produce transfer effects to diverse untrained tasks that depend on such a capacity (Shipstead, Redick, & Engle, 2010).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Foundation of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Shipstead, Redick, & Engle, 2010 source
Tests✗ Asserted: fails✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The authors may not put it forward as true.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“All the studies were coded by two independent raters.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Search, Inclusion Criteria and Coding
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A claim is checked only against the cited paper’s full text, never its abstract, and none is available for its sources.
In the paper
“This is because effects of working memory training on fluid intelligence or academic attainment are typically seen as being mediated by (i.e. dependent upon) increases in working memory capacity (Harrison et al., 2013; Lange & Süß, 2015; Tidwell et al., 2014; von Bastian & Oberauer, 2014).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Current Review
What the sources say
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Others have argued that limitations in working memory capacity may be responsible for impairments in the development of reading (Swanson, 2006), language (Archibald & Gathercole, 2006), and mathematical skills (Passolunghi, 2006).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Foundation of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Swanson, 2006
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Archibald & Gathercole, 2006 source
- Not matchedcites Passolunghi, 2006
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Tests✗ Asserted: fails✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The authors may not put it forward as true.
- Not matched
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The mean effect sizes were calculated by a weighted average of individual effect sizes using a random-effects model.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Because studies in this area are generally underpowered, summarizing them in a meta-analysis may be valuable as a way of clarifying the conclusions that can be drawn from the many inconsistent findings.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Foundation of Working Memory Training
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✗ Checkable: fails✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
In the paper
“Violating the assumption of independence by computing an overall effect size based on information from the same sample more than once can lead to biased estimates (Borenstein et al. 2007).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Search, Inclusion Criteria and Coding
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Borenstein et al. 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Nevertheless, if the claim that working memory training improves intelligence test scores could be confirmed and substantiated it would have potentially important implications for education and economic productivity, as well as for theories about the nature and limitations of human cognitive abilities.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Foundation of Working Memory Training
Strength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:conditional· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✗ Checkable: fails✗ Load-bearing: fails✗ Based: failsProbably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
In the paper
“We adjusted the effect size for small samples using Hedges g (Hedges & Olkin, 1985).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hedges & Olkin, 1985 source
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Theoretically, such far transfer effects are only expected in the presence of improvements in working memory capacity.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Current Review
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Theoretically, there is no reason to expect decreases in a relatively stable construct such as reading comprehension ability between pretest and posttest in a control group; such decreases presumably can only reflect error of measurement.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✗ Based: failsProbably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“If there are true effects, one expects the distribution of published p-values to be right-skewed with more low (.01s) than high (.04s) p-values.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“Here, we will pay particular attention to this, both by retrieving as much grey literature as possible (see Rothstein, Sutton & Borenstein, 2005) and by estimating the impact of publication bias using statistical procedures.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Current Review
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Rothstein, Sutton & Borenstein, 2005
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“P-curve is a recently developed method that deals with the weaknesses in the funnel plot/trim- and-fill analysis (Simonsohn, Nelson & Simmons, 2014).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Simonsohn, Nelson & Simmons, 2014 source
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“A p-curve plots the distribution of statistically significant p values (p < 0.05) in published studies, and the shape of the p-curve is a function only of the effect size and sample size, when the power level is taken into account.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Simonsohn, Nelson & Simmons, 2014 source
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“In line with recommendations for meta-analyses, we made special efforts to retrieve studies from the grey literature and used this as a moderator when possible (Higgins & Green, 2011).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Higgins & Green, 2011
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“In any case, these effect sizes are arguably too small to be relevant to educational practice (Promising Practices Network [PPN], 2007; What Works Clearinghouse, 2007; Cooper, 2008).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Immediate Effects of Working Memory Training on Far Transfer Measures
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Promising Practices Network [PPN], 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites What Works Clearinghouse, 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Cooper, 2008 source
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✗ Checkable: fails✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Not matched
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“However, if a set of studies is affected by publication bias (because researchers discard entire studies or discard analyses or parts of studies), the p-curve becomes left-skewed or flat.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
A claim is checked only against the cited paper’s full text, never its abstract, and none is available for its sources.
In the paper
“Further, in comparison to Melby-Lervåg and Hulme (2013) and Schwaighofer et al. (2015), we will also provide a more fine-grained analysis of working memory measures and publication bias.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Current Review
What the sources say
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Such a form of p-curve is said to provide “no evidential value” (i.e., no support for an appreciable effect size).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Method > Meta-Analytic Procedure and Analysis
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“Traditionally, it has been argued that random allocation of participants to conditions is the surest way of ensuring that the results of an intervention reflect a causal effect (Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > The Current Review
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Not matched
In the paper
“As noted elsewhere (Logie, 2012), high- and low-ability individuals performing the same complex task may strategically use their cognitive resources differently so that repeatedly practicing the same task over sessions may not address the same cognitive processes to the same degree across all people.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Theoretical Implications
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Logie, 2012 source
Strength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:conditional· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“since these studies are likely to show evidential value because the untreated control comparison overestimates the “true” effects of intervention.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Analyses of Publication Bias
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✗ Based: failsProbably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We believe that the lack of significant moderator effects on nonverbal ability is important since it contradicts many suggestions in the literature.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“Our meta-analysis included an impressive number of studies from the burgeoning working memory training literature, but the pattern of results is consistent with an earlier review (Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2013).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Conclusions
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2013 source
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:correlational· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This pattern of declines in the controls on stable constructs such as reading comprehension and arithmetic is completely unexpected and presumably reflects measurement error.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“For example, whether an active control group uses a non-adaptive training regime or a different, adaptive activity may have effects (Weicker et al., 2015).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Weicker et al., 2015
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Strength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:conditional· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The p-curve is flat or slightly left-skewed, providing evidence of publication bias (exclusion of whole studies or parts of studies).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Results > Analyses of Publication Bias
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:correlational· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Because many of the studies reviewed did not describe the active control group scheme in much detail, there were too few studies to do a more fine-grained”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Both effects appear to be driven by studies in which the control group show a decrease between pretest to posttest, and such a pattern inflates estimates of the effect size obtained”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Simmons et al. (2011) recommend that at a minimum, 20 subjects/observations need to be present in each cell (in this case, group).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Simmons et al., 2011 source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“In this vein, there is good evidence that difficulties with word reading and problems with reading and language comprehension can be improved by intensive, targeted educational interventions (see Hulme & Melby-Lervåg, 2015).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Conclusions
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hulme & Melby-Lervåg, 2015 source
Strength:boosted· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“This result may reflect the fact that individual differences in working memory capacity are multi-faceted (Gibson & Gondoli, 2012, 2013).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Theoretical Implications
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Gibson & Gondoli, 2012, 2013
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Load-bearingStrength:hedged· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Kraemer, Gardner, Brooks, and Yesavage (1998) have argued forcefully that meta-analyses should exclude studies that are underpowered, as this will go a long way to removing the problem of misleading conclusions arising from the file drawer problem.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Kraemer, Gardner, Brooks, and Yesavage, 1998 source
Strength:boosted· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“If working memory training produces far transfer because of increased working memory capacity, there should be a direct relationship between the degree to which working memory skills increase and the extent of increases in measures of “far transfer” such as fluid intelligence.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“This is termed by Bogg and Lasecki (2014) a “winner's curse” because such very large effect sizes are unlikely to be true.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Bogg and Lasecki, 2014
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Not matched
In the paper
“It should also be noted that the type of active control group used is also potentially important (see Mohr et al., 2009).”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Mohr et al., 2009 source
Strength:hedged· not yet calibratedCausal:conditional· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“These results provide clear evidence that nonverbal ability transfer is largest in studies with untreated controls and small sample sizes, and no effects are observed in studies with treated controls and at least the minimum recommended number of subjects in the training and control groups.”
§ Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”: Evidence from a Meta-Analytic Review > Discussion > Methodological Issues in the Studies of Working Memory Training
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
The authors state this as an assumption.
The multiple comparisons from the same control group included in one analysis have zero correlation between their outcomes.
“we choose to include these studies in the analyses assuming zero correlation between the outcomes.”
The authors state this as an assumption.
Individuals with cognitive impairments may benefit more from working memory training.
“Under the assumption that individuals who have cognitive impairments (e.g., ADHD, dyslexia, low working memory, or other neuropsychological disorders) may be more receptive to benefits from working memory training”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source doesn’t support the claim as written.
In the citing paper
“Interestingly, several meta-analyses have estimated within-and between-study true heterogeneity in WM training to be null or low, both with near-transfer and far-transfer effects.”
From Working memory training in typically developing children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source doesn’t support the claim as written.
In the citing paper
“Third, meta-analytic near transfer measures have lumped together untrained WM tasks that differ from the training tasks only by their stimuli and WM tasks that are structurally different from the training tasks”
From Working memory training revisited: A multi-level meta-analysis of n-back training studies (2017) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source doesn’t support the claim as written.
In the citing paper
“Importantly, a meta-analysis reported a trend for n-back being the most efficient WM training [13].”
From Adaptive working memory training does not produce transfer effects in cognition and neuroimaging (2022) · cites this paper as [13]
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Both meta-analyses reach the conclusion that while WM training exerts a medium effect on memory-task performance (near transfer), no other cognitive or academic skills (far transfer) seem to be affected, regardless of the population examined; in particular, no effects are observed when active controls are implemented to rule out placebo effects”
From Working memory training in typically developing children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Both meta-analyses reach the conclusion that while WM training exerts a medium effect on memory-task performance (near transfer), no other cognitive or academic skills (far transfer) seem to be affected, regardless of the population examined; in particular, no effects are observed when active controls are implemented to rule out placebo effects”
From Working memory training in typically developing children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“When present at all, true heterogeneity is accounted for by the type of control group used (active or non-active), statistical artifacts such as pre-post-test regression to the mean due to baseline differences between the experimental and control groups, and, to a lesser extent, a few extreme effect sizes.”
From Working memory training in typically developing children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“This outcome is in line with the findings ofMelby-Lervåg et al. (2016) and corroborate the idea that transfer is function of distance between training task and target task rather than the features of the training program per se (e.g.,Byrne et al., 2019;Pergher et al., 2019).”
From Working memory training in typically developing children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Four comprehensive meta-analyses (Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2013;Melby-Lervåg, Redick, & Hulme, 2016;Schwaighofer, Fischer, & Buhner, 2015;Weicker, Villringer, & Thöne-Otto, 2016) have found that WM training impacts on the ability to perform the trained tasks and, to a lesser degree, tasks similar to the trained tasks (i.e., near transfer).”
From Working memory training does not enhance older adults' cognitive skills: A comprehensive meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg, Redick, & Hulme, 2016
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The overall effect size was g = 1.170, 95% CI [0.713; 1.627], m = 12, k = 34, df = 5.99, p < .001,ω 2 = 0.061, τ 2 = 0.392.”
From Working memory training does not enhance older adults' cognitive skills: A comprehensive meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al. (2016)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Rather, such small effects can be easily accounted for by assuming that participants learn how to carry out a particular class of memory tasks rather than enhance their memory capacity (Gathercole et al., 2019;Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016;Sala & Gobet, 2019;Shipstead, Redick, & Engle, 2012).”
From Working memory training does not enhance older adults' cognitive skills: A comprehensive meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“As is evident from the short review above, there is some disagreement between the previous meta-analyses, particularly regarding the size of the near transfer effects.”
From Working memory training revisited: A multi-level meta-analysis of n-back training studies (2017) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The pooled effect size for all types of WM tasks was g = 0.29 [0.18, 0.40] p < 0.001.”
From Working memory training revisited: A multi-level meta-analysis of n-back training studies (2017) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al. (2016)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“the effect size was significantly stronger, Q M (1) = 8.89, p < 0.01, for the former, g = 0.62 [0.38, 0.86] p < 0.001 (number of effect sizes = 19), than the latter, g = 0.21, [0.08, 0.33] p < 0.01 (number of effect sizes = 70).”
From Working memory training revisited: A multi-level meta-analysis of n-back training studies (2017) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al. (2016)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The transfer effect to untrained WM tasks as a whole is approximately of the same size as in the n-back training analyses by Melby-Lervåg et al. (2016; when averaged across verbal and nonverbal WM and active and passive control groups) but considerably smaller than in the other metaanalyses not focusing specifically on n-back training”
From Working memory training revisited: A multi-level meta-analysis of n-back training studies (2017) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al. (2016)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“While a variety of cognitive training studies have identified post-intervention gains on trained tasks and on tasks within similar domains [13–15], findings for transfer effects on untrained cognitive domains and daily functioning are less consistent, presenting a need to improve the efficacy of cognitive training interventions in producing clinically meaningful outcomes [11, 15–18].”
From Primary outcome from the augmenting cognitive training in older adults study (ACT): A tDCS and cognitive training randomized clinical trial (2023) · cites this paper as [17]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Whereas near transfer – i.e., the transfer of skills within the same domain – is sometimes observed, far transfer – i.e., the transfer of skills across two distant domains – is rare or possibly inexistent (Melby-Lervåg, Redick, & Hulme, 2016, Sala et al., 2019a).”
From Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg, Redick, & Hulme, 2016
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“These results are also in line with Sala and Gobet (2017; a re-analysis with RVE of the data used in that study yields similar results; for the details, see the supplemental materials) and, more broadly, the conclusions of previous meta-analytic syntheses concerning WM training in the general population (Aksayli et al., 2019;Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016;Sala et al., 2019a).”
From Working memory training in typically developing children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Furthermore, as the same pattern of results has been found in adults, older adults, and children with learning disabilities (Aksayli et al., 2019;Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016;Sala et al., 2019a), the most parsimonious and plausible conclusion is that WM training does not lead to far transfer.”
From Working memory training in typically developing children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“However, WM training appears to have little or no effect on cognitive tests unrelated to the trained tasks (i.e., far transfer), especially when treated groups were compared to active control groups to rule out possible placebo effects (e.g., Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
From Working memory training does not enhance older adults' cognitive skills: A comprehensive meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“For example, the meta-analysis by Melby-Lervåg et al. (2016) included studies that were not randomized, controlled trials.”
From Working memory training revisited: A multi-level meta-analysis of n-back training studies (2017) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“The results from these meta-analyses (Table 1) with both clinical and healthy samples of children and adults showed that WM training can produce small to large short-term near transfer effects (verbal and visuospatial WM tasks) and null to small effects of transfer to verbal and visuospatial reasoning (or fluid intelligence; Gf) tasks.”
From Working memory training revisited: A multi-level meta-analysis of n-back training studies (2017) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Also for Gf, the present transfer effect size is roughly in line with the three previous meta-analyses investigating transfer to Gf from n-back training (Au et al., 2015;Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2016;Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
From Working memory training revisited: A multi-level meta-analysis of n-back training studies (2017) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2016
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Also for Gf, the present transfer effect size is roughly in line with the three previous meta-analyses investigating transfer to Gf from n-back training (Au et al., 2015;Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2016;Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
From Working memory training revisited: A multi-level meta-analysis of n-back training studies (2017) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“On the whole, this is in line with the previous meta-analyses (Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2013;Schwaighofer et al., 2015;Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
From Working memory training revisited: A multi-level meta-analysis of n-back training studies (2017) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“However, subsequent meta-analyses did not find any significant far transfer effects [5, 13, 17], especially when the effects of WM training were compared with an active control group, that is, a group practicing tasks with little WM demands.”
From Adaptive working memory training does not produce transfer effects in cognition and neuroimaging (2022) · cites this paper as [13]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Meta-analyses averaging effects of training on WM tasks with varying similarity have reported significant near transfer effects, e.g., [13, 14].”
From Adaptive working memory training does not produce transfer effects in cognition and neuroimaging (2022) · cites this paper as [13]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“WM training does not enhance children’s domain-general cognitive skills or academic achievement (Aksayli, Sala, & Gobet, 2019; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Sala & Gobet, 2020).”
From Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
In the citing paper
“we would expect working memory training to portend reading comprehension improvements of d=0.05”
From Do Working Memory Deficits Underlie Reading Problems in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? (2019) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
In the citing paper
“and portends ‘trivial’ changes in reading performance in neurotypical samples (d=0.08; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
From Do Working Memory Deficits Underlie Reading Problems in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? (2019) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
In the citing paper
“Other meta-analyses have included some CWMT interventions within the broader context of WM training, showing less optimistic results (e.g., Melby-Lervåg, Redick, & Hulme, 2016;Sala & Gobet, 2017a).”
From The cognitive and academic benefits of Cogmed: A meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg, Redick, & Hulme, 2016
In the citing paper
“Interestingly, the lack of follow-up far-transfer effects also seems to reject the hypothesis that some time is needed in order for generalized results reported in most recent meta-analyses and systematic reviews in the broader field of WM training”
From The cognitive and academic benefits of Cogmed: A meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
In the citing paper
“The effectiveness of training based on the n-back task in eliciting transfer to other different tasks thus remains unclear.”
From Nearest transfer effects of working memory training: A comparison of two programs focused on working memory updating (2019) · cites this paper as [22]
In the citing paper
“Melby-Lervag et al. [22] claimed that there is no evidence to support the notion that WM training improves performance in far-related abilities.”
From Nearest transfer effects of working memory training: A comparison of two programs focused on working memory updating (2019) · cites this paper as [22]
In the citing paper
“While some distinctions have been made in terms of task type (untrained N-back vs. WM tasks in Soveri et al. 2017a, b) and task domain (verbal vs. visuospatial WM in Melby-Lervåg and Hulme 2013; Melby-Lervåg et al. 2016; Schwaighofer et al. 2015), such categorization does not capture the full range of cognitive demands imposed by different WM tasks and may even mask improvements in a subgroup of”
From Divergent Research Methods Limit Understanding of Working Memory Training (2020) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al. 2016
In the citing paper
“after a decade of research and several meta-analyses6,7, it seems that positive transfer from working memory training is limited to untrained WM tasks only.”
From The early effects of external and internal strategies on working memory updating training (2018) · cites this paper as [7]
In the citing paper
“However, the effect size of transfer to untrained tasks, if any, is small: ~0.3 standard deviations in methodologically weaker studies, ~0.01 in methodologically sound studies (Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Redick, 2019).”
From Training-induced improvement in working memory tasks results from switching to efficient strategies (2021) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
In the citing paper
“the present results also indicate that strategy instruction with just a single training session can yield a transfer pattern that mimics the one identified after ordinary 4–6-week long adaptive WM training7,8.”
From The early effects of external and internal strategies on working memory updating training (2018) · cites this paper as [7]
In the citing paper
“Others (e.g., Jacoby & Ahissar, 2013, 2015; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Redick, 2019; Sala & Gobet, 2017; Simons et al., 2016) noted that “far” transfer is more characteristic of studies without an active-control group.”
From Training-induced improvement in working memory tasks results from switching to efficient strategies (2021) · cites this paper as Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016
Statistics that don’t add up
Each reported p-value recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom.
Inconsistent p-value: Q(1) = 13.70, p = .0001
MinorThe paper reports p = .0001 here; recomputing from the test statistic and its degrees of freedom gives p < .001. The check cannot tell whether the statistic or the p-value is the misprint.
Reported p = .0001 · recomputed p < .001
“Q(1) = 13.70, p = .0001”
Statistics recomputed
Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.
- Doesn’t add upQ(1) = 13.7reported p = .0001 · recomputed p < .001
“Q(1) = 13.70, p = .0001”
- ConsistentQ(1) = 6.09reported p = .01 · recomputed p = .014
“Q (1) = 6.09, p = .01”
- ConsistentQ(1) = 4.52reported p = .03 · recomputed p = .034
“Q(1) = 4.52, p = .03”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Control-group coefficient has the opposite sign from the reported effect
MinorThe regression codes treated controls as 1 and untreated controls as 0, so a positive coefficient indicates larger nonverbal-ability gains with treated controls. The paper instead says treated controls showed smaller gains. The second regression also reports a positive coefficient for control type.
“The results showed that type of control was a predictor of gains on tests of nonverbal ability (ß = 0.27, p = 0.04).”
“Because treated controls showed significantly smaller training effects on nonverbal ability than untreated controls, we ran a meta-regression model (random effects model, method of moments) where we controlled for the type of control group with a dummy variable (coded as 1 for treated and 0 for untreated).”
Cited works that were retracted
Works this paper cites that were later retracted, from the retraction notices publishers deposit. Major when the notice came out before this paper was published.
Cites a retracted work: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02172.x
MajorThe cited work was retracted on 2011-03-31 (notice 10.1177/0956797611404902), before this paper was published (2016-07). Its authors could have known.
Cited work 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02172.x · retracted 2011-03-31 · notice 10.1177/0956797611404902 · this paper published 2016-07
“10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02172.x”
Cites a retracted work: 10.1073/pnas.1018601108
InfoThe cited work was retracted on 2025-05-01 (notice 10.1073/pnas.2508040122), not before this paper was published (2016-07).
Cited work 10.1073/pnas.1018601108 · retracted 2025-05-01 · notice 10.1073/pnas.2508040122 · this paper published 2016-07
“10.1073/pnas.1018601108”
Citations
Cites
2 retracted
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“Given the tendency for small sample sizes to produce inflated effect-size estimates (Button et al., 2013), future studies should include larger samples to produce more precise effect-size estimates.”
Flagged first, then by citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–400 of 891
Effects of computer-based training on children’s executive functions and academic achievement
Conesa, P. J., & Duñabeitia, J. A. (2021) · The Journal of Educational Research · doi:10.1080/00220671.2021.1998881 · Cited by 24
“Some studies demonstrated that computerized training was effective for working memory improvement (Klingberg, 2010; Morrison & Chein, 2011; Spencer-Smith & Klingberg, 2015), while others found negligible effects (Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Wong et al., 2014).”
Henry, L. A., Christopher, E., Chiat, S., & Messer, D. J. (2022) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci12050642 · Cited by 19
“However, neither of these studies included an untreated or active control group, which would provide stronger evidence in favour of the intervention [24].”
InfluentialWorking memory performance in disordered gambling and gaming: A systematic review
Ngetich, R. K., Burleigh, T. L., Czakó, A., Vékony, T., Németh, D., & Demetrovics, Z. (2023) · Comprehensive Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2023.152408 · Cited by 25
Is more time in general music class associated with stronger extra-musical outcomes in kindergarten?
Hogan, J., Cordes, S., Holochwost, S. J., Ryu, E., Diamond, A. D., & Winner, E. (2017) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2017.12.004 · Cited by 24
Chen, P.-H. A., Kelley, W. M., Lopez, R. B., & Heatherton, T. F. (2018) · Social Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/17470919.2018.1495667 · Cited by 17
A randomized controlled trial of working memory and processing speed training in schizophrenia
Cassetta, B. D., Tomfohr‐Madsen, L. M., & Goghari, V. M. (2018) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291718002775 · Cited by 21
“These results are in line with an abundance of research on healthy populations which has suggested that the effects of WM training are taskspecific and do not appear to transfer to untrained tasks (Melby-Lervåg and Hulme, 2013, 2016; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
Attentional Fluctuations, Cognitive Flexibility, and Bilingualism in Kindergarteners
Haft, S. L., Kepinska, O., Caballero, J. N., Carreiras, M., & Hoeft, F. (2019) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs9050058 · Cited by 21
“An analogous debate is that on mechanisms underlying transfer in cognitive training programs [68], it is unclear how transfer occurs, limiting research findings to post hoc explanations.”
Simon, S. S., Castellani, M., Belleville, S., Dwolatzky, T., Hampstead, B. M., & Bahar‐Fuchs, A. (2020) · Alzheimer s & Dementia Translational Research & Clinical Interventions · doi:10.1002/trc2.12024 · Cited by 21
Raiker, J. S., Friedman, L. M., Orban, S. A., Kofler, M. J., Sarver, D. E., & Rapport, M. D. (2017) · Journal of Attention Disorders · doi:10.1177/1087054716686182 · Cited by 21
Doolittle, P. E., & Byrnes, M. K. (2023) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119852865.ch3 · Cited by 20
What the Science of Learning Teaches Us About Arithmetic Fluency
McNeil, N. M., Jordan, N. C., Viegut, A. A., & Ansari, D. (2025) · Psychological Science in the Public Interest · doi:10.1177/15291006241287726 · Cited by 36
“However, there is no substantial evidence to support the claims that general brain training programs enhance arithmetic fluency or mathematics achievement (Katz et al., 2018; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Simons et al., 2016; Stojanoski et al., 2021).”
Studer-Luethi, B., Törmänen, M. R. K., Margelisch, K., Hogrefe, A. B., & Perrig, W. J. (2022) · Journal of Cognitive Enhancement · doi:10.1007/s41465-022-00242-x · Cited by 19
“Such inconsistent results have led to several reviews with disparate conclusions (e.g., Au et al., 2015; Constantinidis & Klingberg, 2016; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Titz & Karbach, 2014).”
Simonet, M., Ruggeri, P., Sallard, E., & Barral, J. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-11580-3 · Cited by 17
Cognitive training for mental health problems
Hallion, L. S., Hsu, K. J., & Schleider, J. L. (2024) · Nature Mental Health · doi:10.1038/s44220-023-00185-y · Cited by 20
“Other reviews, meta-analyses, expert position pieces and at least one open letter have gone so far as to assert that the literature is sufficiently consistent as to constitute evidence of absence of such an effect 60,63,64 .”
Executive functions in the context of complex learning: Malleable moderators?
Schwaighofer, M. B., Schwaighofer, M., Bühner, M., & Fischer, F. (2017) · Frontline Learning Research · doi:10.14786/flr.v5i1.268 · Cited by 20
“Although some primary studies yielded promising results (e.g., Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Jonides, & Perrig, 2008), recent meta-analyses cast doubts on the transfer of these effects to other cognitive abilities such as mathematical abilities (Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Schwaighofer et al., 2015).”
Effects of Cogmed working memory training on cognitive performance
Etherton, J. L., Oberle, C. D., Rhoton, J., & Ney, A. (2018) · Psychological Research · doi:10.1007/s00426-018-1012-9 · Cited by 22
Siu, T. S. C., McBride, C. A., Tse, C., Tong, X., & Maurer, U. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02510 · Cited by 19
Mechanisms of working memory training: Insights from individual differences
Meiran, N., Dreisbach, G., & von Bastian, C. C. (2019) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2019.01.010 · Cited by 18
Using metamemory measures and memory tests to estimate eyewitness free recall performance
Saraiva, R. B., Hope, L., Horselenberg, R., Ost, J., Sauer, J. D., & Koppen, P. J. V. (2019) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658211.2019.1688835 · Cited by 21
Moore, A. L., Carpenter, D. M., Miller, T. M., & Ledbetter, C. R. (2018) · Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment · doi:10.2147/ndt.s165418 · Cited by 19
“50 To our knowledge, this is the first study to document improvements in confidence, self-discipline, and cooperation following cognitive training for children with attention problems.”
Verbal working memory training in older adults: an investigation of dose response
Brum, P. S., Borella, E., Carretti, B., & Yassuda, M. S. (2018) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2018.1531372 · Cited by 19
“The results are also consistent with the meta-analyses showing the efficacy of WM trainings on the criterion tasks, improvement that it is usually maintained at follow-up (Karbach & Verhaeghen, 2014; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
Multisensory Facilitation of Working Memory Training
Pahor, A., Collins, C., Smith-Peirce, R. N., Moon, A., Stavropoulos, T., Silva, I., Peng, E., Jaeggi, S. M., & Seitz, A. R. (2021) · Journal of Cognitive Enhancement · doi:10.1007/s41465-020-00196-y · Cited by 17
Clinchard, C., Casas, B. R., & Kim‐Spoon, J. (2024) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579424001457 · Cited by 20
Atkinson, A. L., Allen, R. J., & Waterman, A. (2021) · Teaching and Teacher Education · doi:10.1016/j.tate.2021.103343 · Cited by 17
Capin, P., Gillam, S. L., Fall, A., Roberts, G., Dille, J. T., & Gillam, R. B. (2022) · Annals of Dyslexia · doi:10.1007/s11881-022-00255-3 · Cited by 28
The Effects of Sustained Literacy Engagement on Cognition and Sentence Processing Among Older Adults
Stine‐Morrow, E. A. L., McCall, G. S., Manavbasi, I. E., Ng, S., Llano, D. A., & Barbey, A. K. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.923795 · Cited by 22
Moreira, S. V., Justi, F. R. D. R., Gomes, C. F. A., & Moreira, M. A. (2023) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare11222912 · Cited by 18
Braeckman, K., Descamps, B., Vanhove, C., & Caeyenberghs, K. (2019) · Brain Imaging and Behavior · doi:10.1007/s11682-019-00179-4 · Cited by 17
“Other reviews clearly state that the size of gains in near transfer effects of a specific repetitive training task are not related to the size of gains on measures of far transfer effects (Melby-Lervåg et al. 2016; Shipstead et al. 2012).”
N-Back Task Training Helps to Improve Post-error Performance
Li, Q., Long, Q., Hu, N., Tang, Y., & Chen, A. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00370 · Cited by 17
Exploring Individual Differences as Predictors of Performance Change During Dual-N-Back Training
Ørskov, P. T., Norup, A., Beatty, E. L., & Jaeggi, S. M. (2021) · Journal of Cognitive Enhancement · doi:10.1007/s41465-021-00216-5 · Cited by 18
Emerging Domain-Based Treatments for Pediatric Anxiety Disorders
Lazarov, A., & Bar‐Haim, Y. (2020) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.08.030 · Cited by 17
Cubillo, A., Hermes, H., Berger, E., et al. (2020) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2020.11.19.390427 · Cited by 17
Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysisPreprint
Sala, G., & Gobet, F. R. (2020) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/7s8wr · Cited by 19
Bharadwaj, S. V., Yeatts, P. E., & Headley, J. (2021) · Applied Neuropsychology Child · doi:10.1080/21622965.2021.1920943 · Cited by 22
Clayton, S., Simms, V., Cragg, L., Gilmore, C. K., Marlow, N., Spong, R., & Johnson, S. J. (2021) · Child Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/09297049.2021.1955847 · Cited by 17
“However, as yet there is no robust evidence of their beneficial effect on achievement (Anderson et al., 2018; Melby-Lervag et al., 2016).”
Prosocial Video Game Content, Empathy and Cognitive Ability in a Large Sample of Youth
García, S., Ferguson, C. J., & Wang, C. K. J. (2021) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-021-01512-1 · Cited by 16
Hasslinger, J., Jonsson, U., & Bölte, S. (2022) · Journal of Attention Disorders · doi:10.1177/10870547211063645 · Cited by 22
“This suggests that the effects may not generalize across the full range of working memory functions, supporting previous observations that WMT mainly has near-transfer effects (Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
Auditory cognitive aging in amateur singers and non-singers
Tremblay, P., & Perron, M. (2022) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105311 · Cited by 18
Working Memory Training Following Neonatal Critical Illness: A Randomized Controlled Trial*
Schiller, R. M., Madderom, M. J., van Rosmalen, J., van Heijst, A. F. J., de Blaauw, I., Utens, E. M. W. J., Rietman, A. B., Verhulst, F. C., Tibboel, D., White, T. J. H., et al. (2018) · Critical Care Medicine · doi:10.1097/ccm.0000000000003151 · Cited by 16
Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Computerized Cognitive Training in the General Population
Goghari, V. M., Krzyzanowski, D. J., Yoon, S. J., Dai, Y., & Toews, D. M. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00503 · Cited by 18
McLoughlin, S., Tyndall, I. T., Pereira, A., & Mulhern, T. (2020) · Journal of Cognitive Enhancement · doi:10.1007/s41465-020-00187-z · Cited by 18
Can posthypnotic suggestions boost updating in working memory? Behavioral and ERP evidence
Zahedi, A., Stürmer, B., & Sommer, W. (2020) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107632 · Cited by 16
Shani, R., Tal, S., Derakshan, N., Cohen, N., Enock, P. M., McNally, R. J., Mor, N., Daches, S., Williams, A. D., Yiend, J., et al. (2021) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.03.043 · Cited by 18
“Moreover, the issue of publication bias has been discussed extensively (Koster and Bernstein, 2015; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
The role of attention control in complex real-world tasksPreprint
Draheim, C., Pak, R., Draheim, A. A., et al. (2021) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/9ekpu · Cited by 16
Park, A. T., & Mackey, A. P. (2021) · Mind Brain and Education · doi:10.1111/mbe.12304 · Cited by 18
Wilderode, M. V., Vermaete, E., Francart, T., Wouters, J. M., & Wieringen, A. V. (2023) · Trends in Hearing · doi:10.1177/23312165231198380 · Cited by 14
“Meta-analytic reviews have shown that the use of a passive control may overestimate the true size of training effects (Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Sala & Gobet, 2017).”
Learning where to be flexible: Using environmental cues to regulate cognitive control.
Xu, S., Simoens, J., Verguts, T., & Braem, S. (2023) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/xge0001488 · Cited by 23
Zahedi, A., Lynn, S. J., & Sommer, W. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1388347 · Cited by 18
Disentangling the far transfer of language comprehension gains using latent mediation models
Melby‐Lervåg, M., Hagen, Å. M. M., & Lervåg, A. (2019) · Developmental Science · doi:10.1111/desc.12929 · Cited by 15
Self-citationYhnell, E., Furby, H., Lowe, R., Brookes‐Howell, L., Drew, C. J. G., Playle, R., Watson, G. L., Metzler‐Baddeley, C., Rosser, A., & Busse, M. E. (2020) · Pilot and Feasibility Studies · doi:10.1186/s40814-020-00623-z · Cited by 15
“Findings in healthy adults have shown consistent improvement in tasks upon which they have been trained [9]; however, transfer effects into untrained tasks or functional domains have either not been studied or found to be limited [ 10 – 13].”
Shifting Minds: A Quantitative Reappraisal of Cognitive-Intervention Research
Moreau, D. (2020) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691620950696 · Cited by 16
Roording-Ragetlie, S., Spaltman, M., de Groot, E., Klip, H., Buitelaar, J. K., & Slaats-Willemse, D. I. E. (2021) · Journal of Intellectual Disability Research · doi:10.1111/jir.12895 · Cited by 19
Studer-Luethi, B., Bösch, V. D., Lusti, S., & Meier, B. (2022) · Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition · doi:10.1080/13825585.2022.2105298 · Cited by 16
“…demonstrate medium-to-large performance gains in the training task performance and small gains in untrained tasks measuring memory, executive functions or other abilities (Lampit et al., 2014; Teixeira-Santos et al., 2019, for meta-analyses; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016, for a critical review).”
Working Memory Training in Adolescents Decreases Laboratory Risk Taking in the Presence of Peers
Rosenbaum, G. M., Botdorf, M., Patrianakos, J. L., Steinberg, L. D., & Chein, J. M. (2017) · Journal of Cognitive Enhancement · doi:10.1007/s41465-017-0045-0 · Cited by 14
“…over the question of how broadly the skills acquired during WMT may transfer to other cognitive abilities (see, e.g., Melby-Lervåg and Hulme 2013; Melby-Lervåg et al. 2016; Shipstead et al. 2012), a sizable number of studies have demonstrated some generalized improvements from WMT in performance…”
Whitelock, V., Nouwen, A., Houben, K., van den Akker, O., Rosenthal, M. J., & Higgs, S. (2018) · Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice · doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2018.07.005 · Cited by 16
“effects (such as other aspects of WM), but find little evidence of far transfer effects [47].”
Shahar, N., Pereg, M., Teodorescu, A. R., Moran, R., Karmon-Presser, A., & Meiran, N. (2018) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2018.08.007 · Cited by 18
“Current meta-analyses suggested that the near-transfer effect is reliable and replicable (Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, 2013; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Soveri, Antfolk, Karlsson, Salo, & Laine, 2017), with some showing near transfer effects for working memory training holding for as much as a few months…”
InfluentialWorking with memory: Computerized, adaptive working memory training for adolescents living with HIV
Fraser, S., & Cockcroft, K. (2019) · Child Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/09297049.2019.1676407 · Cited by 16
“This activity involved adherence to a training schedule and engagement with a computer program under supervision for equivalent time to the training group, but did not contain any WM training (Klingberg, 2010; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
InfluentialProblem-Solving and Intelligence
Hambrick, D. Z., Burgoyne, A. P., & Altmann, E. M. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108770422.024 · Cited by 24
Nukari, J. M., Poutiainen, E. T., Arkkila, E. P., Haapanen, M., Lipsanen, J. O., & Laasonen, M. R. (2019) · Journal of Learning Disabilities · doi:10.1177/0022219419895261 · Cited by 14
“It is also known that interventions training isolated skills, such as working memory or low-level auditory and visual processing, do not generalize to academic skills in general (Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
Vartanian, O., Replete, V., Saint, S. A., Lam, Q., Forbes, S., Beaudoin, M. E., Brunyé, T. T., Bryant, D. J., Feltman, K. A., Heaton, K. J., et al. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.868001 · Cited by 15
Ophey, A., Rehberg, S., Giehl, K., Eggers, C., Reker, P., van Eimeren, T., & Kalbe, E. (2021) · Neurorehabilitation and neural repair · doi:10.1177/1545968320981956 · Cited by 16
Lee, H., Basak, C., Grant, S.-J., Ray, N. R., Skolasinska, P., Oehler, C., Qin, S., Sun, A., Smith, E. T., Sherard, G. H., et al. (2024) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbae075 · Cited by 18
Mutual implications of procrastination research in adults and children for theory and intervention
Mahy, C. E. V., Munakata, Y., & Miyake, A. (2024) · Nature Reviews Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44159-024-00341-w · Cited by 21
Dieting and Food Cue-Related Working Memory Performance
Meule, A. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01944 · Cited by 14
“Although working memory trainings have been found to increase working memory performance, it appears that these effects do not generalize to measures of “real-world” cognitive skills (Schwaighofer et al., 2015; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
Pull the Andon Rope on Working Memory Capacity Interventions Until We Know More
Gillam, S. L., Holbrook, S., Mecham, J., & Weller, D. (2018) · Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools · doi:10.1044/2018_lshss-17-0121 · Cited by 15
Schiller, R. M., IJsselstijn, H., Madderom, M. J., van Rosmalen, J., van Heijst, A. F. J., Smits, M., Verhulst, F. C., Tibboel, D., & White, T. J. H. (2019) · Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100678 · Cited by 15
“improvements on trained and untrained working-memory tasks (Melby-Lervag et al., 2016; Melby-Lervag and Hulme, 2013b).”
Hong, X., Chen, Y., Wang, J., Shen, Y., Li, Q., Zhao, B., Guo, X., Feng, W. G., Wu, W., & Li, C. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-79784-z · Cited by 14
Cremen, I. A., & Carson, R. G. (2017) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00276 · Cited by 14
“In relation to CT, although meta-analytic reviews have shown small improvements on measures of intermediate transfer of training gains to untrained tasks, there is little evidence of transfer to ‘‘real world’’ cognitive skills (Lampit et al., 2014; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Simons et al., 2016).”
Few Effects of a 5-Week Adaptive Computerized Cognitive Training Program in Healthy Older Adults
Rabipour, S., Morrison, C., Crompton, J., Petrucelli, M., Germano, M. D. O. G., Popescu, A., & Davidson, P. S. R. (2019) · Journal of Cognitive Enhancement · doi:10.1007/s41465-019-00147-2 · Cited by 13
“, near transfer), little evidence currently exists for far transfer of such programs to untrained domains and measures of everyday functioning or quality of life (for reviews, see Lampit et al. 2014;Melby-Lervag and Hulme 2016;Melby-Lervag et al. 2016; Sprague et al. 2019).”
InfluentialDoes Blindness Boost Working Memory? A Natural Experiment and Cross-Cultural Study
Rindermann, H., Ackermann, A. L., & Nijenhuis, J. T. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01571 · Cited by 15
McLoughlin, S., Tyndall, I. T., & Pereira, A. (2020) · Journal of Behavioral Education · doi:10.1007/s10864-020-09399-x · Cited by 16
Application of Machine Learning Models for Tracking Participant Skills in Cognitive Training
Sandeep, S., Shelton, C. R., Pahor, A., Jaeggi, S. M., & Seitz, A. R. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01532 · Cited by 14
Dobrowolski, P., Skorko, M., Myśliwiec, M., Kowalczyk‐Grębska, N., Michalak, J., & Brzezicka, A. (2021) · Journal of Cognitive Enhancement · doi:10.1007/s41465-021-00211-w · Cited by 15
“Even though the initial results were promising (Jaeggi et al., 2008), it has since been repeatedly shown that working memory training has near-zero effects on intelligence (again, particularly when compared to active control groups: Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
Blasi, V., Zanette, M., Baglio, G., Giangiacomo, A., Tella, S. D., Canevini, M. P., Walder, M., Clerici, M., Baglio, F., & the BIF Group (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00679 · Cited by 14
The Effectiveness of Working Memory Training for Children With Low Working Memory
Spencer‐Smith, M. M., Quach, J., Mensah, F. K., Roberts, G., Gathercole, S. E., Wake, M. A., & Anderson, P. J. (2020) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.2019-4028 · Cited by 15
The neural correlates of working memory training in typically developing children
Jones, J. S., Adlam, A., Benattayallah, A., & Milton, F. (2021) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.13721 · Cited by 15
Working Memory, Vocabulary Breadth and Depth in Reading Comprehension: A Study with Third Graders
Artuso, C., & Palladino, P. (2022) · Discourse Processes · doi:10.1080/0163853x.2022.2116263 · Cited by 21
Changing priorities in the development of cognitive competence and school learning: A general theory
Δημητρίου, Α., Spanoudis, G. C., Greiff, S., Makris, Ν., Panaoura, A., & Kazi, S. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.954971 · Cited by 32
“Evidence is clear: these processes do improve because of training but gains do not transfer to g, everyday problem-solving, or academic achievement (Shipstead et al., 2012, 2016; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Sala and Gobet, 2017, 2020).”
Senter, R., Chow, J. C., & Willis, E. C. (2022) · Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools · doi:10.1044/2022_lshss-22-00013 · Cited by 18
Hausman, H. K., Alexander, G. E., Cohen, R., Marsiske, M., DeKosky, S. T., Hishaw, G. A., O'Shea, A., Kraft, J. N., Dai, Y., Wu, S., et al. (2023) · Brain Stimulation · doi:10.1016/j.brs.2023.05.021 · Cited by 13
“producing clinically meaningful outcomes [11, 15-18].”
Trautwein, U., Golle, J., Jaggy, A., Hasselhorn, M., & Nagengast, B. (2023) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/nyas.15074 · Cited by 14
Sankalaite, S., Huizinga, M., Pollé, S., Xu, C., de Vries, N., Hens, E., & Baeyens, D. (2023) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci13111149 · Cited by 35
Enhancing children’s numeracy and executive functions via their explicit integration
Scerif, G., Sučević, J., Andrews, H., Blakey, E., Gattas, S., Godfrey, A., Hawes, Z. C. K., Howard, S. J., Kent, L., Merkley, R., et al. (2025) · npj Science of Learning · doi:10.1038/s41539-025-00302-9 · Cited by 16
Far-Transfer Effects of Strategy-Based Working Memory Training
Chan, S., Mueller, U., & Masson, M. E. J. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01285 · Cited by 15
“One reason for the inconsistent findings is the failure to pay attention to the distinction between untreated and treated (or active) control groups (Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016).”
InfluentialA.R. Luria’s cultural neuropsychology in the 21st century
Kotik-Friedgut, B., & Ardila, A. (2019) · Culture & Psychology · doi:10.1177/1354067x19861053 · Cited by 14
Cerreta, A., Mruczek, R. E. B., & Berryhill, M. E. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.570030 · Cited by 13
Lotfi, S., Ward, R. T., Ayazi, M., Bennett, K. P., Larson, C. L., & Lee, H. (2020) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-020-10164-7 · Cited by 17
Jakubowska, N., Dobrowolski, P., Rutkowska, N., Skorko, M., Myśliwiec, M., Michalak, J., & Brzezicka, A. (2021) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06724 · Cited by 12
“Given that, in the light of recent meta-analyses (e.g., Dougherty et al., 2016; Guye and von Bastian, 2017; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Sala and Gobet, 2019), traditional cognitive-training programs (e.”
Yao, A., Shimada, K., Kasaba, R., & Tomoda, A. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.859249 · Cited by 21
Delage, H., Stanford, E., Baratti, C., & Durrleman, S. (2023) · Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences · doi:10.3389/fresc.2022.1068959 · Cited by 14
“Nevertheless, meta-analyses (76, 77) have reported that while WM training can improve WM capacities, the effects are usually limited to memory abilities without transfer to other cognitive abilities.”
Working memory training and high magnitude incentives for youth cannabis use: A SMART pilot trial.
Stanger, C., Scherer, E. A., Vo, H. T., Babbin, S. F., Knapp, A. A., McKay, J. R., & Budney, A. J. (2019) · Psychology of Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1037/adb0000480 · Cited by 15
Luo, W., & Zhou, R. (2020) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00002 · Cited by 13
“…to explain why some studies like the one by Covey et al. (2019), whose aim was to improve Gf in healthy groups, showed little change in the Raven’s scores, while the change in EEG signals yielded a significant training effect, as reported previously in a meta-analysis by Melby-Lervåg et al. (2016).”
Weicker, J., Hudl, N., Hildebrandt, H., Obrig, H., Schwarzer, M., Villringer, A., & Thöne-Otto, A. I. T. (2020) · Brain Injury · doi:10.1080/02699052.2020.1773536 · Cited by 13
de Cerqueira, B. B., Barbosa, D. N. F., Mossmann, J. B., Cardoso, C. D. O., & Barbosa, J. L. V. (2020) · Applied Neuropsychology Child · doi:10.1080/21622965.2020.1843040 · Cited by 14
Situating Space: Using a Discipline-Focused Lens to Examine Spatial Thinking SkillsPreprint
Atit, K., Uttal, D. H., & Stieff, M. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/jyuvz · Cited by 13
Sana, F., & Fenesi, B. (2025) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs15060765 · Cited by 21
Benso, F., Moretti, S., Bellazzini, V., Benso, E., Ardu, E., & Gazzellini, S. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.647749 · Cited by 14
Ng, E. L., Bull, R., & Khng, K. H. (2021) · Frontiers in Education · doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.703112 · Cited by 21
“…EF-focused interventions show limited far transfer effects on either reading or math achievement (e.g., Ang et al., 2015; Jacob and Parkinson, 2015; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Anthony and Ogg, 2019), an approach that combines EF training with opportunities to practice and develop BSR in the…”
Kellens, S., Dieusaert, F., Wilde, J. D., Spilt, J. L., & Baeyens, D. (2023) · Frontiers in Education · doi:10.3389/feduc.2023.1149977 · Cited by 26
“More specifically, training (whether computerized or not) focusing narrowly on EFs fails to lead to long-term durable effects (Melby-Lervåg and Hulme, 2013; Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016; Kassai et al., 2019) or, at best, shows small effects in children at risk for poor EFs due to psychopathology (Scionti et al.”
Morgan, P. L., Farkas, G., Oh, Y., & Hillemeier, M. M. (2024) · Learning and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102447 · Cited by 24
Metadata
- Authors
- Melby-Lervåg, M., Redick, T. S., & Hulme, C.
- Affiliations
- Department of Special Needs Education, University of Oslo
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Redick, Thomas S.
- Venue
- Perspectives on Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-07
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 512-534
- ISSN
- 1745-6916 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-6924
- PMC
- PMC4968033
- OpenAlex
- W2480700159
- Semantic Scholar
- 57a161286f16efa63b0704de7a0a219ef8c9a24b
- Cited by
- 983
- References
- 212
- Citations by year
- 2026: 87 · 2025: 91 · 2024: 95 · 2023: 83 · 2022: 87 · 2021: 118 · 2020: 130 · 2019: 97 · 2018: 111 · 2017: 69 · 2016: 15
- FWCI
- 9.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Perspectives on Psychological Science (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Bank (Australian Catholic University) (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- Norges Forskningsråd
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA013650)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Keywords
- working memory training, far transfer, intelligence, nonverbal ability, verbal ability, word decoding, reading comprehension, arithmetic, mediation analysis, publication bias, computer-based training, cognitive training
- MeSH terms
- Cognitive Remediation, Humans, Intelligence, Memory, Short-Term, Transfer, Psychology
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-05, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-05 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Cited sources are checked with a language model’s help (gpt-6-sol).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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