Effects of working memory training on cognitive and academic abilities in typically developing school-age children

A Systematic Literature Review of the Impact of Cognitive Stimulation Programs on Reading Skills in Children Aged between 6 and 12 Years Old

“…Following the method described in the previous section, a total of 16 articles were selected, six of which implemented training in verbal and visuospatial working memory [44,53,[124][125][126][127], one focused on verbal working memory interventions [33], two specifically targeted visuospatial working memory development [34,128], and two stimulated central working memory or did not specify the specific working memory skill they targeted [70,129]. It is noteworthy that two studies conducted combined training of working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility [130] or working memory and inhibitory control [19], and only one of the selected studies addressed inhibitory control training individually [34].…”

“…Finally, reading comprehension was the most notable variable in this sample, as it was assessed in 13 of the 16 selected articles [19,34,44,53,62,70,71,[124][125][126][127]129,130]. Although in this case no specific battery stands out in terms of frequency of use within the selected articles, it is noteworthy for its high internal consistency the use of several tests.…”

“…These interventions varied in their findings: authors such as Artuso et al [70], Johann and Karbach [31], Jones et al [44], Lopez and Aran [53], Studer-Luethi et al [128], and Vernucci et al [127] found near-transfer benefits of computer-based working memory training on tasks assessing verbal and visuospatial working memory both immediately after training, with moderate (d = 0.52-0.714) [126,127] and large effect sizes (d = 0.80-1.21) [31,70], and 3 months [34,44] or 6 months after training [127]. In fact, some authors who explored the effect size of the results they obtained after training detailed how the benefits of training turn from moderate (d = 0.714) to large (d = 0.819) in the follow-up measure [127]. The opposite is the case in the study by Studer-Luethi et al [128], as the results gradually decreased with the different training measures applied.…”

“…Finally, it is worth noting that a considerable number of studies investigated the transfer to reading comprehension post-training, as this variable was considered in nine of the selected articles. Indeed, the transfer of working memory training to reading comprehension has been found in some articles [70], with a moderate effect size (d = 0.60), but numerous studies fail to find significant post-training effect on this variable [34,44,53,[124][125][126][127]129].…”

Executive functions as mediators between socioeconomic status and academic performance in Chinese school-aged children

“…Specifically, given that children with the weakest EF gain most from early EF intervention ( Diamond and Lee, 2011 ), future studies should explore the effectiveness of early EF training, in particular in the area of working memory, on the later academic performance of disadvantaged children. Vernucci et al. (2022) implemented computer-based working memory training in typically developing children, and found that the training group significantly improved verbal working memory compared to the active control group after training and after 6-month follow-up.…”