Does Working Memory Training Transfer? A Meta-Analysis Including Training Conditions as Moderators

A meta-analysis was undertaken to reexamine near- and far-transfer effects following working-memory training and to consider potential moderators more systematically. Forty-seven studies with 65 group comparisons were included in the meta-analysis. Results showed near-transfer effects to short-term...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational psychologist 2015-04, Vol.50 (2), p.138-166
Main Authors: Schwaighofer, Matthias, Fischer, Frank, Bühner, Markus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coding
Cognitive ability
Cognitive Processes
Comparative Analysis
Control Groups
Culture Fair Tests
Effect Size
Feedback (Response)
Intervention
Literature Reviews
Measures (Individuals)
Memory
Meta Analysis
Nelson Denny Reading Tests
Nonverbal Ability
Short Term Memory
Spatial Ability
Supervision
Systematic review
Task Analysis
Teaching Methods
Training
Transfer of Training
Verbal Ability
Visual Perception
Wechsler Intelligence Scales Short Forms
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A meta-analysis was undertaken to reexamine near- and far-transfer effects following working-memory training and to consider potential moderators more systematically. Forty-seven studies with 65 group comparisons were included in the meta-analysis. Results showed near-transfer effects to short-term and working-memory skills that were sustained at follow-up with effect sizes ranging from g = 0.37 to g = 0.72 for immediate transfer and g = 0.22 to g = 0.78 for long-term transfer. Far-transfer effects to other cognitive skills were small, limited to nonverbal (g = 0.14) and verbal (g = 0.16) ability and not sustained at follow-up. Several moderators (e.g., duration of training sessions, supervision during training) had an influence on transfer effects, including far-transfer effects. We present principles for how best to improve working memory through training in the narrow-task paradigm and conjecture how best to improve basic cognitive functions in complex activity contexts.
ISSN:0046-1520
1532-6985
DOI:10.1080/00461520.2015.1036274