The Effectiveness of Working Memory Training for Children: Debate and Future Directions

Sun Jiumo; Lu Yilun; Wang Guanghai; Hao Xiurong; Zhang Tingyu; Liu Jieqiong; Cai Dan; Jiang Fan

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250210

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Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (2) : 371-381. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250210

Developmental & Educational Psychology

The Effectiveness of Working Memory Training for Children: Debate and Future Directions

Sun Jiumo^1,2, Lu Yilun^1,2, Wang Guanghai^2,3, Hao Xiurong^1,2, Zhang Tingyu^2,3, Liu Jieqiong^2,3, Cai Dan⁴, Jiang Fan^1,2,3

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Abstract

Working memory (WM) is a limited-capacity memory system responsible for temporarily holding and processing of information. It is a crucial determinant of children's performance in higher order cognitive functions. While working memory develops naturally as children grow older, researchers and clinicians are increasingly interested in whether working memory can be enhanced through training, thereby improving intelligence and daily functioning. The effects of training can be categorized into near transfer and far transfer. With the growing number of relevant studies, the transferability of working memory training in children—particularly far transfer—has become a topic of controversy.
In this study, we reviewed the effects of working memory training in typically developing children and those with neurodevelopmental disorders by synthesizing findings from existing studies. In typically developing children, working memory training was found to produce small to moderate near transfer effects. Evidence for far transfer remains minimal. Although some randomized controlled trials suggest that such training may have positive effects on intelligence and academic performance, meta-analyses indicate that these effects are primarily short-term and limited, largely confined to tasks directly related to the training. However, recent studies suggest that if relevant influencing factors are reasonably controlled or if stratified training is conducted based on the characteristics of typically developing children, such as their initial working memory levels, the potential for improving far transfer effects warrants further exploration. Transfer is influenced by the relationship between the training task and the target task; when the two differ significantly, transfer becomes difficult to observe. Moreover, individual differences such as motivation, initial working memory, and other ability levels cannot be ignored when considering their impact on far transfer effects. For children with neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), small to moderate improvements in specific near and far transfer effects have been observed in both the short and long term. However, reductions in ADHD symptoms remain unstable. Approximately 1 in 5 children with ADHD exhibit cognitive deficits, suggesting that only a small proportion of ADHD children may benefit from cognitive training, including working memory training. Furthermore, impairments in the central executive system are more pronounced in children with ADHD. Yet, most current training programs primarily target the storage systems of working memory and lack sufficient focus on training the central executive system.
The results of the review indicate that working memory training has a limited effect on far transfer, prompting researchers to explore potential moderators of these results and to investigate measures to enhance the effectiveness of training. Both research design and individual differences significantly influence training outcomes. Key design factors, including task structure similarity, follow-up duration, training amount and frequency, and the engaging nature of the training, impact the results. Additionally, individual differences in children—such as age, baseline ability levels, motivation, and sleep—also affect the training effect. Evaluating the effectiveness of working memory training without considering these moderators is not rigorous. Strategies such as improving participant motivation, optimizing study protocols, and controlling for external factors have been proposed.
This study further integrates and synthesizes the diverse conclusions in the field of children's working memory training. It clarifies which findings have been consistently validated across multiple studies and highlights key populations and directions for future research and practical practice. The study explains the reasons for the small far transfer effects observed in typically developing children and the limited symptom improvement in children with ADHD. It also identifies methodological issues in the current research and offers suggestions for improvement in future studies. Future research should focus on examining the mediating and moderating factors influencing training effects, incorporating tasks targeting the central executive system, strengthening research on combined interventions, and prioritizing targeted approaches to precisely identify and classify children who are most likely to benefit from training.

Key words

working memory training / typically developing children / transfer effect / attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

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Sun Jiumo, Lu Yilun, Wang Guanghai, Hao Xiurong, Zhang Tingyu, Liu Jieqiong, Cai Dan, Jiang Fan. The Effectiveness of Working Memory Training for Children: Debate and Future Directions[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2025, 48(2): 371-381 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250210

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