Can Working Memory Training Ameliorate ADHD and Other Learning Disorders? A Systematic Meta-Analytic Review

Abstract

of Employees with ADHD, 6 • Research Findings, 8 Working memory has been a highly important theoretical construct in cognitive psychology and has been defined as “a brain system that provides temporary storage and manipulation of the information necessary for... complex cognitive tasks” (Baddeley, 1992, p. 556). Recently, much interest has been created by claims that cognitive training can enhance working memory capacity (e.g., Diamond & Lee, 2011; Klingberg, 2010). On this basis, it has been suggested that working memory training programs can ameliorate a range of different learning disorders, such as ADHD, reading and language disorders, and mathematics disorder. It has also been claimed that working memory training can enhance cognitive abilities and scholastic attainment in typically developing children and adults. Theoretically, a range of different models has been suggested to explain the nature of the relationship between working memory and cognitive functioning (see Case, 1985). A model that has been highly cited in the literature on working memory training is based on the view that working memory capacity puts constraints on executive attentional capacity in general (Engle, 2002). In this sense, working memory capacity is seen as isomorphic with executive attention. Therefore, researchers have suggested that such constraints on working memory capacity will have important repercussions for cognitive development (see Case, 1985). Thus, an impairment in working memory has been put forward as a possible explanation for such learning disorders as reading disorders (Swanson, 2006), mathematics disorders (Passolunghi, 2006), autism spectrum disorder (Kenworthy, Yerys, Anthony, & Wallace, 2008), and specific language impairment (Archibald & Gathercole, 2006). For ADHD, numerous of studies have demonstrated that children with this disorder typically have poor performance on working memory tests compared with children without such problems, and impaired working memory has often been considered a core feature of ADHD (see Barkley, 2005; Martinussen et al., 2005). A dominant account in the field of ADHD has been that working memory problems not only lead to problems related to attention and keeping stimuli in mind but also in guiding goal-directed behavior, effective self-regulation, and