SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1456583
The Effectiveness of Working Memory Training on Iranian Students' Academic Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran., Institute of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
- 2Associate Professor, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran., Institute of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
- 3Institute of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
- 4Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran., Institute of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
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In the past several years, increasing interest has been in working memory training as a cognitive intervention to improve students' academic performance. Despite the considerable interest in this topic, empirical support for the real efficacy of such interventions has been mixed and sometimes contradictory. This meta-analysis seeks to provide a systematic, evidence-based review of the functional effectiveness of working memory training. For this purpose, we systematically searched all existing pertinent randomized controlled trials. The search was carried out both in major international academic databases, such as ScienceDirect, Elsevier, Wiley, Springer, Taylor & Francis, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar, and reliable national databases, such as IranDoc, MagIran, SID, Noormags, and Civilica. This research produced 20 qualifying studies with 628 subjects. The findings manifested a high heterogeneity among the studies and an indication of publication bias. The overall effect size of the impact of working memory training on academic performance was computed as g=1.01 (95% CI [0.05, 1.98]), indicating a statistically significant effect. However, the observed heterogeneity and possible bias in different studies render the interpretation difficult and cast doubt on the external validity of the findings. These results highlight the necessity for additional research employing more rigorous and better-controlled methodologies to more effectively establish the efficacy of working memory interventions in school settings.
Keywords: academic performance, working memory, Students, Meta-analysis, Systematic review
Received: 28 Jun 2024; Accepted: 13 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mahdavi, Hejazi, Saviz, Heidari and Ghoraeian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Abed Mahdavi, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran., Institute of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
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