Do brain-training apps make children smarter?

EduTrend Contents · G4C Cognitive · Evidence: Strong (large meta-analysis)

Many apps promise to boost memory, attention or even IQ. The research is clear that children get better at the training games. It is much less clear that anything else improves.

Working memory, the ability to hold and use information for a short time, is linked to how well children do at school. So it seemed logical: train working memory, and school results should follow. Many computer programmes were built on this idea, some aimed at children with attention or learning difficulties.

What the research says

In 2016, Monica Melby-Lervåg, Thomas Redick and Charles Hulme combined the results of 87 publications with 145 comparisons. They separated three kinds of outcome:

• Near transfer: tasks very like the training. Here there were clear improvements.

• Intermediate transfer: other working-memory tasks. Some improvement.

• Far transfer: things parents and teachers actually care about, such as reasoning, reading and arithmetic. The effects were close to zero.

The authors also point to a design problem. Apparent benefits tended to come from studies where the comparison group did nothing at all. When the comparison group did a different, engaging activity, the benefits largely disappeared. Part of what looked like a training effect may simply be the effect of extra attention and expectation.

What this means at home and in class

Practice makes children better at what they practise. That is not nothing: a child who learns to hold four instructions in mind during a game may find it easier to follow instructions in class. But there is no good evidence that a few weeks of memory drills will raise general intelligence or reading scores.

So choose activities that are worth doing in their own right. Card and board games, building, music, sport and conversation all use memory and attention and bring other benefits: language, social skills, fun. Be cautious about any product that promises to raise IQ.

Try this tomorrow. Play "Market Bag": each player repeats a growing shopping list and adds one item. It uses the same memory skill as many apps, costs nothing, and involves talking and laughing together.

Related resource: G4C-110 Thinking Games is honest about what games can and cannot do, and gives 30 screen-free games for memory, self-control and flexible thinking. Coming soon to EduStore; subscribe to the newsletter to hear when it opens.

Sources / Further reading

• Melby-Lervåg, M., Redick, T. S., & Hulme, C. (2016). Working memory training does not improve performance on measures of intelligence or other measures of "far transfer": Evidence from a meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(4), 512-534. Link

• Diamond, A., & Lee, K. (2011). Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old. Science, 333, 959-964. Link