Abstract
We examined whether the working memory (WM) capacity of developmentally dyscalculic children can be improved by a WM training program and whether outcomes relate to mathematical performance. The experimental design comprised two groups with developmental dyslexia with grade 4 schooling: an experimental group (n = 14; mean age = 129.74 months) and a control group (n = 14; mean age = 126.9 months). All participants were assessed on measures of WM, mathematic attainment, and nonverbal mental ability (Raven test) before and after training. The WM training program focused on manipulating and maintaining arithmetic information. The results show that both WM and mathematical performances improved significantly after intervention, indicating a strong relationship between these two constructs. The control group improved slightly in Raven’s progressive matrices and a reading number task. These findings are discussed in terms of near and far transfer toward trained and untrained skills and stress the positive impact of WM training on learning mathematics in children with dyscalculia.

Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Change history
08 February 2019
The following errors require correction in the article. The authors apologize for these errors.
08 February 2019
The following errors require correction in the article. The authors apologize for these errors.
References
Alloway TP, Passolunghi MC (2011) The relationship between working memory, IQ, and mathematical skills in children. Learn Individ Differ 21:133–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2010.09.013
Alloway TP, Bibile V, Lau G (2013) Computerized working memory training: can it lead to gains in cognitive skills in students? Comput Hum Behav 29:632–638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.10.023
American Psychiatric Association (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edn. American Psychiatry Publishing, Arlington
Andersson U, Östergren R (2012) Number magnitude processing and basic cognitive functions in children with mathematical learning disabilities. Learn Individ Differ 22:701–714
Ang SY, Lee K, Cheam F, Poon K, Koh J (2015) Updating and working memory training: immediate improvement, long-term maintenance, and generalisability to non-trained tasks. J Appl Res Mem Cogn 4:121–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2015.03.001
Baddeley A (2000) The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory? Trends Cogn Sci 4(11):417–423
Baddeley AD, Hitch GJ (1977) Recency re-examined. In: Dornic S (ed) Attention and performance, 6th edn. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 647–667
Barnett SM, Ceci SJ (2002) When and where do we apply what we learn? A taxonomy for far transfer. Psychol Bull 128:612–637
Bergman-Nutley S, Klingberg T (2014) Effect of working memory training on working memory, arithmetic and following instructions. Psychol Res 78:869–877. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-014-0614-0
Bergman-Nutley S, Sıˆderqvist S, Bryde S, Thorell LB, Humphreys K, Klingberg T (2011) Gains in fluid intelligence after training non-verbal reasoning in 4-year-old children: a controlled, randomized study. Dev Sci 14(3):591–601
Bouma A, Mulder J, Lindeboom J (1996) Neuropsychologische diagnostiek: Handboek. Swets & Zeitlinger Publishers, Lisse
Brehmer Y, Westerberg H, Bäckman L (2012) Working-memory training in younger and older adults: training gains, transfer, and maintenance. Front Hum Neurosci 6(63):1–7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00063
Bull R, Espy KA, Weibe SA (2008) Short-term memory, working memory, and executive functioning in preschoolers: longitudinal predictors of mathematical achievement at age 7 years. Dev Neuropsychol. 33:205–228
Cowan R, Donlan C, Newton EJ, Lloyd D (2005) Number skills and knowledge in children with specific language impairment. J Educ Psychol 97(4):732–744
De Stefano D, LeFevre J (2004) The role of working memory in mental arithmetic. Eur J Cogn Psychol 16:353–386
Donlan C, Cowan R, Newton EJ, Lloyd D (2007) The role of language in mathematical development: evidence from children with specific language impairments. Cognition 103(1):23–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2006.02.007
Dumontheil I, Klingberg T (2011) Brain activity during a visuospatial working memory task predicts arithmetical performance 2 years later. Cereb Cortex. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhr175
Dunning DL, Holmes J, Gathercole SE (2013) Does working memory training lead to generalized improvements in children with low working memory? A randomized controlled trial. Dev Sci 16:915–925. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12068
Friedmann N, Gvion A (2003) Sentence comprehension and working memory limitation in aphasia: a dissociation between semantic-syntactic and phonological reactivation. Brain Lang 86:23–39
Friso-van den Bos I, Van der Ven SHG, Kroesbergen EH, Van Luit JEH (2013) Working memory and mathematics in primary school children: a meta-analysis. Educ Res Rev 10:29–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.05.003
Gathercole SE, Pickering SJ (2000) Working memory deficits in children with low achievements in the national curriculum at 7 years of age. Br J Educ Psychol 70:177–194
Geary DC (2011) Cognitive predictors of achievement growth in mathematics: a 5-year longitudinal study. Dev Psychol 47(6):1539–1552. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025510
Geary DC, Hoard MK, Byrd-Craven J, Nugent L, Numtee C (2007) Cognitive mechanisms underlying achievement deficits in children with mathematical learning disability. Child Dev 78(4):1343–1359. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01069.x
Gibson BS, Kronenberger WG, Gondoli DM, Johnson AC, Morrisey RA, Steeger CM (2012) Component analysis of simple span vs. complex span adaptive working memory exercises: a randomized, controlled trial. J Appl Res Mem Cogn 1(3):179–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2012.06.005
Gray SA, Chaban P, Martinussen R, Goldberg R, Gotlieb H, Kronitz R et al (2012) Effects of a computerized working memory training program on working memory, attention, and academics in adolescents with severe LD and comorbid ADHD: a randomized controlled trial. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 53:1277–1284. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2012.02592.x
Grunewaldt KH, Skranes J, Brubakk AM, Lähaugen GCC (2015) Computerized working memory training has positive long-term effect in very low birthweight preschool children. Dev Med Child Neurol. https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.12841
Hetch SA, Torgensen JK, Wagner RK, Rashotte CA (2001) The relations between phonological processing abilities and emerging individual differences in mathematical computation skills: a longitudinal study from second to fifth grades. J Exp Child Psychol 79(2):192–227. https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.2000.2586
Holmes J, Gathercole S (2013) Taking working memory training from the laboratory into schools. Educ Psychol. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2013.797338
Holmes J, Gathercole SE, Dunning DL (2009) Adaptive training leads to sustained enhancement of poor working memory in children. Dev Sci 12(4):F9–F15. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00848.x
Holmes J, Gathercole SE, Place M, Dunning DL, Hilton K, Elliott J (2010) Working memory deficits can be overcome: impacts of training and medication on working memory in children with ADHD. Appl Cogn Psychol 24(6):827–836. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1589
Hornung C, Schiltz C, Brunner M, Romain M (2014) Predicting first-grade mathematics achievement: the contributions of domain-general cognitive abilities, nonverbal number sense, and early number competence. Front Psychol 5:272. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00272
Imbo I, Vandierendonck A (2007) The development of strategy use in elementary school children: working memory and individual differences. J Exp Child Psychol 96:284–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2006.09.001
Iuculano T, Tang J, Hall CWB, Butterworth B (2008) Core information processing deficits in developmental dyscalculia and low numeracy. Dev Sci 11(5):669–680
Jaeggi SM, Buschkuehl M, Jonides J, Perrig WJ (2008) Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105(19):6829–6833. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0801268105
Karbach J, Strobach T, Schubert T (2015) Adaptive working-memory training benefits reading, but not mathematics in middle childhood. Child Neuropsychol 21:285–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/09297049.2014.899336
Klein E, Bahnmueller J, Mann A, Pixner S, Kaufmann L, Nuerk HC, Moeller K (2013) Language influences on numerical development—inversion effects on multi-digit number processing. Front Psychol 4:1–6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00480
Klingberg T (2010) Training and plasticity of working memory. Trends Cogn Sci 14(7):317–324
Klingberg T, Forssberg H, Westerberg H (2002) Training of working memory in children with ADHD. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 24:781–791. https://doi.org/10.1076/jcen.24.6.781.8395
Klingberg T, Fernell E, Olesen PJ, Johnson M, Gustafsson P, Dahlstrom K et al (2005) Computerized training of working memory in children with ADHD—a randomized, controlled trial. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 44:177–186. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200502000-00010
Kroesbergen EH, Van’t Noordende JE, Kolkman ME (2012) Number sense in low-performing kindergarten children: effects of a working memory and a number sense training. In: Breznitz Z, Breznitz O, Rubinsten ZO, Molfes VJ, Molfese DL (eds) Reading, writing, mathematics and the developing brain: listening to many voices, literacy studies, vol 6. Springer, New York, pp 295–313. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4086-0_16
Kroesbergen EH, Van’t Noordende JE, Kolkman ME (2014) Training working memory in kindergarten children: effects on working memory and early numeracy. Child Neuropsychol 20:3–37
Kuhn JT, Holling H (2014) Number sense or working memory? The effect of two computer-based trainings on mathematical skills in elementary school. Adv Cogn Psychol 10:59–67
Kyttälä M, Kanerva K, Kroesbergen E (2015) Training counting skills and working memory in preschool. Scand J Psychol 56(4):363–470
Mammarella IC, Hill F, Devine A, Caviola S, Szucs D (2015) Math anxiety and developmental dyscalculia: a study on working memory processes. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 37(8):878–887. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2015.1066759
Melby-Lervåg M, Hulme C (2013) Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review. Dev Psychol 49:270–291. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028228
Moll K, Gobel SM, Gooch D, Landerl K, Snowling MJ (2014) Cognitive risk factors for specific learning disorder: processing speed, temporal processing, and working memory. J Learn Disabil 49(3):272–281. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219414547221
Morrison AB, Chein JM (2011) Does working memory training work? The promise and challenges of enhancing cognition by training working memory. Psychon Bull Rev 18:46–60
Nemmi F, Bianchini F, Piras F, Peran P, Palermo L, Piccardi L et al (2015) Finding my own way: an fMRI single case study of a subject with developmental topographical disorientation. Neurocase 21:573–583. https://doi.org/10.1080/13554794.2014.960424
Noël MP (2009) Counting on working memory when learning to count and to add: a preschool study. Dev Psychol 45(6):1630–1643
Olesen PJ, Westerberg H, Klingberg T (2004) Increased prefrontal and parietal activity after training of working memory. Nat Neurosci 7(1):75–79. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1165
Passolunghi MC, Costa HM (2016) Working memory and early numeracy training in preschool children. Child Neuropsychol 22(1):81–98
Passolunghi MC, Siegel LS (2004) Working memory and access to numerical information in children with disability in mathematics. J Exp Child Psychol 88(4):348–367
Passolunghi MC, Lanfranchi S, Altoè G, Sollazzo N (2015) Early numerical abilities and cognitive skills in kindergarten children. J Exp Child Psychol 135:25–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2015.02.001
Pedullà L, Brichetto G, Tacchino A, Vassallo C, Zaratin P, Battaglia MA, Bonzano L, Bove M (2016) Adaptive vs. non-adaptive cognitive training by means of a personalized App: a randomized trial in people with multiple sclerosis. J Neuro Eng Rehabil 13:88. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-016-0193-y
Penner IK, Vogt A, Stöcklin M, Gschwind L, Opwis K, Calabrese P (2012) Computerised working memory training in healthy adults: a comparison of two different training schedules. Neuropsychol Rehabil 22(5):716–733. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2012.686883
Pennington BF (2006) From single to multiple deficit models of developmental disorders. Cognition 101(2):385–413
Price GR, Ansari D (2013) Developmental dyscalculia. Handb Clin Neurol 111: 241–244
Raghubar KP, Barnes MA, Hecht SA (2010) Working memory and mathematics: a review of developmental, individual difference, and cognitive approaches. Learn Individ Differ 20:110–122
Redick TS, Shipstead Z, Wiemers EA, Melby-Lervåg M, Hulme C (2015) What’s working in working memory training? An educational perspective. Educ Psychol Rev 27:617–633. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9314-6
Roberts G, Quach J, Spencer-Smith M, Anderson PJ, Gathercole S, Gold L, Sia KL, Mensah F, Rickards F, Ainley J, Wake M (2016) Academic outcomes 2 years after working memory training for children with low working memory: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatr 2 170(5):e154568. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.4568
Roediger H, Karpicke JD (2006) Test-enhanced learning: taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychol Sci 17(3):249–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x
Schmidt RA, Bjork RA (1992) New Conceptualizations of practice: common principles in three paradigms suggest new concepts for training. Psychol Sci 3:207–217. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1992.tb00029.x
Shalev RS, Auerbach J, Manor O, Gross-Tsur V (2000) Developmental dyscalculia: prevalence and prognosis. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 9:58–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s007870070009
Shipstead Z, Redick TS, Engle RW (2010) Does working memory training generalize? Psychol Belg 50:245–276
Shipstead Z, Redick TS, Engle RW (2012) Is working memory training effective? Psychol Bull 138:628–654. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027473
Skelton R, Atkinson C (2015) Increasing children’s working memory capacity. In: Schools: preliminary evaluation of a collaborative card-based programme. https://www.risingstars-uk.com/media/Rising-Stars/…/Skelton-Atkinson-SPI-2015.pdf
Söderqvist S, Bergman Nutley S (2015) Working memory training is associated with long term attainments in math and reading. Front Psychol 6:1711. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01711
St. Clair-Thompson HL, Stevens R, Hunt A, Bolder E (2010) Improving children’s working memory and classroom performance. Educ Psychol 30:203–219. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410903509259
Swanson HL (2004) Working memory and phonological processing as predictors of children’s mathematical problem solving at different ages. Mem Cogn 32:648–661
Swanson HL, Sachse-Lee C (2001) Mathematical problem solving and working memory in pupils with learning disabilities: both executive and phonological processes are important. J Exp Pupils Psychol 79:294–321
Szucs D, Devine A, Soltesz F, Nobes A, Gabriel F (2013) Developmental dyscalculia is related to visuo-spatial memory and inhibition impairment. Cortex 49(10):2674–2688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2013.06.007
Thomas J, Zoelch C, Seitz-Stein K, Schumann-Hengsteler R (2006) Phonological and central executive working memory processes in children’s mental addition and multiplication. Psychol Erzieh Unterr 53(4):275–290
Thorell LB, Lindqvist S, Bergman Nutley S, Bohlin G, Klingberg T (2009) Training and transfer effects of executive functions in preschool children. Dev Sci 12(1):106–133. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00745
Tronsky LN (2005) Strategy use, the development of automaticity, and working memory involvement in complex multiplication. Mem Cogn 33:927–940
Van der Molen MJ, Van Luit JE, Van der Molen MW, Klugkist I, Jongmans MJ (2010) Effectiveness of a computerised working memory training in adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities. J Intellect Disabil Res 54:433–447
Van der Ven SHG, Van der Maas HLJ, Straatemeier M, Jansen BRJ (2013) Visuospatial working memory and mathematical ability at different ages throughout primary school. Learn Individ Differ 27:182–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2013.09.003
Von Aster M (2001) Die neuropsychologische Testbatterie für Zahlenverarbeitung und Rechnen bei Kindern (ZAREKI). [The neuropsychological test battery for number processing and calculation in children (NUCALC)]. Swets & Zeitliger, Frankfurt
Von Aster M, Dellatolas G (2006) Zareki-R: Batterie pour l’évaluation du traitement des nombres et du calcul chez l’enfant. Adaptation Francaise [Zareki-R: Neuropsychological Test Battery for Number Processing and Calculation in Children. French adaptation]. ECPA, Paris
Von Bastian CC, Eschen A (2016) Does working memory training have to be adaptive? Psychol Res 80(2):181–194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-015-0655-z
Von Bastian CC, Oberauer K (2013) Distinct transfer effects of training different facets of working memory capacity. J Mem Lang 69:36–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2013.02.002
Von Bastian CC, Oberauer K (2014) Effects and mechanisms of working memory training: a review. Psychol Res 78(6):803–820. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-013-0524-6
Von Bastian CC, Langer N, Jäncke L, Oberauer K (2013a) Effects of working memory training in young and old adults. Mem Cogn 41(4):611–624. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-012-0280-7
Von Bastian CC, Locher A, Ruflin M (2013b) Tatool: a Java-based open-source programming framework for psychological studies. Behav Res Methods 45(1):108–115. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-012-0224-y
Weihing J, Chermak GD, Musiek FE (2015) Auditory training for central auditory processing disorder. Semin Hear 36(4):199–215. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0035-1564458)
Wilde NJ, Strauss E, Tulsky DS (2004) Memory span on the Wechsler scales. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 26(4):539–549
Witt M (2011) School based working memory training: preliminary finding of improvement in children’s mathematical performance. Adv Cogn Psychol 7:7–15
Zhang F, Zhang X, Luo M, Geng H (2016) The effects of feedback on memory strategies of younger and older adults. PLoS ONE 11(12):e0168896. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168896
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical standard
All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the National Council of Ethics and University Deontology.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Handling editor: Paul Verhaeghen (Georgia Institute of Technology).
Reviewers: Sissela Bergman-Nutley (Karolinska Institute), Grace Lin (University of California, Irvine).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Layes, S., Lalonde, R., Bouakkaz, Y. et al. Effectiveness of working memory training among children with dyscalculia: evidence for transfer effects on mathematical achievement—a pilot study. Cogn Process 19, 375–385 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-017-0853-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-017-0853-2