Cogmed working memory training, as its name implies, is a program for training working memory. We consider improving working memory to be the “core efficacy” of Cogmed. Presently 35 peer reviewed published studies bolster this claim. It is not just the volume of data, but as is often the case in new research endeavors in psychology and education, pilot studies and smaller scale studies usually precede larger, better designed, later confirmation studies. This has been the case with Cogmed and data supporting the conclusion that it improves both visual spatial and working memory.

Articulating the implications of this finding is the focus of this webinar. This will include defining working memory in context of other memory functions. We will briefly distinguish this from improved attention, the second most supported effect of Cogmed. We will also consider data related to the length of time these effects have been found to last. And finally we will consider possible implications of this striking finding that working memory can be improved as it relates to: the decline of working memory over the lifespan, how working memory deficits relate to a number of mental health disorders and the educational implications of working memory.

Data will guide our discussion of these topics and as one might guess this webinar opens up the consideration of several other areas of inquiry, but cannot be exhaustive in a data review of them all. We will simply re-emphasize the critical finding that working memory can be improved and the far-reaching implications of this finding which we expect will pre-occupy researchers, clinicians and educators for decades.