This meta-analytic review suggests some promise for working memory training programs, although for every slightly positive research synthesis there are multiple other syntheses (and position papers) that suggest that working memory training does not transfer to real world settings or is not effective. I, being an optimist, am not ready to give up on the idea of working memory interventions to improve intellectual performance, given the central role working memory plays in cognition. There is probably some kind of individual differences X type of treatment effect interaction. See McGrew et. al. (2023) for recent psychometric network analysis paper that identifies the working memory-attentional control complex (Gwm-AC) as the most likely “target system” for effective intellectual ability interventions.
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