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0.43effect size
In the same 2005 meta-analysis, the overall effect size for verbal central executive working memory in children with ADHD was 0.43, the smallest of the four categories reported.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“verbal central executive WM (effect size = 0.43, confidence interval = 0.24-0.62)”
A meta-analysis of working memory impairments in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Ron Martinussen et al., Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2005, Results.
Open the original (DOI 10.1097/01.chi.0000153228.72591.73)- What it measures
- Verbal central executive tasks ask people to hold and manipulate words or numbers. The authors report that children with ADHD showed deficits in multiple components of working memory, so the smaller verbal figure still shows a deficit.
- What it does not show
- The same paper reports that the deficits were independent of language learning disorders, so they are not explained by language difficulties alone.