The Flynn effect for verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory: A cross-temporal meta-analysis

•Analysis of Digit span and Corsi-block span data from 1754 independent samples (n = 139,677), covering a period of 43 years•Verbal and visuospatial short-term memory (STM) were positively correlated with year of publication.•Verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM) were negatively correlated with year of publication.

The Flynn effect has been investigated extensively for IQ, but few attempts have been made to study it in relation to working memory (WM). Based on the findings from a cross-temporal meta-analysis using 1754 independent samples (n = 139,677), the Flynn effect was observed across a 43-year period, with changes here expressed in terms of correlations (coefficients) between year of publication and mean memory test scores. Specifically, the Flynn effect was found for forward digit span (r = 0.12, p < 0.01) and forward Corsi block span (r = 0.10, p < 0.01). Moreover, an anti-Flynn effect was found for backward digit span (r = − 0.06, p < 0.01) and for backward Corsi block span (r = − 0.17, p < 0.01). Overall, the results support co-occurrence theories that predict simultaneous secular gains in specialized abilities and declines in g. The causes of the differential trajectories are further discussed.