Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 25, 2025

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
Published on: September 20, 2020
Cognitive training using the abacus: a literature review study on the benefits for different age groups
Thais Bento Lima-Silva1, Maurício Einstoss de Castro Barbosa2, Mariana Garcia Zumkeller2
1Group of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo - São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Abstract:
The literature indicates that cognitive stimulation interventions have shown promising results. Abacus represents a tool with great potential in such interventions.
Objectives:
To carry out a systematic review of studies published in recent years that entailed the delivery of a cognitive training program using an abacus to boost target cognitive abilities of older persons and also other age groups, with or without cognitive impairment.
Methods:
A systematic review study was conducted in July 2020 involving PubMed, MedLine, LILACS, and SciELO databases.
Results:
A total of 29 studies were retrieved, of which 8 aimed to identify the effect of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) for different age groups and to determine its applicability as a method of cognitive stimulation for older adults. In AMC technique, participants first learn to use the physical abacus (PA) and after achieving proficiency they perform calculations using a mental image of the device, manipulating the beads of the so-called mental abacus (MA).
Conclusions:
The number of studies addressing abacus use as a cognitive training tool was rather limited, considering the relevance of the theme. Their interventions have shown benefits for cognitive functioning of individuals of various age groups, including older adults with cognitive impairment. Future studies that involve larger samples of healthy and/or cognitively impaired older adults with a longitudinal design and a more elaborate methodological design are suggested.
Related Concept Videos
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
Information Processing Approach
Piaget's Stage 3 of Cognitive Development
Conservation and Constancy of Quantity
A significant cognitive milestone in the...
Revisionist Views of Adolescent and Adult Cognition
Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Cognitive Development During Adolescence

