Relating objective and subjective assessment of working memory in school-age children: A review and meta-analysis

Working memory plays an important role in learning and is a critical component of evaluations for children and adolescents suspected of neurodevelopmental disabilities. Evaluations often include both objective (i.e., performance-based) as well as subjective (i.e., rating-based) assessments of working memory. However, the degree of correspondence between these different methods is unclear. The present study evaluated the relationship between these two working memory assessment methods in school-age children using a multilevel meta-analytic approach. An overall estimated effect size of r = -0.23 was obtained based on 98 correlations from 36 studies. Objective measures of working memory had a higher correspondence with teacher ratings (r = -0.34) than with parent ratings (r = -0.21) and self-report ratings (r = -0.11). Moderator analyses revealed a stronger correlation between objective measures and teacher ratings for children in nonclinical samples than clinical samples. Potential explanations and clinical implications for evaluators are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).