Peer-reviewed article

TrainKids: App-based training of executive functions in children and insights into cognitive activities at home.

Efsun Birtwistle, Anna Kroesen, Frank Niklas · 11 Aug 2026

Abstract

Digital tools and applications are now a common part of young children's daily lives. While excessive screen time and media usage may have negative effects on children's development, well designed cognitive apps have the potential to support children's learning. We investigated the effect of a seven-week intensive cognitive training programme on young children's near- and far-transfer skills. We additionally gathered survey data from parents to gain further insights into children's learning, media usage and observed skills at home. Sixty-three children and families participated in the study (Agemean = 55.46 months, AgeSD = 3.76). Children were divided into three groups with long-term training, short-term training, and an active control condition. Linear mixed model analysis showed that the app-based cognitive training intervention had only limited effects on young children's outcome scores. While children's performance improved over time in both near- and far-transfer tasks, these effects did not go beyond practice effects. There were some noteworthy effects and trends involving children's cognitive and early academic skills (e.g., literacy outcomes). Correlation analysis provided further insights into children's learning of cognitive skills in the home environment and literacy skills. Executive function difficulties also showed significant associations with numeracy and literacy tasks. These results point out the need for more targeted and individualized early cognitive training interventions and highlight the importance of considering the home environment as a potentially contributing factor in future interventions.