Abstract Many cognitive abilities, including working memory
and reasoning ability, decline with progressing age. In this
study, we investigated whether four weeks of intensive working
memory training would enhance working memory and
reasoning performance in an age-comparative setting. Groups
of 34 young (19–36 years) and 27 older (62–77 years) adults
practiced tasks representing the three functional categories in
the facet model of working memory capacity: storage and
processing, relational integration, and supervision. The data
were compared to those of a young and an old active control
group who practiced tasks with low working memory
demands. A cognitive test battery measuring near and far
transfer was administered before and after training. Both age
groups showed increased working memory performance in
the trained tasks and in one structurally similar, but nontrained,
task. Young adults also improved in a task measuring
word-position binding in working memory. However, we
found no far transfer to reasoning in either age group.